Landscape Painting

Make it at Home!

A landscape is a drawing or painting of scenery. Landscape paintings can include natural scenery such as trees, mountains, rivers, and flowers. They can also include man-made scenery such as buildings, roads and houses, also called a cityscape.

Look at the painting above by artist, Andrew Melrose. What do you notice? What landscape features do you see? What are the people in the painting doing?

Look out of your window. What do you see? What does the landscape look like? What do you see close to you? What do you see far away from you? What do you see in the middle?

1. Gather the following materials:
   ● Pencil with eraser
   ● Paint brush or cotton paint swab
   ● Watercolor palette and a cup with water
   ● Sheets of paper
   
2. With your pencil, draw a horizontal line about 1/3 from the top of your paper. This is where the sky meets the ground. It’s called the Horizon Line.
3. What do you see closest to you? This is called the Foreground. The things in the foreground look larger than the things in the background. Draw the things you see in the foreground. They should be below the horizon line, near the bottom of your paper.
4. What do you see just past the Foreground? This is called the Middleground. Objects look smaller than the things in the Foreground. Draw what you see in the Middleground. They should be below the horizon line, but above the object in the foreground.
5. What do you see far away from you? This is the Background. The things in the background look very small. Draw what you see in the Background. Things in the background will be just below the horizon line.
6. Use your watercolor palette to paint your Landscape painting. Try to paint the colors as close to what you see as possible.