Frank Johnston’s Sunset in the Bush

For your inspiration today: Frank Johnston’s Sunset in the Bush. Johnston was a Canadian artist and a member of the Group of Seven. This painting caught my eye with its painterly brushwork and glowing sunlight.

A few observations:

• It’s a fairly quiet and understated painting, with more of the focus on the dark trees and plants in the foreground rather than the yellow-glowing sky above. There’s a peacefulness and stillness to it, as if we are standing there in the bush watching the sunlight fade.
• The sky showing through gaps in the tree canopy creates an interesting play between light and dark colors. It also creates a subtle link between land and sky by weaving them together somewhat. My one criticism of the painting, though, is that the gaps around the top-middle of the painting appear a bit repetitive.

• Green is the most common color, but it’s a warm painting in general. The bursts of saturated yellow, orange, and red command our attention amongst the sea of dark and fairly restrained greens.
• Notice the subtle variance within the greens. They dance from warm to cool, light to dark, strong to weak.
• The painting has a distinct style, typical of artists in the Group of Seven. There’s an emphasis on shape and texture and brushwork. But this comes at the expense of fine rendering and blending (we cannot have it all in painting—there’s always a tradeoff).
• The portrait dimensions of the painting play into the vertical theme of the trees. If Johnston were to focus more on the foreground or the sky, then perhaps landscape dimensions would be more suitable.

Tip: The dimensions of your painting is one of the first important composition decisions you can make. Choose wisely and play into the theme of the subject.

• Johnston signed in the bottom left-hand corner with what appears to be pure cadmium orange. A bold choice, but it fits with the overall color theme of the painting (small bursts of strong, warm color).

Thanks for reading! If you ever want to learn more, make sure to check out our Landscape Painting Masterclass. The price goes back up tomorrow.

Happy painting!

Dan Scott

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