Edgar Payne

Edgar Payne's book "Composition of Outdoor Painting" is often recommended by landscape artists. It may be out of print, but there are often copies to be found online. There are some for sale at
www.amazon.com (A new copy is very expensive).

In the book, Payne categorises various types of composition to help the reader design their paintings rather than simply capturing random snapshots of the landscape. 

These compositional types are not intended to be fixed recipes. The artist should adapt them to use in original ways.

Compositional design does not imply that one is 'fudging' reality, it is simply a means of knowing what to look for when deciding what to paint.

Radiating Lines

A nice plein air study. 

The apparently quiet and simple subject forms a dynamic and interesting composition because of radiating lines, diagonal movements of the banks of the stream and the central mass of trees, pulling away from each other but also drawing the eye into the heart of the scene. 

The small patches of light seen between the trees on the horizon are almost pure white, while the shadows reflected in the stream are almost pure black. This gives the painting the full range of tonal contrast.

Gustave Cimiotti - American

Summer Hillside, 1920, 15 x 18 inches

The sky has been pushed up to the top of this composition, making the expanse of hillside more powerful. A much stronger image than if the horizon had been placed according to the rule of thirds. Chosing a squarish format, rather than a rectangular one, gives a feeling of stability and rest, which suits the subject - a hill. But the curving diagonals provide visual energy, and lead the eye from the hilltop to the pond - a small area of blue in the lower right corner to nicely balances the blue sky at the top of the painting.

Bill Anton - American

Out of Canyon Shadows, 36 x 36 inches


Packing The Superstitions, 30 x 50 inches

Many would consider depictions of cowboys riding through canyons as Wild West kitsch, but this artist has excellent technical skills, design/composition, and knows how to create mood.

Len Chmiel - American

Indications of Spring, 27 x 37 inches

The eye is lead around the bend in the stream and then up the path of sunlit snow on the slope in the background.

The subtlest hints of sunlight on the shaded snow brings the scene to life.

Louis La Brie - American, born 1950

The Long Way Home

A strikingly unusual composition. A evocative title can help create a particular mood.

Sea Rocks

To balance the cool colours in the seawater, marine artists often add pink reflections of a sunset, or sunrise. Reddish brown rocks also add contrast. To make a pleasing composition, where there is an area of rocks, or headland, to one side of a painting, a smaller area of rock, or headland, should be added as a counterbalance on the other side. In the painting with the figure, the hair of the woman counterbalances the rocks to some extent.

Frank H. Myers - The Golden Path,
24 x 30 inches, 1940's


USA, 30 x 46 Inches


Evening On The Beach.
Dame Laura Knight, R.A. (1877-1970).
Watercolour And Gouache