Landscape Painting by Mitchell Albala

Landscape Painting

Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice

Mitchell Albala

Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed · Print & ebook · November 17, 2009

Because nature is so expansive and complex, so varied in its range of light, landscape painters often have to look further and more deeply to find form and structure, value patterns, and an organized arrangement of shapes.

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Who it’s for
A practical guide to finding structure, color, and convincing light in nature’s complexity.
Themes
Landscape painting techniques, Color and natural light, Selection and composition
Genres
Landscapes & Seascapes, Painting Techniques, Plein Air & Urban Sketching

About this book

Because nature is so expansive and complex, so varied in its range of light, landscape painters often have to look further and more deeply to find form and structure, value patterns, and an organized arrangement of shapes. In Landscape Painting, Mitchell Albala shares his concepts and practices for translating nature's grandeur, complexity, and color dynamics into convincing representations of space and light.

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Concise, practical, and inspirational, Landscape Painting focuses on the greatest challenges for the landscape artist, such as: • Simplification and Massing: Learn to reduce nature's complexity by looking beneath the surface of a subject to discover the form's basic masses and shapes.• Color and Light: Explore color theory as it specifically applies to the landscape, and learn the various strategies painters use to capture the illusion of natural light.• Selection and Composition: Learn to select wisely from nature's vast panorama. Albala shows you the essential cues to look for and how to find the most promising subject from a world of possibilities. The lessons in Landscape Painting—based on observation rather than imitation and applicable to both plein air and studio practice—are accompanied by painting examples, demonstrations, photographs, and diagrams. Illustrations draw from the work of more than 40 contemporary artists and such masters of landscape painting as John Constable, Sanford Gifford, and Claude Monet. Based on Albala's 25 years of experience and the proven methods taught at his successful plein air workshops, this in-depth guide to all aspects of landscape painting is a must-have for anyone getting started in the genre, as well as more experienced practitioners who want to hone their skills or learn new perspectives.

Seeing the Landscape

A practical guide to finding structure, color, and convincing light in nature’s complexity.

Come here for

  • Ways to simplify sprawling subjects into shapes and masses
  • A closer look at color, natural light, and composition

Expect

  • Observation-led guidance for plein air and studio practice
  • Painting examples, demonstrations, photographs, and diagrams

Where it sits

Plein Air & Urban Sketching72%
Painting Techniques46%
Landscapes & Seascapes39%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Painting Techniques
  • Art Teaching & Study
  • Landscapes & Seascapes
Authors
Mitchell Albala
Publisher
Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Published
November 17, 2009
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Landscape painting techniques · Color and natural light · Selection and composition
Reading lane
Painting Techniques