Teach Yourself Visually Drawing

The Landscape chapter 13

The Planes of the Landscape.

The amount of complexity that exists in nature can be bewildering; therefore, thinking of the sub-

ject conceptually will help you make simplified and more convincing statements in your work.

As mentioned throughout this book, it is
always helpful to think about where the
light source is coming from and how it
affects the various planes of the subject
being drawn. This rationale also applies
to working with the landscape.

As the light source in the landscape is
the sky and is usually, but not always,
the lightest element of the landscape, it
is logical that those planes that are
most parallel to the sky will receive the
most light. This would include the
ground, flat rooftops of buildings, bod-
ies of water, and any other object that
fits this definition.

Those surfaces that are perpendicular to
the sky, such as trees, the sides of
houses or buildings, or any similar plane,
will receive the least amount of light.

It would follow that the planes of
objects that are in between being paral-
lel and perpendicular to the light
source, such as sloped hills or moun-
tains, and sloped rooftops, will receive
less light than parallel planes and more
light than vertical planes.

However, there are times when ele-
ments of the landscape other than the
sky will reflect the lightest light. This
usually occurs when direct sunlight is
falling on an object or material that has
a light local color, such as snow; a light-
colored tree; or a light-colored, man-
made object such as a house, building,
or car.

Sky = Light Source

222 1 2

1 1

33

1 1 3 3

1 Planes parallel to Light Source = Lightest

2 Planes angle to Light Source = Darker

3 Planes perpendicular to Light Source = Darkest