plate no. 8055

Landscape with hay cart, church towers and windmill

Theo van Doesburg, 1901

oil, canvasPost-Impressionismlandscapelandscapefieldhay cartchurchwindmillsky

some experience helpful

Recreating this painting will help students understand atmospheric perspective and how to simplify complex scenes into basic shapes and colors. It also provides practice in layering paint and creating texture with visible brushstrokes.

technical profile

palette complexity

brushwork visibility

value contrast

compositional simplicity

study guide

est. 8 hrs

approach — 8 steps

step 01
Lightly sketch the horizon line and the basic shapes of the major elements: field, sky, church towers, windmill, and hay cart.
step 02
Block in the sky with a thin wash of grey-blue, allowing some of the canvas to show through for texture.
step 03
Establish the base color of the field with a mix of greens, varying the tone slightly to suggest depth.
step 04
Add darker greens and browns to the foreground to create shadows and define the texture of the grass.
step 05
Paint the distant trees and buildings with dark greens and browns, keeping the details minimal.
step 06
Add the hay cart, using a mix of greens, yellows, and browns to suggest the hay and the wooden structure.
step 07
Paint the church towers and windmill with muted greys and browns, paying attention to their relative size and placement.
step 08
Add final details and highlights to the hay cart and the foreground to create depth and interest.

color palette

primary · yellow ochre · sap green · titanium white · raw umber

secondary · cerulean blue · burnt sienna

Mix greens by combining yellow ochre and sap green. Create muted tones by adding a touch of raw umber or burnt sienna to your colors. Achieve the sky color by mixing titanium white with a small amount of cerulean blue.

techniques

·dry brushing
·layering
·scumbling
·atmospheric perspective
·color mixing

common pitfalls

→Overworking the details in the background, which should remain soft and indistinct.
→Using too much bright green, which can make the painting look unnatural.
→Failing to create enough contrast between the foreground and background, which can flatten the image.
→Making the brushstrokes too uniform, which can result in a lifeless painting.

materials

surface · stretched canvas

required

·stretched canvas 12x16
·oil paints (yellow ochre, sap green, titanium white, raw umber, cerulean blue, burnt sienna)
·palette
·palette knife
·linseed oil
·odorless mineral spirits
·assorted brushes (flat and round)
·rags