Exception to the Rule

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

February Sunlight (date unknown) John F Carlson

The snowstorm that draped the Midwest last weekend gave us that wonderful opportunity to paint the exception to John F. Carlson’s simple system of values called the Theory of Angles. (See Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting.)

It is helpful to understand some important and consistent principles that inform the values in a landscape. An understanding of what Carlson calls “the four prime planes of the landscape” will help the artist to be authentic to the scene they are experiencing and ultimately to be able to add their artistry to a painting beyond what may be literally seen in the landscape.

It’s a simple theory, but one that forms a strong foundation beneath any landscape painting: 1. the arch of the sky is the plane from which the source of light is coming; 2. that light is most directly hitting the flat plane of the ground below it; 3. those objects with slanting planes (mountains, etc.) are receiving more ligh…