7 Ways to Create Depth in Landscape Painting
Kayaking on Children's Lake
Knowing how to create a sense of distance depth in landscape painting helps to add atmosphere and realism to your work. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you are painting to create a sense of distance in your landscapes.
1. Value
In landscape painting the value relationships need to be consistent. They usually fall into two categories:
a. The darkest objects/values are in the foreground and will fade to the lightest in the background
OR
b. The lightest objects/values will be in the foreground and fade to the darkest in the background
As the distance between you and the mountain increases, the contrast between the mountain and its background (usually sky) decreases. In other words, to create mountains that seem to be in the far distance, the values between the sky and the mountain need to be very close.
Here, I created a dark frame with the shadows in the foreground pergola that frames the scene.
Lina Ferrara
6 x 8, oil on canvas
2. Scale
The fact that things further away look smaller than things close to us is one of the fundamental rules of perspective in Western art. By placing an element of a known size in a painting, such as a figure or tree, it instantly gives the viewer something to measure the rest of the elements against, a sense of scale and distance. Our brains automatically scale the rest of what’s in the composition to this. Objects get smaller as they recede into the distance. If, for instance, you have people in your painting, the person in the distance must be smaller than the one in the foreground. The same idea would apply to trees or fence posts, etc.
There is nothing that will flatten a painting more than to have a tree a mile away larger than the trees 50 yards from you.. Contrast in size really gives a painting a feeling of depth. Another method that will help create depth is overlap and layering items in the painting, especially when there is great contrast between the overlapping elements
This painting of onions uses the devices of scale and overlap to achieve distance even in a relatively shallow plane.
Lina Ferrara
12 x 24, oil on canvas
3. Aerial Perspective
Aerial perspective is the optical effect that the atmosphere has on objects viewed at a long distance. The air in the atmosphere contains various impurities and these act as a filter stopping certain wavelengths of light reaching our eyes Cool colors like blues and greens get through the ‘filter’ of air more easily than the warm colors, so mountains usually appear bluer.
For example, in the daytime, a mountain range will usually appear bluer and lighter as it gets further and further away from us. Leonardo da Vinci noticed and studied that as a landscape recedes from the viewer its colors and tones alter due to the nature of the atmosphere. You can see this most clearly on overcast or humid hazy days. The elements most altered by aerial perspective are the dark tones, e.g: a dark green will change more dramatically than a light green.
Lost edges, cooler temperatures and duller color in the distance help to create the effect. Warmer brighter color in the front plane also helps to enhance the illusion.
Misty Morning
Lina Ferrara
11 x 14, oil on canvas available
4. Detail
Watch the use of detail. The most amount of detail should be in the foreground and objects become very simplified in the background. The further away an object is in your picture plane, the less detailed it becomes. If you are trying to paint the individual leaves on a tree a mile away, that tree will advance into the foreground and flatten your painting.
Painting a subject at medium or far distance can also cause painting to appear flat. Including an object in the foreground will enhance the feeling of depth. Notice there is more detail in the foreground chicken than in the other two.
Lina Ferrara
16 x 20, oil on canvas
5. Color
The color becomes less and less saturated (intense) as it disappears into the distance and becomes closer to the background color. The most intense colors should be in the foreground. If you try to put the most intense colors in your background, those colors it will feel like they are trying to advance to the foreground and that will flatten your painting.
When your painting has very clear and consistent relationships in value, color, size and detail, you will have a powerful painting that creates the illusion of atmospheric depth.
Lina Ferrara
12 x 24, oil on canvas
6. Temperature
Your painting should have an overall color temperature, warm or cool. Look at the temperature of the light. The light will change from warm light to cool during the day. Is the lit side of your objects cool in temperature and the shadows warm in color temperature? Or is the lit side of the objects warm and the shadows cool in temperature? It’s all about the temperature of the light source (the shadow side will express the complimentary color to the light source. Example; If you have a yellow light source the shadow side of an object will be slightly purple).
As objects are viewed at increasing distances the color change effect is more pronounced, and (if viewed in the day) moves progressively from purple to blue. Use the power of warm and colors to add even more depth. Add a red object in the foreground to bring your viewers gaze forward and to heighten the effect. Remember: warm in the foreground, cools in the background.
Lina Ferrara
6 x 8, oil on canvas, sold
7. Line
A winding river or path that meanders into the distance is a great way to move your viewer’s eye through the painting. While we do know a road is the same width along its length it appears to narrow the further away from us it gets and seeing this in a landscape painting help creates the illusion of depth. A row of trees or fence posts that become smaller and narrower as they recede into the distance is a classic method of creating depth via line. Figures or animals will also tend to do the same and also will give a sense of scale. Diagonals, lines, for instance, waves that angle away and recede also create a depth and distance.
Lina Ferrara
6 x 8, oil on canvas
Leave a Comment