Paint with me - An Easy Abstract Landscape Tutorial

I created this ‘Easy Abstract Landscape Tutorial’ for you not only to paint an abstract landscape but also to explain how to create depth in your landscape paintings by using Atmospheric or Aerial Perspective.

Atmospheric perspective or aerial perspective is a method of creating the illusion of depth in your painting. When you look at something in the distance, the moisture and tiny particles of dust in the air make objects that are further away duller, paler and often cooler in color than the object that are in front of you.

You can create depth in your paintings by:

1. Details/Texture

Objects that are close to you are much more detailed and textured than the objects that are further away from you. You can use more texture in the foreground and less in the background. For example, you could paint grass, stones etc in the foreground, but if you look further into the distance these objects become more a mass of colours and shapes.

2. Value

Value means how dark or light an object is. An object that is farther away from you, becomes lighter in color (because of all the moisture and dust in the air)

“Dark colors come forward and light colors recede”

3. Colour Temperature

An object that is farther away from you tends to shift towards the cool side as it recedes into the distance. You can still have warm colors in the distance but they will have to be cooler than the ones in the foreground. Cool colours like blue, green and violet push elements back, warmer colors like yellow, red and orange will bring elements to the foreground.

“Warm colors come forward and cool colors recede”

4. Intensity of the color

The intensity of the color means how bright a color is. You can grey down your color (make it less bright) by adding a little bit of its complementary. So if you want to grey down a bright red, add a little bit of green into the mix.

“Bright colors come forward and dull colors recede”

Of course all these rules don’t have to be followed “à la lettre” and it would be fun to see what happens if you break them!

I hope this video inspires you to experiment with color in your own paintings! And if you want to go deeper into color mixing, don’t forget to check out my Color Mixing Bootcamp—it’s full of tips and exercises to help you feel confident mixing any color you need.