Here is a list of 100 command prompts for landscape painting, categorized to inspire creativity and focus your practice.
1. Light & Atmosphere
Paint a scene during the "golden hour" (just after sunrise or before sunset).Capture the harsh, direct light of midday.Paint a nocturne, focusing on moonlight or artificial light.Render a landscape obscured by thick fog or mist.Paint the dramatic "after the storm" light.Capture the effect of dappled light filtering through trees.Paint a backlit subject, creating a silhouette or rim-lighting.Focus on the subtle, cool light of a pre-dawn sky.Paint the intense, saturated colors of a sunset.Capture the diffused, gray light of an overcast day.Find and emphasize the "silver lining" on clouds.Paint a landscape by the light of a full moon.
2. Composition & Viewpoint
Compose your painting using the rule of thirds.Establish a single, dominant focal point.Use a road, river, or path as a "lead-in" line.Frame the distant scene with foreground elements (e.g., trees, an arch).Use a low horizon line to emphasize a dramatic sky.Use a high horizon line to focus on the ground and landscape features.Create an S-curve composition (e.g., a winding river).Focus on the negative space between objects (e.g., tree branches).Paint from a high "bird's-eye" perspective.Paint from a low "worm's-eye" perspective.Use a panoramic (wide) canvas format.Use a tall, thin "portrait" format for a landscape.Use one-point perspective with a vanishing point.
3. Color & Palette
Paint a landscape using only a monochromatic palette (one color plus tints and shades).Use a limited palette of only three primary colors plus white.Use a Zorn palette (Ivory Black, Yellow Ochre, Vermilion, Titanium White).Paint a high-key scene (all light values, minimal darks).Paint a low-key scene (all dark values, minimal lights).Exaggerate the local color of every element.Use complementary colors (e.g., red and green) at the focal point for high contrast.Use a palette of analogous colors (e.g., blue, blue-green, green) for harmony.Focus on color temperature: paint warm light and cool shadows.Desaturate your palette to create a Tonalist mood.Use vibrant, non-local (unrealistic) color in a Fauvist style.Start with a bright, warm-colored underpainting (e.g., sienna, orange).Start with a cool-colored underpainting (e.g., blue, gray).
4. Subject & Environment
Paint a study of a single, majestic mountain peak.Capture the energy of coastal cliffs and crashing waves.Paint a still, reflective lake.Paint the interior of a deep, quiet forest.Paint a vast, open field (e.g., wheat, lavender, or snow).Capture the forms and colors of a desert landscape.Paint an urban landscape, focusing on buildings and streets.Paint a rural scene with a barn or farmhouse.Focus on the power and mist of a waterfall.Paint a swamp or marsh, focusing on reflections and complex grasses.Paint a "skyscape" where clouds are the main subject.Paint an industrial landscape (e.g., factories, bridges).Capture the sparse beauty of the arctic or tundra.
5. Specific Elements (Studies)
Paint a study of a single, interesting tree.Paint a study of rock formations, focusing on planes and texture.Focus on the texture of tree bark up close.Paint transparent, shallow water over rocks.Paint deep, opaque water.Focus on capturing accurate reflections in water.Paint the texture of moving, churning water (rapids or surf).Paint a study of various cloud types (cumulus, cirrus).Focus on a man-made element (e.g., a fence, a gate, a telephone pole).Paint a patch of foreground, detailing grasses, weeds, and stones.Capture the unique texture and subtle colors of snow.Paint the silhouette of trees against a twilight sky.Paint a macro-landscape (e.g., moss on a log, a single flower in a field).
6. Technique & Application
Paint the entire scene using only a palette knife.Paint "alla prima" (wet-on-wet) in a single session.Build up the painting slowly using thin glazes of color.Use heavy impasto (thick paint) to create physical texture.Use only large brushes (e.g., 2-inch) to force simplification.Use only small brushes to create a detailed, stippled effect.Use a dry-brush (scumbling) technique to add texture.Let your initial sketch or colorful underpainting show through in a "broken color" style.Use expressive, visible brushstrokes.Try to paint with "broken color" in an Impressionist style.Use sgraffito (scratching into wet paint) to create fine details (like twigs).Focus on creating soft, lost edges for distant objects.Create a hard, sharp edge for your focal point.
7. Style & Abstraction
Paint in an Impressionist style, focusing only on light and color.Paint in a hyper-realistic style, focusing on sharp detail and texture.Paint in a Tonalist style, focusing on mood, atmosphere, and a narrow color range.Abstract the landscape into its most basic shapes and planes.Simplify all elements into flat planes of color (like a poster).Paint in the expressive, swirling style of Van Gogh.Paint in the grand, dramatic style of the Hudson River School.Create a minimalist landscape with as few elements as possible.Flatten the perspective, in the style of Japanese woodblock prints.
8. Process & Challenges
Paint "en plein air" (on location, outdoors).Paint a landscape entirely from memory.Paint a landscape from a dream.Paint the same scene at three different times of day (morning, noon, night).Give yourself a 30-minute time limit for a "speed painting."Paint from a black and white reference photo and invent all the colors.Turn your reference photo upside down and paint it (to see shapes, not objects).Crop a reference photo in a dynamic, unusual way.Paint the "feeling" of a place, not its literal details.Paint a landscape on an unconventional surface (e.g., wood panel, metal).Use a color you actively dislike and try to make it work.Paint a landscape that is "ugly" or "boring" (e.g., a ditch, a parking lot) and find its beauty.Paint the reflection of a landscape in a puddle or window.Re-paint a famous landscape painting in your own style.
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