Landscape Painting

Landscape painting is the art of painting natural scenery, such as hills, forests, rivers, fields, coastlines and big dramatic skies. It can be realistic, dreamy or completely imagined. Artists work in watercolour, acrylic, oil or gouache, either outdoors or from memory and photos. Watercolour is a lovely place to start, because it's quick, portable and forgiving.

Realistic landscapes aim to capture a scene just as it looks, down to the light on the leaves.

Impressionist landscapes are looser, using quick brushstrokes to catch the feeling of light and colour rather than every detail.

Plein air painting simply means painting outdoors, in front of the scene, which is a great excuse to sit in a field.

Imaginative or abstract landscapes use shapes, colours and moods to suggest a place, real or dreamt up. No map required.

A wash is a thin, even layer of watery paint, perfect for skies. A graded wash fades from strong to pale, like a sky getting lighter towards the horizon. Wet-on-wet means painting onto damp paper, so colours bloom and blend into soft clouds and misty hills. Wet-on-dry gives you sharper edges for trees and rooftops. Dry brushing, with very little water, adds texture such as grass or bark. You can also lift paint out with a clean, damp brush or tissue to make highlights. A handy trick for depth: make faraway hills paler and bluer, and keep the strongest colours and darkest shadows in the foreground.

Your Activity Leader walks you through the basics: loading your brush, mixing colours and building a scene in layers, from the sky down to the foreground. Then it's over to you. You can paint the view in front of you or let your imagination run wild, with plenty of encouragement to add your own personality. Expect a few blotches, a lot of laughing and at least one tree you're secretly very proud of.

Perfect. Landscape painting is one of the friendliest ways into art, because nature is wonky too. A tree doesn't need to look like a particular tree, and a sky can be any colour you like. Watercolour moves in its own way, so the unexpected splodges often turn out to be the best bits. Many people find it relaxing, and you'll leave with a picture you made yourself.

You might also like Drag Life Drawing, Lino Printing and Botanical Walk.

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