My Tuesday night still-life group has made a change for the fall. We begin our weekly sessions by viewing select artwork from artists who paint in distinctive styles. Then, using a still life or photo, we attempt to evoke something of the artist while we paint for 90- minutes.
This week, we considered Thiebaud’s Delta landscapes, which incorporate an aerial perspective showing geometric patterns, a patchwork of fields, and waterways that cut through the scene.
The longer you look at an artist’s work, the more you learn and refine your understanding of the artist’s goals. For instance, Thiebaud focused on a landscape without people or machines, yet, not knowing this, I placed a tractor in the center of my patchwork of fields and waterways.
Deliberate Sketching 
I don’t like landscapes because I usually feel they are bleak and empty, no matter what the scene is. I need people or manmade objects in the picture. This is strange because in real life I’m not very social and an empty scene would appeal to me. So, I think your tractor makes this painting. It anchors me emotionally in the image. There’s a feeling of people and the earth in harmony.
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Claudia, I did not know it before you wrote this, but I think you said this exactly right. A touch of human presence does make a difference.
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I took a landscape class back in the pandemic where we painted in plein air (the only class I could get in person since it was outdoors, otherwise I would not have taken it). I really enjoyed the group of people (5 teenagers and two retirement age women, one being me) but the painting part, ugh, trees trees trees it seemed. I really figured out then what it was about landscapes I have always disliked. And secondly, with your group’s new theme, I’ll be interested to see how you approach each artist’s work and reconcile their vision with your own. I think the results will be exciting to see.
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