Creating Distance in a Landscape Oil Painting

 

Keeping interest in a painting is important. One of the best ways to do this in a landscape painting is to create distance. The first thing to remember is the farther away something is the less detail it will have. also it will be lighter in color than something closer.

Step 1: Mix the colors. the first colors you should mix are light or grey in color. Start with pure white with a small amount of black. be sure to use a small amount of black as it tends to overpower the white very easily. Now you have a choice to make. You can use this grey by itself or add some color to it. Remember grey is not only white and black but grey also has color. For a spring scene try adding some blue with a tint of green. Keep it on the bluish side. For summer scenes add more green. For fall scenes a plain grey or tan would be nice. Winter scenes can use a multitude of different colors. Blue, grey, violet to name a few.

Step 2: apply these colors to create either foothills or distant trees and shrubs. Remember not to add allot of detail. In fact the more out of focus the better. Now as you come closer in the painting the more color you can add.

Step 3: Another trick to create distance and to separate different plains is to take either pure white or the pure grey mixture on the brush and tap this at the base of the trees or foothills you created. This creates dew or mist. You can swirl this grey color at the base also to create the illusion of a low cloud like at the base of a mountain.

Remember distance in a painting can help keep it interesting and allows people to imagine.