How often, while admiring the beauty of a forest or a river, I want to capture especially beautiful places and sketch them. The picture on which nature is painted is called a landscape. The easiest option is to bring a notebook, pencil and eraser with you for a walk. Make a sketch from nature, and paint the work at home with watercolors or pastel pencils. But before you draw nature, you need to get some knowledge on the technique of drawing.
Perspective
In order for the landscape to be voluminous and to have depth, it is necessary to know the laws of perspective. The perspective can be different, but first you need to remember the main types:
- Linear Objects of the same size, located at different distances from the artist, in the figure should have different sizes. The farther the subject is, the smaller it will be in the picture. To depict a linear perspective, you need to draw a horizon line and mark on it the vanishing point to which the lines in the picture will tend.
- Tonal. Artists owe this kind of perspective to Leonardo da Vinci, it was he who substantiated its principles. By changing to the side of dimming the contrast, tone and color of the subject, you can remove it deep into the space in the picture.
- Aerial. When objects are removed in the picture, their outlines become less clear, the colors are muffled, the contrast decreases, and the background of the picture will look blurry, brighter and colder than the foreground.
Proportions
Since it is possible to beautifully draw nature, only if proportions are correctly observed, this point should also be well studied in the drawing technique.
In order to get a sense of proportion, you need to develop an eye. Exercises in the drawing from nature will certainly allow you to achieve success in this. All objects in the picture should be commensurate with each other. Violation of proportions leads to distortion of the picture, and it may look ugly. The more accurately determine the proportions, the greater the similarity will get a picture with nature.
Composition
Before you draw nature, you should consider what objects will be present in the picture. Highlight main objects and secondary ones. See how the colors of these objects combine, and note the contrast between them. The main subject in the picture may be a lonely tree, a picturesque house, or there may be a road that goes into the distance. Be sure to pay attention to lighting and remember that the sun does not stand still, which means that light and shadow will change their position during drawing. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that the shadows in the picture are on the same side.
The texture of the objects in the picture
Since the landscape includes a wide variety of objects, it is necessary to correctly convey the materials from which they are made: a wooden or stone house, boulders and trees, sky and clouds, grass and bushes, water - you need to pay close attention to all these objects. A great influence on the texture of the landscape has the seasons. In summer, the crown of trees looks round, and in winter we see angular, bare branches. There is no need to draw every leaf on a tree, and this is impossible. It is much better to use chiaroscuro and convey the texture of grass or bushes with various strokes, while in the foreground you can select several objects with a more detailed drawing of details.
How to draw a landscape from nature
First of all, you need to prepare all the necessary tools and materials:
- Notebook for drawing with a hard base.
- Pencils for drawing different stiffness.
- Soft eraser (eraser).
- Watercolor paints or pastel crayons, you can take watercolor colored pencils.
- Paint brushes.
- Water bottle and cup.
- Paper napkins.
- Folding chair (not always in nature you can find a comfortable place to draw while sitting).
Since it is easier to draw nature in stages, it is necessary to divide the future picture into parts. See where the main sites will be located. Mark the horizon line, find the vanishing point and outline the location of objects. To get started, you can try to draw nature with a pencil. If the pencil sketch suits you, you can continue with watercolor paints or pastel crayons.
Secrets from experienced artists for beginners
Many artists who have good experience in painting, like to share their experiences with students.
- Observe tonality. Correctly draw a picture from light to dark. In the afternoon, the sky and the sun are the lightest objects in the picture. The following bright places are the horizontal lines, they reflect the bright sky. Inclined surfaces are darker than the horizontal. The darkest parts of the picture are vertical surfaces, since the light from them is reflected much less.
- Keep an eye on the light. On a bright day, colors are more saturated and warm, when it is cloudy, everything becomes more muffled and dull.
- It is important to pay attention to the aerial perspective.
- Complex objects must be simplified in the drawing and not overload the landscape with unnecessary elements.
- Create green color yourself from yellow and blue paint.