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Developing Landscapes
To develop the landscape several things need to be improved. Colour and harmony, forms in the landscape, Light within the picture, depth and perspective, etc. will all help the illusion succeed. 
Rather than get too complicated, lets look at some more simple steps to develop and practise. These various techniques can be juggled around to create unlimited and unique landscape images every time.

Light and Skies
A single mixed light blue sky is about the easiest to do.
For more contrast start with lots of white then add stronger colour before spreading onto the card.
To develop the skies try starting with more than one colour band - not too strong though!
For a full blown effect use several colours carefully applied together. It takes practise to get clean light.
Single band of light colour
Lots of white and a streak of darker blue
Start with more bands of colour
A full blown coloured sky

Horizon shapes
A straight line parallel to the card's top edge gives a good flat horizon. Also useful for water / seascapes
Rounded hills are made by sliding the iron back and forth across the card working down in a zig zag manner.
Use the iron's point and edge like a palette knife to draw the wax along in contrasting curved peaks and valleys.
The edge of the iron (when tipped on its side) must be moved in a hard peaks and troughs style (like a joke sales graph). Work from left to right pushing the wax along in front as you go.
Flat horizon made by one iron stroke
Rounded hills come from the iron's curved edge
High hills or soft mountains
High sharp mountain peaks

Foreground details
3 band landscape with lift-off effect (dabbing) for the foreground. Grasses added with the edge. Bird with the tip.
Dabbing for trees in the mid distance. Then clean some of the wax off the lower section and dab again for finer, less distinct foliage and ground cover.
High hills or gentle mountains. Here the foreground is made with a combined sweeping lift stroke of the iron. Wind swept and open.
Lifting off (dabbing) for scrub and bushes. Grasses again with the iron's edge and the birds with the point. Still basically a 3 band image.
Simple 3 band landscape.
Strong dabbing for trees, fine for ground cover.
Open highlands landscape.
A Wild Rocky / Alpine place

Finishing Touches

Landscapes can be kept very simple or developed, decorated and painted into. As in all painting, be careful to avoid over-working the image. Simple illusions are often the best!

The images below are the pictures above after they have been melted and re-worked into new foregrounds. Compare all 4 sets of images on this Web page to see the development of each from a sky / light effect into the final images.

Depth and distance are added by scraping away the wax to form a path. Start at horizon line. Keep scraping strokes parallel to bottom edge!
Re-heat the foreground area and wipe with soft tissue to form a lake. Add 'grasses' from the top corner to suggest a tree. Dragonflies are not difficult when done with the Stylus.
Posts are added using the Stylus drawing tip. They lead the eye into the image. Fine grasses / reeds are scratched out using a very fine pointed scribing tool.
Smoothing across the foreground, similar to making a sky, leaves a good water effect. Add sky colours in the second/final stroke to reflect the light. Redo the grasses and a little foreground.
Scrape wax away to make a path
Grass becomes tree. Dragonflies add life.
Posts show perspective. Scratch out fine reeds.
A smooth deep lake replaces the scrub.
Of course, landscape can be developed a lot more than this. The intention here is just to show you some simplest beginnings. There's loads more on the encaustic resource site at www.encaustic.com

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Pembrokeshire
SA36 0ED Wales UK
Tel: 01239 831401
FAX: 01239 831767
mail@encausticart.com

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