Spring

Spring is the beginning of something new. This is the birth of a new life, this is a blossoming, milky, still quite tender sprout. These are the first rays, the first songs. This is when the old foundations are crumbling, and a new, beautiful is reborn from under the fragments. Spring is a wonderful baby, still very young and fragile. Then he laughs, smiles - and his laughter illuminates everything around him with warmth and light. Then he cries and is sad - and tears flood the streets, and the whole sky frowns. This baby is still very small, capricious, and his mood is constantly changing. But his arrival brings something new, brings hope and joy, no matter how difficult the past from which he was reborn may be. Spring is the formation of a new stage, it is a baby carrying faith and love.

Summer

Summer is a time of fun and discovery. It is a feeling of happiness. This is boundless warmth, this is a gentle sun. Summer is a young boy, always in love and happy. He always laughs and jokes, is frivolous in everything, but everything is forgiven him for an optimistic look. He is active and gambling. Every day sparkles with laughter and a smile. And even rain and wind turn into something joyful and cheerful. Summer is a carefree youth, it is a time to fall in love and feel the world around you more sensually than ever.

Autumn

Autumn is a gloomy sky. These are wet asphalt and mirrored puddles. These are fiery colors and golden outfits. Autumn is longing and sadness for the past. This is an eternally gray sky, this is a stop in time. These are the last light rays and remnants of heat. Autumn is a brooding young man. His time for fun and games has passed, his look became frowned, more serious. He looks more often sad than dreamy. The carefree time has passed and it's time to feel life on your shoulders. This is the comprehension of everything, this is a kind of rebirth and the realization of simple truths. Autumn is a half-open door to the truth, it is gloomy time, dropping a cloud to the ground.

Winter

Winter is bitter cold and perfect whiteness. This is compressed air, clear sky. These are powdered branches and soft drifts. This is a frost biting on the cheeks, this is a cold light. Winter is a wise old man who threw away all idleness, leaving only the naked essence. He is not attracted to paints, color formalities. He skimped on the design, put only one meaning on the bright cover. And this is all beautiful, majestic. This old man has already discerned all the manifestations of life, all the signs of its struggle, he understood everything and everyone, he knew the whole essence of things and is now talking about something lofty. His gaze lost the fire of youth, but became soft and understanding. With advice and guidance, he again and again reminds us of the harsh nature, over and over again he says: "With your hands down, you will not change anything, get up and fight!" It's like an icy wind that constantly pushes forward. A bit harsh, but effective. Winter is when you have one naked essence in front of you, one truth without embellishment, this is an old man, wise and instructive.

Art tells about the beauty of the Earth.

Landscape in music, literature, painting.

A. Pushkin called art a "magic crystal", through the boundaries

which people, objects and phenomena around us are seen in a new way

the usual life.

At all times, painters, composers and writers embody in their works various natural phenomena that worried them. Through the feelings and experiences that arise in them when they perceive the majestic sea or mysterious stars, endless plains or the smooth bend of a river, they convey their vision of the world.

Thanks to works of art - literary, musical, picturesque - nature appears before readers, listeners, spectators always different: majestic, sad, tender, jubilant, grieving, touching. These images continue to attract a person, touching the thinnest strings of his soul, help to touch the unique beauty of his native nature, to see the unusual in what is familiar and everyday, give everyone the opportunity to develop a sense of belonging to their native land, to their father's house.

Landscape (French paysage - a view, an image of a certain area) is a genre dedicated to the depiction of nature. In European art, landscape stood out as an independent genre in the 17th century.

Landscape - poetry and musical painting

History of the development of landscape in Russian painting

Venetsianov and his students were the first to turn to the Russian landscape in their work.

Under blue skies

Great carpets

The snow lies shining in the sun.

The transparent forest alone turns black,

And the spruce turns green through the frost,

And the river shines under the ice.

A.S. Pushkin. ("Winter morning")

Slide 1 "Winter" Nikifor Krylov. (1802-1831)

Nikifor Krylov painted his painting "Winter" in 1827. This was the first Russian winter landscape.

Krylov painted the landscape, seen from the window of the workshop, within a month. The outskirts of the village appear, the inhabitants are busy with their daily activities: in the foreground, a woman with a yoke is carrying full buckets of water, a man is leading her by the bridle of a horse towards her, behind a woman with a yoke are two other women who have stopped to talk. A forest can be seen in the distance, and beyond it an endless plain. All around is white snow, bare trees. The author masterfully captured the atmosphere of the Russian winter. Such a surprisingly sincere and simple winter landscape is a rare phenomenon in Russian painting of the first half of the 19th century. The painting was first presented at an exhibition at the Academy of Arts, where it was well greeted by contemporaries who noted "the charmingly captured winter illumination, the nebula and all the differences in the cold that is well preserved in memory."

Tretyakov Gallery.

The landscapes of Grigory Soroka, Venetsianov's favorite student, are captivating and sad. And it's scary to break this silence. As if waking up, nature will lose irrevocable kindness and bliss and peace. Grigory Sorokin - serf landowner Milyukov.Grigory Vasilievich Soroka (1823-1864)Grigory Vasilievich Soroka is a student of A.G. Venetsianov, one of the most talented and beloved. Serf man of Tver landowner N.P. Milyukov, neighbor and good friend of A.G. Venetsianov. Soroka, taken by the master to his courtyard in the estate "Ostrovki", apparently was noticed there by the artist, and, with the permission of Miliukov, the master took him to his village of Safonkovo. Like all of Venetsianov's students, Soroka works mainly from nature, draws a lot, writes landscapes, portraits, and interiors. A.G. Venetsianov tried to redeem him out of captivity, but did not succeed due to his tragic death. After his death, Grigory Vasilyevich Soroka ended his life by suicide.

And only almost a quarter of a century later, an artist was destined to appear in Russian art, about whom the poet could say: "He breathed life with nature, he understood babbling by the stream, and he understood the sound of wood leaves and he heard the vegetation of herbs ..." Savrasov. He tried to find even in the simplest, ordinary, those intimate, deeply touching, often sad features that are so strongly felt in the Russian landscape and so irresistibly affect the soul.

In 1871 Savrasov created his famous masterpiece - the painting "The Rooks Have Arrived" (Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). He painted it from life in the village of Molvitino, Kostroma province. The artist loved to depict spring, and in this picture he managed to subtly and convincingly show its first signs: darkened March snow, melt water, air saturated with spring moisture, the sky covered with dark clouds, birds scurrying over their nests. Every detail of the landscape expresses a keen sense of anticipation of spring. This is probably why the picture was so fond of the Russian viewer, in the harsh and long winter, impatiently awaiting the arrival of spring and its first messengers - rooks.

The painting, shown in a traveling art exhibition, attracted the attention of many. Renowned art historian Alexandre Benois called it a guiding star for a whole generation of 19th century landscape painters. I.N. Kramskoy, who saw the canvas at the exhibition, said about it like this: “The landscape of Savrasov is the best, and it is really beautiful, although Bogolyubov… and Shishkin are right there. But all these are trees, water and even air, and the soul is only in "Rooks" ".

People, as if for the first time saw in their paintings both transparent spring air, and birch trees that are full of spring sap; heard the cheerful, hopeful, joyful hubbub of birds. And the sky does not seem so gray and bleak, and the spring mud consoles, pleases the eye. That, it turns out, what a Russian nature she is - gentle, thoughtful, touching! It is thanks to the painting Alexey Kondratievich Savrasov(1830-1897) “The Rooks Have Arrived” Russian artists felt the song of Russian nature, and Russian composers felt the landscape of Russian folk song.

The landscape of Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin "In the wild north ..." was written in 1891 to the motive of the poem "Pine" by M. Yu. Lermontov. The work is done on canvas in oil. This work is kept in the Kiev Museum of Russian Art. On the canvas, we see a pine tree that stands on the edge of a cliff and at any moment is ready to fall under the weight of the snow, which has covered its branches-arms in flakes. The top of a pine tree looks like the head of an eagle, which is about to fall off, flap its wings and, with relief, will be freed from the unbearable weight. The gloomy dark blue sky is permeated with anxiety. The middle of the pine tree closer to the trunk looks like a skeleton that has lost its flesh-foliage during the winter. This work is imbued with the spirit of loneliness and cold.

Read the poem by M.Yu. Lermontov "In the wild north it is lonely"

In the north, the wild is lonely
On the bare top is a pine tree,
And slumbers, swaying, and loose snow
She is dressed like a robe.
And she dreams of everything that is in the distant desert,
In the land where the sun rises
Alone and sad on a cliff with fuel
A beautiful palm tree is growing.

In general, the oak is one of the favorite trees of the landscape painter, who tirelessly portrayed these magnificent titans, created by unpredictable nature. On this canvas, Shishkin's oaks are the magnificent heroes of the forest epic, spreading wide, powerful branches-paws. The trees are illuminated by the rays of the sun, which is about to leave the sky. The time of day shown in the picture is evening. However, Shishkin masterfully emphasizes the unusual play of the luminary on the mighty trunks of oak trees.

Contemporaries called Shishkin “the patriarch of the forest”, and these words very accurately conveyed the artist's attitude to nature and art. The forest, which the painter loved selflessly, became the protagonist of his paintings. Shishkin did not just write nature: he, as a scientist, studied it. The master never tired of repeating to his disciples: “In the study of nature, you should never put an end to it, you cannot say that you have completely learned it and that you don’t need to learn any more”. Shishkin was the first Russian painter of the 19th century to understand the importance and significance of nature studies. He knew the forest perfectly, the structure of every tree and plant.

"If the pictures of the nature of our dear Russia are dear to us, if we want to find our own, truly folk ways, to the image of its soulful appearance, then these paths also lie through your mighty forests, full of unique poetry." - This is how Viktor Vasnetsov wrote to the landscape painter Ivan Shishkin.

"This boy will still show himself, no one, and he himself, including, does not even know about the possibilities hidden in him." - These are the words of the artist Kramskoy about the Russian artist Fyodor Vasiliev. Vasiliev lived only 23 years, but how much he managed to do. His excited brush told people so much about the greatness and mystery of nature.

Painting "Birch Grove" (1879). The foreground does not show entire trees, but only flexible white trunks. Behind them - the silhouettes of bushes and trees, and around - the emerald green of a swamp with a clearing full of dark water.

The gift of color sensations is a kind of luxury that elevates a person ”- this statement of the scientist Petrashevsky can be fully attributed to the work of Kuindzhi.

“The illusion of light was his God, and there was no artist equal to him in achieving this miracle of painting. Kuindzhi is an artist of light, ”wrote Repin in 1913.

A contemporary of A. Savrasov and I. Shishkin, he brought the magic of light into the landscape. The natural world on his canvases is like a fairytale palace, where wonderful and eternal dreams visit a person.

The unpretentious beauty of the Central Russian strip did not attract the attention of artists for a long time. Boring, monotonous plain landscapes, gray

the sky, the spring thaw or the summer grass withered from the heat ... What is poetic in this?

Russian artists of the 19th century A. Savrasov, I. Levitan, I. Shishkin and others discovered the beauty of their native land.

Levitan's paintings require slow viewing. They do not overwhelm the eye, they are modest and accurate, like Chekhov's stories. So few notes and so much music. The great poet of nature, Levitan, until the end felt the inexplicable beauty of the Russian landscape, and in his paintings he managed to convey love for the Motherland, not embellished with anything, beautiful in its immediacy.

The painting “Fresh wind. Volga ”(1895, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). The free wind covers the water with light ripples, fills the sails, drives light clouds across the sky. With the help of sonorous, fresh colors, the master conveys the dazzling whiteness of the steamer and the clouds slightly gilded by the sun, the bright blue of the sky and the river.

In "Quiet Cloister" the artist managed to show a generalized image of nature in a fresh and emotional way. The same motive of the temple, reflected in the calm and transparent river water, was repeated by Levitan in the painting “Evening Bells” (1892, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow).

Levitan is recognized as one of the most subtle and heartfelt landscape painters. With the work of Levitan, the concept of "mood landscape" entered Russian painting. The ability to objectively convey the beauty of nature in all the variety of its changeable manifestations and at the same time through the landscape to express the state of the human soul, its subtlest experiences were the precious qualities of the artist's talent. The painting "Golden Autumn", imbued with a jubilant mood, is a kind of farewell hymn to the last flowering of nature: the extraordinary brightness of colors, the "burning" of gold of birches, the multicolored cover of the earth. Painted with brilliant skill, the landscape is distinguished by a complex color scheme, a variety of picturesque surfaces, on which textured colorful strokes stand out.

Probably about the pictures “Golden Autumn” and “Fresh Wind. Volga "Grabar wrote:" ... They instilled courage and faith in us, they infected and raised. I wanted to live and work ”.

But Levitan has few such life-affirming and joyful landscapes.

The painting “Spring. Big Water ”(1897, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). The coloring of the picture is very harmonious. With the help of the finest color nuances, the artist conveys the fresh beauty of the coming spring. Thin trunks of trees are pierced by dim sunlight. Their fragility and grace are accentuated by clear reflections in the water. This emotional and heartfelt picture of nature conveys the full depth of human feelings and experiences. The presence of a person is reminiscent of a lonely boat on the coast and modest peasant houses on the horizon.

Ples is a small provincial town on the banks of the Volga, where Levitan worked for three years (1888-1890). Here Levitan first found those motives and plots that later immortalized his name, and, at the same time, the name of Ples. Golden Plyos is one of the masterpieces created by Levitan at this time. With amazing sensitivity, this canvas conveys the feeling of pacified silence, the soft glow of the sunset light, the gentle haze of fog floating over the sleeping river ... his blows. Part of the white stone house with a red roof was rented by Levitan for some time.

The philosophical warehouse and dramatic inner world of the artist, his reflections on the frailty of human existence in the face of eternity are revealed.

Painting by Levitan Lake (Rus)(1895, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg) - the last large painting of the artist, on which he worked for a long time and with inspiration. Perhaps, he did not make so many preparatory studies and sketches for not one of the works. It is known that in the process of creation Lakes the artist more than once went on sketches to the Tver province, to places that once served as a kind for the picture Over eternal rest... But in comparison with the latter in The lake you hear not mourning, but solemn major music of nature. Lake makes a strong impression with its light, festive sound, "chime", combining the high blue sky, on which snow-white clouds float, and the wonderful expanse of the blue lake, on the near shore of which the reeds agitated by the fresh wind turn green, and on the distant shores you can see villages and ascending heads to the sky is white temples and bell towers.

Wonderful day, centuries will pass

They will also be in eternal order

The river flows and sparkles

And the fields breathe in the heat.

Fedor Tyutchev

Read words of the Russian poet I. Bunin.

No, it's not the landscape that attracts me

The greedy gaze will not notice the colors,

And what shines in these colors:

Love and joy of being.

How do you understandwords of the Russian poet I. Bunin?

The French writer A. de Saint Exupery said: "You cannot see the most important thing with your eyes, only the heart is sharp-sighted."

Assignment: o explain the meaning?

Write down into a creative notebook in a prosaic or poetic form of an impression of a natural phenomenon that amazed you with its beauty.

Pick up pieces of music that are in tune with the paintings of Russian artists. What artistic associations do you have in your mind?

Listen to music:

SI Taneev "Pine" to lyrics by Yuri Lermontov.

"You Are My Field" is a Russian folk song.

It is necessary to analyze, compare with the literary text and paintings of artists.

Literary pages

Listen to verses about nature:Native. D. Merezhkovsky

Autumn evening. F. Tyutchev.

Read aloud two literary works written in the 20th century, find intonation, tempo, voice dynamics to convey the emotional state reflected in these works.

All in a melting haze

N. Rylenkov

To an unknown friend

This morning is sunny and dewy, like an undiscovered earth, an unexplored layer of heaven, this is the only morning, no one has yet got up, no one has seen anything, and you yourself see for the first time. Nightingales are singing their spring songs, dandelions are still preserved in calm places, and, perhaps, a lily of the valley whitens in the damp black shade. Lively summer birds began to help the nightingales.<…>The restless chatter of blackbirds was everywhere, and the woodpecker was very tired of looking for live food for his little ones, he sat down on a branch far from them just to rest.

Get up, my friend! Collect the rays of your happiness in a bundle, be brave, start the fight, help the sun! Listen, and the cuckoo has begun to help you. Look, the harrier is swimming above the water: this is not an ordinary harrier, this morning he is the first and only one, and so the magpies, sparkling with dew, went out onto the path<…>... This is the only morning, not a single person has ever seen it all over the world: only you and your unknown friend see it.

And for tens of thousands of years people lived on the earth, saved up, passing on to each other, joy so that you would come, raise it, gathered its arrows in bunches and rejoice. Brave, brave!

And again the soul will expand: fir trees, birches, and I cannot take my eyes off the green candles on the pines and from the young red cones on the trees. Fir-trees, birches, how good it is!

M. Prishvin

Answer the questions;

* What thoughts of a poet and writer, revealing the secrets of native Russian nature, help to feel its beauty? Highlight the keywords that are important to you in these texts.

What works of painting do you associate with these literary images?

Find reproductions of landscapes by Russian artists that are in tune with them.

Artistic and creative tasks

Prepare a computer presentation on "Landscape in literature, music, painting". Justify your choice of artwork.

Imagine yourself as a sound engineer, pick up musical compositions familiar to you, with which you can sound the literary works presented above. Read them to this music.

Listen to music:

Autumn, G. Sviridov;

The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh. Introduction;

Answer the question: Which of these pieces of music is voiced by the poem about the nature of F. Tyutchev?

Remember the music lessons. Listen to the music of Valery Gavrilin again. Is it consonant with the paintings of I. Levitan?

Visible music

Listeners all over the world know and love the masterpieces of musical classics - "The Four Seasons" - a cycle of concerts by the Italian composer XVIII

v. Antonio Vivaldi(1678-1741) and a cycle of Russian piano pieces

composer of the XIX century. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky(1840-1893). Both compositions belong to program music: they have titles and are accompanied by poetic lines - sonnets of the composer himself in Vivaldi's concerts and verses by Russians poets for each of the 12 plays of the cycle Tchaikovsky.

A. Vivaldi "Seasons" for string orchestra.

PI Tchaikovsky "Seasons" - cycle for piano

12 plays - 12 pictures from Tchaikovsky's Russian life received epigraphs from the verses of Russian poets when publishing:

And don't rush to follow the troika
And anxiety in my heart
Quickly extinguish forever. "
N.A. Nekrasov

"Christmastide". December:
Once in the Epiphany evening
The girls wondered
Slipper behind the gate
They threw them off their feet. "
V. A. Zhukovsky

"Snowdrop". April Listen
"Blue clean
Snowdrop: flower,
And next to it is clear
The last snowball.
Last tears
About the past grief
And the first dreams
About happiness otherwise ... "
A. N. Maikov

"White Nights". May Listen
"What a night! What bliss all over!
Thank you, dear midnight land!
From the kingdom of ice, from the kingdom of blizzards and snow
How fresh and clean your May flies! "
A.A. Fet

"Barcarole". June Listen
"Let's go ashore, there are waves
They will kiss our feet
Stars with a mysterious sadness
Will shine above us "
A.N. Pleshcheev

"Song of the Mower". July:
"Wake up, shoulder Swing your hand!
You smell in the face, Wind from noon! "
A. V. Koltsov

"Harvest". August:
"People with families
Began to reap
Root mow
High rye!
Frequent heaps
The sheaves are folded.
From the wagons all night
Music will hide. "
A. V. Koltsov

"Hunting". September:
"It's time, it's time! The horns are blowing:
Hounds in hunting gear
Than the light is already sitting on horses;
Greyhounds jump in packs. "
A.S. Pushkin

In Russian landscapes-moods - poetic, picturesque and musical - images of nature, thanks to the amazing song of intonations, melodies that last like an endless song, like the singing of a lark, convey the lyrical desire of the human soul for beauty, help people to better understand the poetic content of sketches of nature.

These are the words with which he described his impressions of the painting by I. Levitan

"Spring. Big water "connoisseur of Russian painting M. Alpatov:

Thin, like candles, girlish slender birches look like the ones that have been sung in Russian songs from time immemorial. The reflection of birches in clear water, as it were, constitutes their continuation, their echo,

melodic echo, they dissolve in the water with their roots, their pink branches merge with the blue of the sky. The contours of these bent birches sound like a gentle and sadly mournful flute, separate voices of more powerful trunks burst out of this chorus, all of them are opposed by a high pine trunk and dense spruce greenery.

Pay attention to the epithets in the description of the painting. Why did the author use musical comparisons?

I can imagine what a charm we now have in Russia - the rivers have flooded, everything comes to life. There is no better country than Russia ... Only in Russia can there be a real landscape painter.

I. Levitan

Why a simple Russian landscape, why a walk in the summer in Russia, in the village, through the fields, through the forest, in the evening in the steppe, it happened, brought me to such a state that I lay down on the ground in some kind of exhaustion from the influx of love for nature, those are inexplicable sweet and intoxicating impressions that the forest, steppe, river, village in the distance, modesta little church, in a word, everything that made up the wretched Russian native landscape? Why is all this?

P. Tchaikovsky

What attracts composers and artists to Russian nature?

Complete an optional quest

Listen to excerpts from the programmatic works of A. Vivaldi and P. Tchaikovsky. How does this music make you feel?

Find in them similar and different features, expressive means, which convey the attitude of composers to nature. What makes Russian music different from Italian?

What visual and literary associations do you get under the impression of these works? Match verses to the music played.

Hear modern adaptations of classics that paint nature. What new do contemporary performers bring to the interpretation of familiar melodies?

Artistic and creative task

Find reproductions of landscape paintings. Write in a creative notebook a short story about one of the paintings, find musical and literary examples for it.

Musical works: PI Tchaikovsky cycle of piano pieces "Seasons"; A. Vivaldi. Concert for stringed instruments "Seasons"; (fragments).

Work on landscapes in the technique of watercolor painting is described in detail in a special manual "Aquarelle", authors GB Smirnov and A. A. Unkovsky ("Enlightenment", 1964). Therefore, in this manual, we restrict ourselves to describing the work on landscapes using the oil painting technique.

In order to paint landscape sketches, you need to have a sketchbook with all the necessary accessories, a folding chair, an umbrella, primed sheets of cardboard or canvas on stretchers. If the sketchbook does not have retractable legs, then for large canvases you need a lightweight folding easel.

The beginning artist is attracted by many objects. Nature captures with its beauty, I want to write everything, in a word, I want to "embrace the immense." However, you need to be able to calculate your strength and set a specific task. To begin with, we recommend that you make two small sketches in a day with a specific purpose - to convey the state of nature with the help of large tonal relationships.

When choosing a landscape motif, a lot can attract attention: lighting, color and tonal relationships between the sky and the earth, the nature of vegetation, the relationship of its large masses with smaller ones, a certain weather condition, for example, a quiet morning, a bright noon with contrasting chiaroscuro or subtle relationships of cloudy, “gray "Or" silvery "day.

It is important to keep in mind all the time what struck you at the first moment. Having outlined on cardboard with a stick of coal the ratio of the earth and the sky, the drawing of the largest masses, you need to take a closer look and try to more accurately determine the general tone that will characterize this state of nature. Immediately it is necessary to determine how much one part of the landscape is darker in relation to the other, which is the darkest, which is the lightest. Correctly found tonal relationships are the basis that will help convey the state of nature.

You need to start writing with the main objects in tonal and color terms. In most cases, you have to immediately take the relationship of the tone of the earth, forest or buildings in the background to the sky. If in the foreground of the chosen motive there is a tree trunk or other large object, then it is necessary to take the relations of the foreground, earth and sky, but in each specific case it is necessary to decide for yourself where, it is more expedient to start defining a pictorial solution. It should be borne in mind that lighting in nature changes rapidly, tonal and color relationships also change, and therefore one cannot count on a long session. On a gray day, an etude can be painted for a relatively long time, and on a sunny day, in the morning or in the evening, - no more than an hour and a half. On a clear noon, the relationship does not change so quickly, which allows you to work for two or two and a half hours. At sunset or sunrise, when a thunderstorm is approaching, etc., only quick sketches can be painted.

In addition to the fidelity of tonal relationships, it is necessary to take care of the color saturation and its activity. Inexperienced artists often paint in a gray color or strongly blacken shadow places,

At the beginning of learning landscape painting, it is recommended to write one-session sketches. The sizes of one-session sketches should not be large. It is most convenient to write them on a primed cardboard fixed on the inside of the cover of the sketchbook. A landscape sketch is often drawn with a thin kolinsky brush. The paint should be thinned and dim in color (one of the brown or ultramarine paints, but in no case black). Keep in mind that the pencil or paint in the drawing will mix in and muddy the color overlay. In the drawing, it is necessary to achieve the correct determination of the proportions and the structural structure, but it should not be petty with unnecessary details that will fetter the work with the brush.

Before starting work, one should try to mentally “see” the finished sketch and think about how best to define the basic color relationships. It is impossible to write to the end only one part of the study, when the color layout of other large surfaces is not determined. The color of the sky is greatly influenced by the color of the sky. It has a particularly noticeable effect on the color of those shadow surfaces on which its reflexes fall. On those surfaces where the sky reflexes do not fall, the influence of light rays reflected from the ground, buildings, trees is visible. When small clouds float across the sky, shadows from them will be visible on the ground. The foreground can be shaded and the distance illuminated, or vice versa.

A beginner landscape painter is often confused by the variability of lighting, but one must firmly observe the distribution of light and shade established at the beginning of the etude. White snow, white clouds and white walls cannot be painted with just white paint, since one or another color characteristic of each surface will depend on the lighting and the effect of color reflexes. In those cases when it is necessary to convey a mass of thin branches without foliage against the background of a light sky, you can first "lay" them in the desired color, and make gaps on top with small strokes.

When writing an etude, one should pay attention to the variety of characteristics of "touches" of the depicted surfaces. To transfer the air environment, it is impossible to sharply outline the boundaries of objects, since this will destroy the softness inherent in nature. But at the same time, sometimes it is necessary to reveal a clear silhouette of a dark tree against the background of the sky or other tonal contrasts. A soft "blur" of color tones characterizes a foggy day, while the clarity of sculpting the shape of objects is characteristic of dry, sunny weather. In the foreground, the direction of the strokes should clearly show the sculpting of the shape.

Reflections in calm water are often painted with vertical strokes. There can be no ready-made recipes, in each individual case it is necessary to think about which direction of the stroke will help to better convey the nature. You cannot only allow a random, chaotic pile of strokes.

An important place in landscape paintings is occupied by the image of clouds. The shapes of clouds are very varied, and the artist must study their structure well. Clouds can have vertical and horizontal development, be located in the upper, middle or lower tiers.

Cirrus clouds are very high and appear as light strokes, as if painted on a clear blue sky, or resemble fanned feathers. They are arranged in stripes and, according to the laws of perspective, seem to converge on the horizon at the vanishing point. Cirrus clouds have no shadows as they are transparent and sometimes have a silky sheen. They consist of very small ice crystals, and their transparency depends on the relatively rare distribution of ice particles. When cirrus clouds cover the sun, they slightly diminish its light, but the solar disk is still visible. Before sunrise and sunset, painted in orange and pinkish tones, they are brightly lit at a time when it is already dark on the surface of the earth. During the day, cirrus clouds near the horizon have a slightly yellowish color, which is explained by a large layer of air separating them from the viewer. The boundaries of cirrus clouds are vague and do not have sharp outlines. Sometimes cirrostratus clouds resemble a light veil that gives the sky a milky hue without completely blocking out the sunlight.

Altocumulus clouds are like ridges, as if consisting of small lumps, Depending on the thickness of the layer, the tone of the clouds changes from light to dark. Between individual clouds, clear sky gaps are visible. Ridges of dark altocumulus clouds can sometimes be seen against a background of lighter cirrostratus. Multiple layers of altocumulus clouds can often be observed with different color and tonal relationships. It depends on the conditions of their lighting.

Alto-layered clouds can form a dense monochromatic cover in the sky. Stratocumulus clouds often cover the entire sky, but the thickness of the cloud layers varies and forms a "wavy surface" with alternating light and dark tones. Such cloud layers are often seen in winter.

At the hour of sunset, the so-called evening stratocumulus clouds are formed, which have flat elongated shapes. Dark stratus clouds give uniform tones throughout the sky. These clouds are typical for cloudy rain.

When the sun is hidden by a thick cover of stratus clouds, the sketch can be painted for a long time, since the lighting conditions change little.

Dense cumulus clouds increase vertically, develop in clear weather and look like snowy mountains or fantastic towers. On such clouds, with side light, brightly lit and shadow surfaces are observed, revealing their relief. Cumulus clouds have domed tops and their bases are horizontal. The undersurfaces of cumulus clouds differ in color, as they receive reflexes from the grass cover of the earth, dense forests or sandy desert. Sometimes a cumulus cloud, developing vertically, turns into a thundercloud, which looks like a giant anvil. From above, such a cloud loses its sharpness. Very low torn clouds of other tonal characteristics are formed under its base. When a cumulus cloud covers almost the entire sky, then the observer can only see its base, which resembles stratus clouds. Cumulonimbus clouds produce fast passing showers that are visible from a distance as a dark curtain between the cloud's bottom and the ground. The leading edge of a large thundercloud often separates into a darker shaft and is seen against the backdrop of a towering light cloud tower. The external outlines of clouds, with the ability to observe them in nature, make it possible to understand the direction of the air current and the direction of the wind.

In order to study various cloud structures, it is recommended to perform more sketches and one-session sketches. It is necessary to learn how to harmonize the shapes and colors of the clouds in the landscape with the overall composition and color.

The inserts show the sequence of work on a landscape sketch. The first stage of the work is the execution of a pencil drawing, on which the composition is determined and all the elements of the landscape are marked. The etude format is vertical. The horizon line is taken below the middle, a sheet of cardboard, trees are placed at different distances. Already in the initial markings, a different characteristic of the shape of each tree is shown. The second stage of the work is the determination of the basic color and tonal relationships. The relationship of the trees in front, as well as the distant forest, to the sky and to the earth is taken. The third stage is generalized registration. The entire surface of the cardboard is covered with paint. At this stage, the previously outlined relationships between the tree in the foreground and the trees in the depths of the painting were further developed. The relationship between the clouds at the horizon and in the upper part of the sketch was determined. Revealed the spatial solution of the foreground and distant plans of the earth. The last stage corresponds to the degree of completeness that can be achieved in a one-session etude. We recommend that you pay attention to the fact that each tree has its own color and tonal characteristics, and also consider how the details are conveyed: bark, some branches, grass rays on the ground, etc. In the last stage of the work, the artist's main attention was focused on the final generalization tone and color relationships.

It must be remembered that the main task in the sketch is the study of nature, color and tonal relationships that characterize nature at different times of the year, under different weather conditions. Work on a sketch requires direct observation. Fragmentation and incompleteness of details are forgivable here.

Having accumulated some skills in landscape painting while performing small short-term sketches, you can proceed to work on large and more complex sketches in composition, designed for two or three sessions.

Before embarking on a long sketch, it is useful to make a few preliminary sketches, compose the image, and highlight the compositional center. You can't rush to complete a drawing for painting. It is necessary to carefully draw in it all the characteristic forms, to trace the plastic relationship between large and smaller masses of vegetation.

Underpainting, that is, a wide strip of canvas with paints, it is better to start with the largest and clearest in color areas of nature. We advise you to start writing liquid, avoid white in the shadows, which will allow you to achieve the necessary saturation of color relations. After the first session, the canvas needs to be dried, as it is better to write on dry underpainting. Before the next session, it is recommended to wipe the dried surface of the canvas with a cut onion. In the second session, you can write pasty, but without being distracted by small details, trying to maintain that harmony of color and tonal relationships that distinguishes the chosen motive of the landscape. When working on the shape of trees, leaves and other elements, you need to think about the meaning that this or that element has in the overall color structure of the canvas.

In the next session, which may be the last, we recommend to work either on a wet layer, that is, the next day or on a dry one, but in no case on a semi-dry layer, since in this case the paints fade and they fade. Working on the identification of forms, it is necessary to achieve the veracity of the depiction of nature. At the end of the work, it is necessary to generalize some details if they "fall out" of the general order, or to strengthen if they lack the actieness of color and tone.

Gusak Natalya Yurievna was born in 1968 in Omsk. Her father, a little-known Siberian artist from an early age, instilled in his daughter a love of paints and constantly took her with him to sketches. She spent her childhood in Siberia. In 1989 she graduated from the Omsk Art School. Since 1995 he has been working at a professional level, a constant participant in regional exhibitions. Currently he lives in central Russia, in a small, calm city - Kovrov. In connection with the development of the Internet, interest in her work began to grow.

Natalia's works can be found in her hometown of Omsk, as well as in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladimir, Berlin, Rome, Marseille, Washington.
The artist works in various genres: landscape, still life. He is fluent in batik technique. In recent years, in addition to painting, she was carried away by painting lacquer miniatures. Her works are made in the best traditions of landscape masters. Landscapes about the beauty of Russian nature are simple and natural. Work