Talk About This

Allow yourself to look at each of the landscapes on the following pages and on the front and back covers of this book. Enter the world that has been created – and then bring yourself back to consider these questions: 

In each case, what do you think it is about that view that the landscape painter wants to convey? Why did he or she choose to paint this scene?

Are we, the viewers, high up looking down on the scene? Or are we low down, looking up? Or is the viewpoint looking straight across the land? How does our viewpoint affect our sense of the space, and our place in it?

What kinds of colours have been used? What impact do
they have?

How has the colour been applied? Has it been very quickly applied in bold free strokes, or very slowly and carefully with tiny marks? Or in some other way? What effect does this have on the feeling of the picture?

Are there marks and lines depicting textures (like grass, leaves, clouds) in the landscape? Are there marks that
create atmosphere, or mood? Are there lines that
express movement? 

How have the various landscape images been composed? Is there one main focal point? Does one area seem more important or attract more attention than the others? Does your eye seem pulled into the distance, or does it focus on some part of the foreground?

How is the composition held together? For example, are certain colours, tones, shapes, textures or patterns repeated in different parts of the artwork? Do these create a rhythm and lead your eye through the picture, pulling the whole thing together?