Adalia Mynett

Over the summer, before the start of my third uni year, I visited Birmingham’s National Museum and Art Gallery. The gallery has a number of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, which I love to go to and stare in awe at regularly, but this time another group of paintings by David Cox, caught my attention. Since I started to paint landscapes, I have been looking at different artists’ work to observe their particular paint application techniques they have used to create a successful landscape image.

David Cox’s paintings, of which he used quick brush marks of varying, layered colours, enabled him to depict a representation of the landscape before him. I was impressed by the way he applies the paint to the canvas to describe the scene, and I feel that incorporating this approach within my painting will allow me to enhance my knowledge of colour within the landscape (especially the painting of skies).

Alfred East, another artist whose work I stumbled across, made me consider the use of colour in my landscape depictions. His paintings are made up of varied tones of carefully applied colour, to represent a scene which is visibly true of the particular season. The colour palette, of vibrant and equally muted tones, allows the painting to be considered as truly atmospheric of the summer.

I have also looked at the work of Paul Nash. Within many of his paintings, he has depicted significant places that have inspired his work. He aimed to respond to both the specific qualities of these landscapes and the feelings and memories that they evoked. I feel that this is a similar way in which I tend to work, as a way of finding my own inspiration to paint a particular subject.

I was also encouraged to look at Carel Weight’s paintings, whose compositions are equally as interesting. When viewing this painting, you seem to be directed by the branches of the trees on where to look. The trees also act to frame the composition. Rich colours are equally balanced by areas of lighter hues upon the canvas. The dark details of the trees in the foreground, against the bright sky provides a striking contrast. Overall, I feel that the trees encapsulate a particular character, and without them, this painting wouldn’t be as effective.

I was advised by my tutor to look at the paintings of Andrew Wyeth. I found myself intrigued by the compositions he creates in all of his paintings, as his subjects interject with the background to create interesting shapes within the landscape. The contrasts of rich, earthly colours and subtle highlighting colours work together to depict a natural light source within the painting.