Reflections on Landscapes
Here I talk about my landscape painting in more depth, describing my processes, inspiration and how landscapes help me to think about myself as an artist in context with the natural world around me
Siobhan Guthrie
9/16/20263 min read
As well as my pet and wildlife portrait commissions I also thoroughly enjoy painting landscapes in both acrylics and watercolours.
All artists are inspired by their environments and I am highly inspired by the landscapes local to me. Here in Norfolk we are blessed with big open skies, flat lands, coastal beaches, woodlands, broadlands, fen lands and grasslands. There is real diversity here if you ever visit anywhere in the east of England and a lot to feel inspired by if you are an artist. Make no mistake though, the world is ever changing and these landscapes are under threat from the effects of climate change which makes it even more poignant to capture these gems while we still can. Through my landscape paintings I hope to encourage people to think about their daily activities, how what we all do impacts our planet for good or bad and to stop and think about ways in which we can preserve them for the future: to celebrate them.
You can view my portfolio of landscapes here!
Acrylics and watercolours are my primary mediums for my landscape paintings. Acrylics pigments stand out on the canvas board and allow me to experiment with brushstrokes. They enhance my observation skills in vivid and cheerful ways. For me I think landscapes should be bright as well as detailed. I always think about if I would want it on my wall when I paint. However, I also find it useful to be more controlled with watercolours. Especially when I want to create a softer tone to reflect the particular landscape I am painting. For instance, my work on Toll's Meadow is an exploration of individual leaves, rushes and reflections. I chose to use watercolour as my medium for this painting because I wanted to explore how to create the reflections and shadows in the river water and felt watercolour would allow me to develop the subtleties necessary for this work that building layers and layers of acrylic would not.
Traveling is a big inspiration for me as you will see from my work so far. I have a couple more ideas in mind for paintings based on my travels earlier this year in Amsterdam and in London so watch this space! Although acrylics can often be the easiest option, they are not the most environmentally friendly. In the future I am aiming to solely use watercolour for my landscape artwork as I think when I concentrate really hard my best work comes from my watercolour painting and it will allow me to stretch and challenge myself to become a better landscape artist.
I paint the world around me because I seek to capture my world as I know it. Some landscapes are so beautiful that I just yearn to imitate them on the canvas or on paper. I hope others who view my work share in acknowledging the beauty of this world and understand the necessity to preserve the natural wonder, diversity and healing green spaces that are becoming ever more rare.
My next blog post in October will detail another passion of mine in connection with landscapes. I will seek to explore the historical context of landscape painting. I ask why humans paint the natural world around them and I will reflect upon how I think about myself as an artist in the cannon of landscape artists. I delve a little deeper into who we celebrate from the artistic past in order to understand our own sense of place in the present.
Contact
If you have any questions about my creative processes or wish to commission a work please contact me. If you would like to commission a pet portrait, please write your pet's name/s in the subject line of the email along with a photograph for me to work from.
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