plate no. 3043

Landscape at Aix, France

Matthew Smith, 1916

oilFauvismlandscapelandscapetreeshillsskyfield

suitable for beginners

Recreating this painting will help students practice simplifying complex scenes into basic shapes and using expressive brushstrokes to convey texture and form. It's also a good exercise in color mixing and creating a sense of depth through color temperature.

technical profile

palette complexity

brushwork visibility

value contrast

compositional simplicity

study guide

est. 6 hrs

approach — 8 steps

step 01
Lightly sketch the basic shapes of the landscape: horizon line, hills, trees, and foreground.
step 02
Block in the sky with a thin wash of light blue/gray.
step 03
Apply a base layer of orange/red to the foreground, varying the tone slightly.
step 04
Paint the background fields with yellow and ochre, adding hints of green.
step 05
Add the trees using dark green, brown, and touches of red, using visible brushstrokes to create texture.
step 06
Define the shapes of the hills in the background with muted blues and purples.
step 07
Refine the details of the trees and foreground, adding highlights and shadows.
step 08
Add final touches and adjust colors as needed to match the original painting.

color palette

primary · burnt sienna · yellow ochre · viridian green · titanium white

secondary · ultramarine blue · cadmium yellow light · alizarin crimson

Mix greens by combining yellow and blue, and create muted tones by adding small amounts of complementary colors. The foreground red is achieved by mixing burnt sienna with a touch of alizarin crimson.

techniques

·broken color
·impasto
·color temperature
·expressive brushwork
·layering

common pitfalls

→Overmixing colors and creating muddy tones.
→Losing the sense of depth by not varying color temperature.
→Being too precise with details instead of focusing on the overall impression.
→Not using enough paint and creating a thin, weak painting.

materials

surface · stretched canvas

required

·stretched canvas
·burnt sienna oil paint
·yellow ochre oil paint
·viridian green oil paint
·ultramarine blue oil paint
·titanium white oil paint
·#6 flat brush

optional

·palette knife
·linseed oil
·medium gloss

Use a medium-sized canvas (e.g., 16x20 inches) for this project. Oil paints are recommended for their blendability and rich colors, but acrylics can be used as well.

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