Page 34 - Black Range Naturalist, Vol. 1, No. 2

The Art of Nature by Melody Sears
What compels a landscape artist to spend hours creating a painting of a view in nature when a photograph of the scene would be quicker and more exact?
Most landscapists I have known have spent and continue to spend a great deal of time outdoors, not painting. Some, like me, are privileged to live in beautiful settings where daily walks provide continual opportunities to notice those things that might be missed by a more casual and less frequent visitor.
As artists we develop a vocabulary based on noticing the light and shadows, the relationships between colors, and the shapes and contours of trees and grasses, rocks and streams. This vocabulary enables us to assess a landscape scene and rather than just record it in high-fidelity, to bring out the features that best express our experience of it. I love to set up my easel outdoors and try to capture the essence of a scene in a two-hour small painting, called a “plein air” or field sketch. These vocabulary builders often beautifully capture the momentary experience and feel of a place. Yet more and more often I enjoy using that vocabulary in the studio to paint memories of places I know well,
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