From Portrait to Landscape
March 31, 2026
The low winter sun was streaming through the trees, casting blue shadows on the snow. The brook water could be seen here and there, like black shimmering holes against the white.
The Brook, 2026
I don’t know why I never draw landscapes. I love looking at beautiful landscapes and I love landscape art. Though I must say I’ve started noticing and appreciating that type of art more in the past two years. Before that I was always more attracted to artworks with human figures in it.
This illustration was inspired by a walk in a local ‘ecology’ park in my hometown in Canada, which I visited briefly over the winter. I took the reference photo thinking I would probably just post it in a story on Instagram. Then one morning I wanted to draw in my sketchbook and was looking for something to draw. I picked the image almost at random.
I’d brought limited amount of drawing material with me for my visit home, which turned out to be perfect for this winter landscape. In the end I only used a 14B pencil and a blue coloured pencil. The white of the page did the rest.
I like the outcome. The limited colour palette helps give the drawing a more stylised look, as opposed to trying to be simply a copy of the reference photo. But because of all the beautiful landscape art I’ve noticed in the past two years (more on this below), I’m thinking I could have pushed the stylisation more.
Hum, I’m not sure ‘stylisation’ is the right word. What I mean is that I’m increasingly attracted to art where the artist has interpreted what she or he sees. The outcome is not a carbon copy of reality. There might even be just a faint likeness, but the passion and energy that come through more than make up for it. Sometimes the subject is slightly deformed, and that’s what makes it interesting.
I’ve been wondering what I could do to bring the above into my work more, to stop myself trying to stay so close to the reference photo. One answer would be to practice drawing from memory instead. Another would be to go back to sketching directly with ink again. Once you’ve marked the page with ink, there’s not going back. That’s the only way I’ve found to keep the interesting flaws and energy in my work.
I’m in a bit of creative rut at the moment. I’m finding it hard to muster the motivation to start something new. I’m hoping spring will bring some of my enthusiasm back. Watch this space.
Judith xx
Monthly inspiration
Here’s the ‘more below’ part! Let me treat your eyes with a few of the landscape artworks that inspire me.
Simon Palmer’s name is the first to come to mind if you ask me about striking landscape art.
I loooove how he depicts the English countryside.
Across The Ocre by Simon Palmer
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Low Thorpe by Simon Palmer
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Novices Searching For Their Souls by Simon Palmer
Low Thorpe by Simon Palmer
Novices Searching For Their Souls by Simon Palmer
After I’d finished the brook drawing, I came across a greeting card featuring this linocut by William H. Hays, which reminded me of my illustration.
Sunshine Snowfall, linocut by William H. Hays
Then while researching his work for this post, I saw this other linocut that had a similarity with the brook showing through the snow!
Snowy Caw, linocut by William H. Hays
One last artwork from Hays, because I’m partial to a snowy landscape.
Jim’s Farm, linocut by William H. Hays
The incredible artist Isabelle Arsenault doesn’t often draw landscapes (that I could find anyway), but I absolutely love this one. What she chose to include and to edit out of the illustration is simply masterful.
I took a screenshot of this post on her Instagram profile
I’m leaving you with these three artworks and artists to enjoy:
Sussex Landscape by Eric Ravilious
Thawing Lake by Gy Yuan
Snowstorm in a Pennine Valley by Stanley Roy Badmin
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