Al Serino: Landscape Painting

Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the representation in the art of landscapes - natural landscapes such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers and forests, especially where the main subject is a broad vision - with its elements arranged in a consistent composition.

Plein-Air painting: History

In plein air or outdoor landscape painting began with the Romantics (fl.1789-1830) whose search for authenticity gave a particular value to the spontaneous drawing of nature. Al Serino (Albert Serino), a Brooklyn-based landscape painter shares that, among the first pioneers of plein-air landscapes were Meindert Hobbema (1638- 1709), John Constable (1776-1837) and Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-28), who with JWM Turner (1775-1851) exemplified 19th-century English landscape painting. Although most of Constable's outdoor work was limited to drawings, in pencil and oil, which were later worked on in his studio, at least one of his works, his masterpiece, Boatbuilding Near Flatford Mill (1815), was painted completely outdoors. Serino points out that famous outdoor painting schools include: Barbizon School (1830-75); French Impressionism (1873-85); the Heidelberg school of Australian Impressionism (1886-1900); and the Russian Wanderers (itinerants) (c.1865-1900). For an explanation of the work of the members of these schools, see: Analysis of modern paintings (1800-2000).

How to Choose the Right Colors for Your Painting

How to choose the right color is a question that often bothers professional painters and those who are just getting started. Although there is no definitive and concrete answer, there are some guidelines that can help. In this article, Brooklyn-based landscape painter Al Serino states the basic pros and cons of each technique. Once you find the right balance between what you consider as pro and con, you will find the right colors for you.

Generalization is impossible, as choosing the color with which one painter will achieve his maximum depends on his skill, technique development, but also on his patience and other personal characteristics. So, if you are tidy, precise and simply hate the mess, there is little to no chance that you will be comfortable with colors that can dirty the entire space around the artwork as you apply them. In addition to that, Al Serino believes it is important to consider the future observer. Different colors and techniques evoke different emotions.

There are many types of paints, but in most cases, artists choose to paint with watercolors, acrylic or oil paints.

Watercolors are easy to use. Simply dilute the desired color with water on the pallet, then apply it to the canvas. If you need to make the picture lighter - use more water, if you need to darken some parts - take less water and more color. If something needs repairing, the water will help to clear the excess. Watercolor paintings are always easier and more emotional and technically simple. That's why this is an ideal option for beginners.

Generally, watercolors are in most cases accessories that make the painting somehow blurry, muted. It will evoke the appropriate emotion and feeling on landscapes where let’s say, it is raining. When such landscapes are well done, you can almost feel the humidity and the cold. Oil paints, on the other hand, will produce shapes of clear lines that almost always appear rich and radiant. Whatever emotion you want to convey in detail, you can’t go wrong with oil paint. Acrylics are somewhere in the middle. Again, Al Serino reminds us that the artist’s technique is crucial in order to get the most out of acrylic paints and to enhance their similarity to watercolors or oil paints.