For those joining me in the #indexcardartproject (or those who are just interested in following along), I decided to walk through my inspiration for this project along with some of the reference photos I’m using. I’m going to stick with landscapes as I did for the previous two Index Card Art Projects, primarily because I haven’t worked on landscapes lately and would like to give them some attention. Little studies are a great way to practice color mixing and composition. I will paint a mix of my own reference photos and some master studies.
Here is a video showing my sources of inspiration as well as some of the reference photos I’ll be painting from. All of the reference photos are royalty-free and available on the Artist Reference Photos website.
The books shared in this video are… Composition of Outdoor Painting…
This is a must-have book by Edgar Payne for landscape artists. I reference it often and have done several sketches and studies from the thumbnails in the book.
Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey
I resisted purchasing this book for a while because the cover made it look like it featured southwest landscapes, which wasn’t of interest to me at the time. I am so glad I finally got passed that bias and bought the book. His work is so incredible and it’s now one of my favorite art books. You can see all of the tabs marking paintings I love.
In Nature’s Temple: The Life & Art of William Wendt
William Wendt is an artist I tripped across in another art book and I immediately searched to see if there was a book specifically on his work. That led me to In Nature’s Temple and it is also one of my favorites. I see a lot of similarities in William Wendt’s and Edgar Payne’s styles in how they mix colors and sculpt a landscape. I hope to capture some of that in my index card studies.
I loved Edward Seago’s work from the moment I first saw it. He is so good at color, distance, and capturing an impression of a place. He is probably my favorite artist, although it’s almost impossible to pick just one favorite! I did a few Seago studies in previous index car projects and I intend to do a few this time as well.
This is a study of one of Seago’s paintings…
Whether you’re joining us for the Index Cart Project or not, I hope you find some nuggets of inspiration here today…
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I hope you visit the Chilterns while in England. It’s a recognized Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in county Buckinghamshire. Rolling hills, meadows, woods, and sheep fields galore. And of course all the churches, abbeys and high streets. And of course the Lake regions. Good for you. I can’t imagine you won’t be inspired by any of your travels.