‘Foundations of Landscape Painting’ – Colour Application, Textural Effects and Development of Holistic Composition. Analysis of Selected Landscape Paintings by Second Year Students at Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Landscape painting is a popular undertaking among students, particularly those taking formative painting units, some of whom have never used prescribed media such as watercolours, oils or acrylics; and others who have not been exposed to painting at the university level. In one of the second-year painting units where students study colour and its application, they are required to paint landscapes in watercolours and either acrylics or oils. Landscape painting gives them the opportunity to study and apply colour on paper or canvas since landscapes and other outdoor painting studies provide them with a very useful reference resource in terms of colour, colour tones, the transient effect of light and shadows as well as the natural environment that presents colours in their true natural setting. Landscape painting is perhaps one of the most profound opportunities for students to get acquainted with natural colours and their interrelationships before venturing into any other genre of painting where they actively apply colours and their properties for other purposes of expression. Apart from interaction with colour, landscape painting offers the students an added opportunity to delve into other aspects of pictorial composition. Landscapes as a reference resource provide a natural setting that showcases clear placement of many aspects of a pictorial composition that the students can relate with. These include the formal elements such as colour itself, line, shape, texture, value as well as masses and spaces. They are also able to apply the principles of art and design such as balance, harmony, centre of interest, perspective and rhythm. In this study, second year painting students studying colour were exposed to landscape painting for the first time as they studied colour and its application. The basic projection was that they were not expected to produce outstanding work. They were, however, taken through the basic tenets of landscape painting including pictorial composition, application of elements and principles of art as well as the essence of observation. They were expected to work outdoors but were also allowed to use referent photographs in circumstances where they found them useful. They also worked independently and were allowed to select their medium from either watercolours, acrylics or oils. This paper examines how students responded to their task and how they approached the skill of observation, interpreted the application of colour and its qualities and dealt with pictorial composition. This is important because as it turned out, the students were very sensitive to how their landscapes ‘appeared’ and their ability to showcase what they observed. Ultimately, they were eager to determine whether their paintings were appealing to their classmates and by extension, to the viewers. Even though they were painting landscapes for the first time and some were handling some media for the first time, before embarking on their work, their attention was drawn from the onset to the use of textural effects, colour tones, perspective and details of the foreground, the fading background, nature of the sky and the effect of the transient light and shadows. They were encouraged to work outdoors as much as possible and finalize their work in their rooms. Beyond this, the students were given their space to work, with only the necessary comments that aimed at helping them retain their focus on certain pertinent points. This paper selects and features sample landscape paintings that underscore how a cross section of the students dealt with the formulation of landscape painting and the extent to which they were successful.