Acrylic Painting Tutorials

Landscape Atmospheric Perspective Assignment

Simple exercise to explore color temperature in landscape painting. Mix scales with blue and yellow to see how temperature affects depth.

Robert Joyner | Garage Studio Artist & Art Educator

17 Oct 2025 — 2 min read

It’s time to put all the theory and demo work into practice! For this assignment, you’ll be creating two simple color scales to help you understand how color temperature affects depth in your paintings.

Assignment Steps

First Color Scale – Add Blue Gradually: Start with a pure color (I used green in my example). As you move up the scale, gradually mix in more blue. This cools the color and helps it recede visually, which mimics what happens naturally in landscapes.

Second Color Scale – Reduce Yellow: This time, do the opposite — keep the same base color, but slowly reduce the yellow as you go up the scale. This creates a cooler, more distant feeling even without adding extra blue.

Keep your brushstrokes loose and casual. The goal isn’t perfection — it’s to train your eye to see how subtle temperature shifts can make a huge difference in atmospheric perspective.

Previous Lesson: Atmospheric Perspective Demo – Part 3
Return to Hub: Acrylic Landscape Painting Fundamentals

Congrats! You finished Section 4, Module 5 will be coming soon...

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Recommended Acrylic Painting Materials

Princeton Catalyst Brushes – Flats (#6, #12), Rounds (#4, #8), Fan (#4), Liner Brush
Durable synthetic bristles for versatile acrylic techniques
Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic Paint – Essential Colors
Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red Light, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White
Winsor & Newton Cotton Canvas
Reliable stretched canvas for studio and plein air work
Strathmore 400 Series Mixed Media Paper
Heavyweight, acid-free paper for acrylic and mixed media
Fabriano Artistico 140lb Cold Press Paper
Excellent for acrylic, mixed media, and textured effects
Blick Multi-Colored Painting Knife Set
Variety of shapes for texture, scraping, and bold strokes
Miscellaneous: Two pint-sized water containers, paper towels (from Home Depot or Walmart)
Note: I use canvas or sturdy cardboard as my palette — no store-bought palettes needed.