My Old Landscapes

Landscape painting, I always found, was therapeutic. It was a nice break from the more concentrating necessary practice of portraits, and even still life. With landscape, less is generally more. Capturing the atmosphere or "feel", and not just the details of the subjects, is what tends to make it successful. A few strategically placed skilled brush strokes that give the viewer that exact impression of the light conditions, the atmosphere, and the colours which that light creates without one ounce of rendered detail being necessary. Are my landscapes like this? Not really - I wish they were lol! I did try not to make everything the exact level of detail, but they weren't those luscious loose strokey "I captured the light and shadow and feel in 5 strokes more or less". That takes natural skill, an already inborn propensity towards that way of painting. I know it when I see it but I can't mimic it. However, I still found that painting landscape was a freeing sort of process and although it wasn't my biggest personal thrill physically or mentally as an artist, my landscapes were well received and family and buyers liked them.