Landscapes are about impressions not reality

12×16 watercolor

This watercolor was another demonstration for my weekly class. The lesson was to try to create the feeling of depth using atmospheric perspective, which basically means things that are far away are cooler and less intense and have less texture. As you move closer to the front of the picture plane the colors are more intense, there is more texture and more detail. This is a over-simplification but it is fairly accurate. You want to keep the distance in the distance and the foreground upfront. Also I tried to capture the feeling of the soft glowing light throughout all of the colors and planes of the painting. Lastly, I used the light on the water to move the viewer into the painting. Remember in a landscape all things are related to the light and time of day. It is not about facts but impressions and your interpretation.