Exploring the Landscapes of Art

by Tinashe Kwaiparima

Nature has been an enduring theme for artists over the centuries. It is a place where people can escape the pressure of life in a sense where you can feel comfortable knowing that you are surrounded by a pleasant atmosphere of things to look at. Artists bring nature through beauty and aesthetic appeal by connecting it to the natural world giving all the viewer their perception of its beauty. 

John Constable was an English landscape painter in the early 1900s, that helped establish landscape painting to what it is today. ‘The Hay Wain’ is a painting that features atmospheric light and weather scenery. It  has a realistic look and is associated with romanticism in its celebration of nature observed. The style seen in this art pieces show compositions of light and dark in the trees, water, sky and shadows to visually showcase an idea of nostalgia where one can associate themselves with as its captivating to look at. 

Oil on canvas Painting by John Constable ‘The Hay wain’ 1821.

‘Salisbury Cathedral From The Meadows’ is another painting by John Constable, created in 1931. He depicts a realistic scene where the viewer can feel emotionally tied to it due to seeing a cathedral behind a dark cloud with minimal light that shows the mood of what the artist going through in his life and struggles following the loss of his wife. The artist still finds an atmospheric landscape and a creativity through how feels as he creates a detailed overcast scene that allows us to appreciate the beauty that art gives even through loss which therefore connects people together.  

Oil painting by John Constable Salisbury Cathedral from The Meadows.

Cecilia Danells is an artist based in Ireland and a post graduate student from the ATU Wellpark campus. Most of her paintings include a unique design around it as it features liquid dripping oil paintings. The oil on canvas design features a firsthand look at a forest with a large rock that is centred for the viewer to notice as it shows colourful and almost surrealistic imagery on it. This makes it appear more through it being bright and visually engaging as there’s so much colour that can lead to one person wondering how many instances can the artist create as we look at a modern animated  forest design which is interesting to observe. The paint creation is designed to be simplified and readable as it becomes fascinating for the viewer since colours adds more aesthetic to the painting which is motivating for those who desire to paint this way.  

Oil on canvas painting landscape

The two-installation oil canvas painting on the wall is seen at an exhibition show, where its perceived how the essence of viewing a painting online or in person plays a major role of understanding landscape paintings. The idea of appreciation  becomes more meaningful to the viewer as there are more aspects that you can see such as  feeling, touching, looking up close at the work and react more differently than seeing it online which makes the painting more significant as the viewer can become more moved by the effort the artist put into it and not scroll online and forget about it the following day. Viewing it first hand makes you see various lighting dark and light composition that are seen and how the light displayed galleries affect the look of the art piece which offers a different layer to the initial look seen online.  

2 installation oil on canvas artworks located at the exhibition show

Looking back in history I can see a long tradition of people engaging in landscape art through contemporary practices and the legacy that the previous artist left for the next continue. My approach to landscape comes from engaging in long walks and observing the things I see which leads me to imaginative thoughts as I do form ideas of how to convey light and dark compositions seen on the objects, i.e. trees, leaves, water, grass or rocks which allows me to translate the image rather than copying exactly what I see that adds another design and meaning to it as I transform a basic image to a colourful and blissful scenery of colourful artworks depicting landscape in a fleeting  moment. This painting features a beach with trees and various other things seen from an actual image taken in Portugal. The idea of going from dark to light using oil paint adds a simplified design to it as I am interested in creating a colourful detailed painting that’s satisfying to see which I enjoy doing when making this subject matter. The inspiration taken from the two previous artists mentioned allowed me to think more creatively when creating my paintings which made me appreciate this experience more. 

A photograph taken in the afternoon located in Portugal 2025 (left) & Oil Painting depiction of the image I created on a primed A3 Paper (right)

Landscape art has a purpose, theme and emotion which leaves a person feeling inspired to contribute their story to the art community and create a sense of appreciation for the natural world and by highlighting current issues, up comings, events and stories seen in one’s life to help establish this concept of art even further than it is today.