
In this project we will look at the work of John WIlliam Tristram and discover how to recreate his
beautifully soft, muted landscapes.
Looking at his work (right), you can see that he uses a limited colour palette and often paints soft-edged shapes which create the illusion of mist. This atmospheric effect is enhanced further by his use of softly shifting values.
When we look at the work of other artists, we can learn a lot from their use of colour and techniques. It also forces us to paint in an unfamiliar way ~ which is a great learning opportunity! When most people start painting, their main aim is to create something which looks realistic. As you continue to learn and grow as an artist you will discover there is more to art than realism. There are many considerations that you can make to evoke a mood, a memory, an atmosphere or a feeling. As an artist it is your job to recreate your world and present it in the way you want it to be seen by the viewer.
In the beginning, art was made to tell a story or to make a record of an event (much like photography does today). As artists developed their skills and techniques they expanded the possibilities of what art could do ~ including conveying ideas, possibilities and emotions but also in challenging ideas and provoking change.

When Tristram was born in 1870 it was the time of the Impressionists ~ these artists were the forerunners to what we consider Modern Art today. Known for pushing the boundaries of techniques, they often worked mainly in oils and en plein air. Less interested in realism and more interested in creating a sense of time and place, these artists often tried to capture the elusive, ever-changing light and the effect it had on the world around them.

When we look at the work of Tristram it too has a very impressionistic style as he is able to convey mood and atmosphere in the landscape. However it is also reminiscent of JWM Turner's watercolours, which again became concerned with light and atmosphere ~ perhaps a reason why he is considered to have played an important role in the development of the Impressionist style.

There is very little documentation on how Tristram worked or what methods, colours and techniques he used. So in preparation for this project I have made my 'best guess' at his use of colours and techniques. To begin we will work into wet to achieve softly, diffused colour for the distant hills.
We will then work onto dry to capture more detail in the trees to the right using the 'dry brush' technique to add the soft foliage.

Throughout this painting I'm going to encourage you to look closely at the values you can see (light and darks). It is these which will help to convey the sense of mist ~ even if the colours you use are a slightly different hue. This is such a great skill to practise as it will help you to identify subtle contrasting values and get you thinking more about how much water you use in your colour mixes.

To create a cool atmosphere we will add a pale wash of colour across the whole of the painting, lifting out the pale moon using a neat little trick with a penny!

We will continue to add colour onto wet, blending and merging it on the paper as we create the trees.

In the foreground we will add soft, pale colour and lift out the high-lights in the water with a damp brush.

Working using these soft, pale colours really adds atmosphere to a landscape and it's a technique which you can use when tackling your own landscapes.
To find out more about this project, take a look at the short video below.
I hope you enjoy following in the steps of Tristram and I would love to see some of your recreations on the forum!
Happy Painting!
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