Landscape and Nature Study
This domain tests outdoor observation: horizon placement, depth, atmospheric perspective, trees, water, sky and simplified natural forms. The exam expects a landscape that reads as space, not a flat pattern of green shapes.
Core rules
- Place the horizon deliberately, often on a third rather than the centre. Establish foreground, middle ground and background.
- Use linear perspective for roads, canals, walls and rows of trees. Use aerial perspective for distance: paler value, cooler colour, softer edges and less detail.
- Paint skies with changing value and cloud direction. Trees have trunk, branch and crown masses; do not draw them as symbols.
- Water reflects objects vertically below them and breaks reflection with ripples. Shadows on the ground follow the light direction.
Worked example
Draw a village scene with a canal, a hut and trees. Put the horizon one-third from the top. Make the foreground bank dark and textured, the middle-ground hut mid-value, and distant trees pale blue-green. Send the canal edges to a vanishing point on the horizon. Reflect the hut vertically in still water, then interrupt the reflection with horizontal ripple lines. Shade the hut side away from the sun.
Traps
A centred horizon splits the picture. Distant objects drawn dark and detailed destroy depth. Uniform green looks artificial. Reflections that do not align vertically look wrong. Cloud shadows and cast shadows must agree with the sun.
Key points
- Use foreground, middle ground and background.
- Aerial perspective needs cooler, lighter, softer distance.
- Roads and canals follow linear perspective.
- Water reflections align vertically and break with ripples.
- Avoid symbolic trees and uniform green.