Saturday, March 21, 2020

Introduction to Landscape Painting

Introduction to Landscape Painting Landscapes are works of art that feature scenes of nature. This includes mountains, lakes, gardens, rivers, and any scenic view. Landscapes can be oil paintings, watercolors, gauche, pastels, or prints of any kind. Painting the Scenery Derived from the Dutch word landschap, landscape paintings capture the natural world around us. We tend to think of this genre as majestic mountain scenes, gently rolling hills, and still water garden ponds. Yet, landscapes can depict any scenery and feature subjects within them such as buildings, animals, and people. While there is a traditional viewpoint of landscapes, over the years artists have turned to other settings. Cityscapes, for instance, are views of urban areas, seascapes capture the ocean, and  waterscapes feature freshwater such as the work of Monet on the Seine. Landscape as a Format In art, the word landscape has another definition. Landscape format refers to a picture plane that has a width which is greater than its height. Essentially, it is a piece of art in a horizontal rather than a vertical orientation. Landscape in this sense is indeed derived from landscape paintings. The horizontal format is much more conducive to capturing the wide vistas that artists hope to portray in their work. A vertical format, though used for some landscapes, tends to restrict the vantage point of the subject and may not have the same impact. Landscape Painting in History As popular as they may be today, landscapes are relatively new to the art world. Capturing the beauty of the natural world was not a priority in early art when the focus was on spiritual or historical subjects.   It was not until the 17th century that landscape painting began to emerge. Many art historians recognize that it was during this time that scenery became the subject itself and not just an element in the background. This included the work of French painters Claude Lorraine and Nicholas Poussin as well as Dutch artists like Jacob van Ruysdael. Landscape painting ranked fourth in the hierarchy of genres set up by the French Academy. History painting, portraiture, and genre painting were considered more important. The still life genre was considered less important. This new genre of painting took off, and by the 19th century, it had gained widespread popularity. It often romanticized the scenic views and came to dominate the subjects of paintings as artists attempted to capture what was around them for all to see. Landscapes also gave the first (and only) glimpse many people had of foreign lands. When the Impressionists emerged in the mid-1800s, landscapes began to be less realistic and literal. Though collectors will always enjoy realistic landscapes, artists like Monet, Renoir,  and Cezanne demonstrated a new view of the natural world. From there, landscape painting has thrived, and it is now one of the most popular genres among collectors. Artists have taken the landscape to a variety of places with new interpretations and many sticking with tradition. One thing is for sure; the landscape genre now dominates the landscape of the art world.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Least, Less, More, and Most

Least, Less, More, and Most â€Å"Least,† â€Å"Less,† â€Å"More,† and â€Å"Most† â€Å"Least,† â€Å"Less,† â€Å"More,† and â€Å"Most† By Mark Nichol The adjectives least, less, more, and most present difficulties for writers when the words are paired with other adjectives: Should hyphens be employed? And what about when little, much, and similar terms are involved? Generally, do not hyphenate such constructions. The following examples are all correct: â€Å"She bought the least expensive shampoo.† â€Å"I’ve never heard a less interesting story.† â€Å"That wasn’t the most regrettable part.† â€Å"We have a more likely explanation.† But use these words cautiously in such sentences. For example, â€Å"He made several more successful efforts† is ambiguous: Does it mean that the person added a few successful efforts to his record of previous successful ones, or that the person’s efforts were more successful than previous ones? Some writers choose to hyphenate â€Å"more successful† when appropriate in such a context, but such a strategy leads to inconsistency when the hyphen is omitted in a similar but unambiguous statement. â€Å"He made several additional successful efforts† or â€Å"He made several efforts that were more successful,† respectively, clarifies the writer’s intent without making exceptions. Very is another problematic term. Most writers likely consider it obvious that no hyphen belongs in â€Å"John held up a very full bucket,† but very stands alone even when it modifies a hyphenated phrasal adjective, as in â€Å"They chose three very well-liked students.† But compare these conventions with the custom for such words as little, much, seldom, and often. These words, all of which except often can be adjectives or adverbs, serve the latter function when they precede an adjective and a noun and in this case, they require a hyphen. (That’s counterintuitive, because adjectives are often hyphenated to a following word, while adverbs rarely are.) Here are some examples: â€Å"Mary spoke about a little-understood aspect of the animal’s behavior.† â€Å"He explained a much-misunderstood phenomenon.† â€Å"The seldom-seen plant is found in only one place.† â€Å"The project was plagued by interventions with often-inconclusive results.† (As with phrasal adjectives, these word pairs are not hyphenated after the noun. For example, â€Å"Mary spoke about an aspect of the animal’s behavior that is little understood.†) Note this exception: â€Å"The somewhat subjective report omitted some important details.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Possessive of Proper Names Ending in S41 Words That Are Better Than GoodWhat Is a Doctor?