Many artists that are new to painting landscapes may notice that mountains, trees and grass tend to look gauzy or fuzzier the further away they are. In landscape painting this is called aerial perspective and was first pioneered by Leonardo da Vinci. Particles of dirt, humidity and pollution in the air create a transparent barrier between the eye and the object, making the object seem out of focus and darker. To translate this effect to canvas, there are several painting techniques that the artist should use.
Paint Mixing Techniques for Creating Aerial Perspective
In his painting Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo painted the mountains behind the virgin and angels so that they looked further away. To get this far away feel, the artist needs to make the object becomes lighter, grayer and bluer. These adjustments are made to the same colors that were used to paint objects that are in the foreground.
For example, when painting a mountain range, the mountains that are closer to the viewer may be painted with Thalo Green. The green would need to be made a little lighter, a little brighter and a little bluer as the mountains get father away.
So, the landscape painter would add a little white to the green to make it lighter, a little blue to make it bluer and the paint's complementary color to make it grayer. The complementary color to green is red, so you would add a bit of red for graying. Or, for a shortcut, the artist can blend blue, red and white together and then add it bit by bit to the green as the landscape painting progresses. Of course, the purple color that comes from this mixture would need to be adjusted as needed.
How blue should the object be? Leonardo determined that if an object is five times father away, it should be five times bluer.
Here is the paint mixing technique for creating aerial perspective:
- Add white for lightness
- Add a harmonious blue or subtract yellow from a green made from blue and yellow paint
- Add the color's complementary color to gray the color
Painting Shapes in Aerial Perspective
Since there is a lens of water, dust and chemicals between the viewer and the far away object, the object will tend to look unfocused. To translate this to canvas, the landscape painter should avoid hard edges. Edges can be softened by brushing the edges of an object with a dry brush or by painting with a nearly dry brush from the very beginning.
These paint mixing techniques and edge softening tips for aerial perspective may seem over simplified, but with practice, the artist will know exactly the right paint mixtures and paint strokes to use with the paint brand of choice.
Works Cited
- Science Learning Network. (1997). Investigating Aerial Perspective. Retrieved July 19, 2010, from The Museum of Science
- Staiger, K. L. (2006). The Oil Painting Course You've Always Wanted. New York: Watson Guptill Publications.
- Vinci, L. d. (1970). The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
Alina Bradford - Alina Bradford is an artist with around 20 years of experience and 12 years experience as a professional writer.
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