Landscapes: Creating an Atmosphere

Drawing Professional Tips

Rate this tutorial

The serenity of early morning, the surrealism of a foggy backdrop, the theatricality of a stormy scene… A memorable landscape is characterized first and foremost by an identifiable atmosphere.

What You Need to Know:

In sunny weather, the clarity of the sky contrasts sharply with the vivid colors of the subjects. If you prefer intermediate lighting (mid-morning or afternoon), define soft shadows and light contrasts.
Save the harsh and overwhelming midday sun, for subjects that deserve it: white walls against a blue sea, for example.
To create a dramatic scene, opt for extreme lighting (sunsets, storms) and accentuate a maximum of contrasts, up to the point of chiaroscuro

1. How to Create a Dramatic Scene

Dare unexpected treatments (a nocturnal scene, for examples), by drawing a negative on dark paper.
Stage your subjects: choose a low-angle point of view or introduce a very strong foreground.
Accentuate the raised areas of your points of interest with important impasto, or a density of intense pigments if you are working with dry media.
Highlight the contours of subjects with a dark line, saturating and darkening their colors.
Reinforce all contrasts.

2. Working with Chiaroscuro

Whatever the number of colors involved, contrast is a result of the opposition between clear and dark tones. The more radical the opposition between background and subject, the more the subject gains in relief and importance in a decidedly theatrical composition.

In an entirely somber scene, a very bright subject, bathed in an almost supernatural light, attracts the eye: this is the essence of chiaroscuro, as it was defined by Rembrandt. In the Matthias Braun watercolor, opposite: The foam and the clear part of the sky are created with a sparing technique (the paper is left blank).
You can achieve the opposite effect by strongly darkening your subjects to underscore the richness and luminosity of the background. In the work of Mathias Braun, opposite: the cloudy mass or the waves.
Work carefully with intermediate nuances, because contrast does not equal rupture. In the work of Mathias Braun, opposite: The green of the sea is composed of several shades. For the first layer of green, which is rather diluted, he has added less-diluted points of color.
Consider decreasing color density and the strength of their opposition as you approach the horizon.