50+ Landscape Painting Ideas: Canvas, Beautiful, Easy, and More

Landscape painting is an art genre that portrays natural sceneries like mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests. The main subject of a landscape painting is scenic views portrayed in a realistic or abstract manner. Artists may add elements like the sky, weather, and light to enhance the scene's mood.

Landscape painting ideas are the concepts and inspirations that artists use to create their landscape paintings. These ideas can be scenes of nature and different techniques and styles that can be applied to a landscape painting. Ideas can help you choose subjects, compositions, and color schemes and make the painting process more enjoyable.

You can use a canvas as the surface for your landscape paintings. A canvas is made from stretched linen or cotton fabric with a gesso topping to create a smooth surface for painting. 

A scene of the northern lights, a valley, or a sunset can be some ideas for a beautiful landscape painting. For some easy landscape paintings, you can take inspiration from ideas like snowy landscapes, galaxy scenes, or forests.

10 Popular Landscape Painting Ideas

10 popular landscape painting ideas are a campfire under the stars, a starry night, a favorite city street, a rainy city street, waves crashing, a rainbow scene, a nighttime scene, blossoms on a branch, a wintery walk, and a tropical moonrise with the ship.

The 10 popular landscape paintings are listed below:

Campfire Under the Stars

This popular landscape painting idea portrays a campfire scene under a starry night sky.

Tall trees surround the glowing campfire, with warm orange flames against the blue and black night.

Starry Night

This famous landscape painting by Vincent van Gogh portrays a starry night scene with swirling stars and a glowing moon over a quiet village.

There are vibrant blues and yellows in this masterpiece composition.

Favorite City Street

This popular landscape painting features a city street scene of an old European town. There is a huge building, a horse carriage, and people walking down the street.

The vibrant sky's reflection on the wet pavement looks stunning.

Rainy City Street

This famous landscape painting portrays a vibrant, rainy city scene. There are colorful umbrellas in the crowded street and lights reflecting from shops and buildings.

The color palette contains blues, reds, and yellows.

Waves Crashing

This popular painting depicts a serene landscape of sea waves crashing against rocks.

The ocean waves have blue and white hues with hints of sea green, adding a magical yet peaceful touch to the composition.

Rainbow Scene

This popular painting features a stunning rainbow scene over a lush green landscape with a clear blue sky and soft clouds.

The color palette has calming blues, greens, whites, and rainbow colors.

Nighttime Scene

This popular landscape painting portrays a night scene with moonlight over a river with a bridge, surrounded by dark trees and houses.

The color palette mainly contains green and brown hues.

Blossoms on A Branch

This landscape painting features a cherry blossom branch with misty mountains and clouds in the background.

The composition has different shades of white, blue, and pink.

Wintery Walk

This famous landscape painting portrays a couple walking down a wintery forest with loads of snow and tall brown trees.

The composition contains emotions, love, and a stunning color palette.

Tropical Moonrise With Ship

This popular landscape painting idea features a tropical moonrise scene with a ship.

A full moon illuminates the calm ocean, palm trees, and a ship. The color palette is unique, with shades of blue, purple, black, and white.

10 Canvas Landscape Painting Ideas

10 canvas landscape painting ideas include a starry night in the forest, a canvas dee’s trees, a curved countryside canvas, a sunset over the water, a homeland, a northern administration, an ancient kingdom, a colorful bridge, a cottage, and burning clouds.

The 10 best canvas painting ideas are listed below:

A Starry Night in the Forest

A starry night in the forest is one of the easiest canvas ideas to paint. This enchanting painting features tall trees and a night sky filled with stars.

The color palette contains deep blue and black hues with hints of white.

Canvas Dee’s Trees

This canvas Dee’s tress painting features colorful pine trees against a pink and yellow sky, creating a serene and beautiful scene.

The vibrant composition has shades of yellow, pink, orange, and blue.

Sunset Over Water

This canvas painting depicts a stunning sunset over the water.

The vibrant orange and yellow hues of the setting sun reflect on the calm water, creating a warm and peaceful scene.

Countryside Curved Canvas

This canvas landscape painting portrays a serene countryside scene.

There are rolling hills, green fields, a bright sky with fluffy clouds, and a path leading to a cozy cottage.

Homeland

This homeland canvas landscape painting idea portrays a country farm and fields in summer.

The background features trees, golden fields, round hay bales, and hills. The color palette is warm yet soothing.

Northern Administration

This Northen Administration canvas painting portrays a calm and snowy scene from the Renaissance period.

The barren trees, the herd of sheep, the soft sky, the cold river, and the boats create a wintry atmosphere.

Ancient Kingdom

This canvas landscape painting depicts a vibrant ancient walled kingdom scene.

There are rising towers with majestic walls, a cloudy sky, snowy mountains in the background, dense trees in the front, and other earthy tones in the composition. 

Colorful Bridge

This canvas landscape painting features a vibrant scene of a colorful bridge surrounded by tall trees on a lake.

The composition has bright reds, yellows, and greens, contrasting with a clear blue sky.

Cottage

This landscape painting depicts a vibrant scene of an English country cottage surrounded by colorful flowers, trees, and a green valley.

The clear blue sky works like the cheery on top in the composition.

Burning Clouds

This canvas landscape painting depicts a scene of burning clouds.

Fiery red and orange clouds float in the blue sky, creating a dramatic and intense composition.

10 Beautiful Landscape Painting Ideas

10 beautiful landscape painting ideas include a horseback ocean sunset, northern lights, a wildflower landscape, a cardinal forest, an Australian outback art, a beautiful valley, an imaginative landscape painting, a sunset dolphin dive, early morning fishing, and a November moon.

The 10 beautiful landscape painting ideas are listed below:

Horseback Ocean Sunset

This beautiful landscape painting depicts a serene horseback ride at sunset by the ocean.

The girl on the horse moves along the shore, with vibrant orange and pink skies reflecting the water.

Northern Lights

This beautiful painting features a stunning display of the northern lights.

Shades of green, purple, white, and blue dance across the night sky, surrounded by dark trees and a serene lake.

Wildflower Landscape

This beautiful landscape painting features a green field covered with tiny wildflowers in shades of blue, white, yellow, and red.

A serene blue sky and a few trees in the background complete the scene.

Cardinal Forest

This wonderful landscape painting features a snowy forest with vibrant cardinals perching in tree branches.

The pale blue sky and red cardinals create a striking contrast in the composition.

Australian Outback Art

This Australian outback painting by Carmen Iglesias features a rustic house with a windmill on dry land.

The landscape is brown and yellow, with blues and purples depicting a magical sky.

Beautiful Valley

This pretty landscape painting features a lush green mountainous valley.

The color palette mainly contains shades of green, brown, and white.

Imaginative Landscape Painting

This imaginative landscape painting portrays a beautiful scene of a calm blue lake with brown mountains in the background.

Tall trees, birds, horses, and butterflies make the composition more pretty.

Sunset Dolphin Dive

This awesome landscape painting depicts a vibrant sunset scene of dolphins diving in the sea.

The lively composition has different shades of orange, red, yellow, purple, and black.

Early Morning Fishing

This beautiful landscape painting idea depicts two kids fishing in the river with their dog.

The light color tones and the serene composition perfectly portray the early morning scene.

November Moon

This beautiful painting portrays a pretty winter landscape with a November moon lighting the sky.

The composition uses different shades of blue and white to make it dreamy and enchanting.

10 Easy Landscape Painting Ideas

10 easy landscape painting ideas include a forest with pumpkins, a snow landscape, driving somewhere, sunset rolling hills, a tropical waterfall, a landscape path wildflowers, a fireflies forest, a west cowboy painting, a galaxy campsite, and a breathtaking red tree.

The 10 easy landscape painting ideas are listed below:

Forest with Pumpkins

This simple landscape painting idea features a forest with tall trees and orange pumpkins sitting on the ground.

The color palette mainly has shades of orange and yellow to create a colorful autumn scene.

Snow Landscape

This easy landscape painting idea portrays a valley covered with white snow.

The tall trees, the deep blue sky, and the magical moon shining in the background add more life to the composition.

Driving Somewhere

This simple landscape painting shows a red Jeep driving along the valley towards the mountains.

The composition uses shades of green, blue, and red to create a vibrant scene.

Sunset Rolling Hills

This easy landscape painting idea depicts a serene sunset over rolling hills and a lake.

Soft oranges, pinks, and greens blend together to create a peaceful and simple landscape.

Tropical Waterfall

The simple landscape painting idea depicts a misty tropical waterfall.

Waterfall with lush green foliage surrounding the water to create a serene and dreamy atmosphere.

Landscape Path Wildflowers

This easy painting idea features a beautiful path lined with white wildflowers.

The background has brown hills and a blue sky full of clouds.

Fireflies Forest

This easy landscape composition features a bunch of fireflies blooming in a blue forest with their golden hues.

The tall trees and the minimal color palette make the scene more ethereal.

West Cowboy Painting

This simple landscape painting features a west cowboy riding across a field with a calm blue sky.

The composition has shades of brown, blue, green, and white.

Galaxy Campsite

This easy landscape composition depicts a serene campsite under a starry galaxy sky.

A tent sits beside a campfire, surrounded by trees with vibrant purples, yellows, and blues.

Breathtaking Red Tree

This easy painting features an abstract composition of a breathtaking red tree against a black-and-white background.

The idea is simple yet stunning and eye-catching.

5 Fall Landscape Painting Ideas

5 fall landscape painting ideas include an autumn sunset landscape, autumn trees, fall views: Mt.Hood, a simple autumn sunset, and autumn on the farm.

Autumn Sunset Landscape

This fall landscape painting features a beautiful autumn sunset.

A man stands on a hill, a tree with yellow and orange leaves is in the background, and the sky is calm.

Autumn Trees

This autumn landscape painting depicts a scene of orange and yellow trees in the fall season.

Brown mountains in the background make the composition more earthy.

Fall Views: Mt. Hood

The landscape painting depicts a fall scene with Mt. Hood in the background.

A cozy cabin sits by a lake, surrounded by vibrant orange autumn trees.

Simple Autumn Sunset

This fall landscape painting portrays a simple autumn sunset scene with a sea, fall trees, and a vibrant orange sky in the background.

It's easy to draw and would look excellent in a living room.

Autumn on the Farm

This fall landscape painting depicts a farm during the autumn scene.

There is a small barn, a vehicle, a cozy house, and orange autumn trees against a clear blue sky with clouds.

5 Winter Landscape Painting Ideas

5 winter landscape painting ideas are a winter landscape, a winter dance, a winter stroll over the bridge, a pink winter evening, and a snow walk.

Winter Landscape

This landscape painting with oil paints features a snowy winter scene.

There are small cottages, palm trees, and a path covered in snow. The color palette includes different hues of blue and white.

Winter Dance

This winter landscape painting portrays a couple happily dancing in the snowfall.

The background is plain black with a few lamps and white snow to keep the focus on the couple.

Winter Stroll Over Bridge

This winter landscape shows a couple strolling over a bridge covered with snow.

The color palette has shades of blue, white, and red.

Pink Winter Evening

This winter landscape painting depicts an imaginative scene of a pink winter evening.

There is a snow-covered field, a tiny house, and trees against a pink sky.

Snow Walk

This winter landscape painting features a man walking in a serene, snowy forest surrounded by tall trees.

You can draw snow in a sunset so that it reflects the light beautifully.

5 Spring Landscape Painting Ideas

5 spring landscape painting ideas are a spring afternoon, a spring meadowland, a spring landscape painting, a blossom time landscape, and a flowering spring meadow.

Spring Afternoon

This landscape painting idea portrays a colorful scene of a vibrant spring afternoon.

There are shades of green, blue, yellow, purple, and pink.

Spring Meadowland

This spring landscape painting idea features a tiny red cottage in a blue meadowland.

The painting mainly has shades of blue and yellow.

Spring Landscape Painting

This spring landscape painting features a tree blooming with pink flowers against a lush green field and deep blue sky.

This painting brings a sense of comfort and could look good in a bedroom.

Blossom Time Landscape

This spring landscape painting features a blossoming pink tree in a green valley.

There is a tiny cottage in the background, and little ducks playing around.

Flowering Spring Meadow

This landscape painting features a spring meadow full of colorful flowers with lush green trees in the background.

The flowers have shades of red, pink, and purple.

3 Desert Landscape Painting Ideas

3 desert landscape painting ideas are desert scenes, a desert night sky, and a cactus in a desert.

Desert Scenes

This landscape painting depicts a brown desert with mountains and a clear blue sky with clouds in the background.

You can simplify this painting and not make it as detailed.

Desert Painting Night Sky

This landscape painting features a night desert scene with a magical sky.

The composition has shades of pink, black, blue, and white.

Cactus in Desert

This landscape composition features cactus plants standing in a brown desert.

The sky is blue, and calm clouds are in the background.

3 Beach Landscape Painting Ideas

3 beach landscape painting ideas are a beach sunset, bring in the waves, and an easy beach painting.

Beach Sunset

This landscape painting portrays a mesmerizing beach sunset scene with different blue, orange, and black hues.

Sunset painting is something everyone loves and could make a great gift.

Bring in the Waves

This beach landscape painting depicts a magical scene of ocean waves crashing under a blue sky full of clouds.

The composition has shades of blue, white, and sea green.

Easy Beach Painting

This easy landscape composition of a beach features a palm tree.

There is a blue sky, and waves coming out of the ocean and touching the brown sand.

3 Acrylic Landscape Painting Ideas

3 landscape acrylic painting ideas are a car under the starry sky, a birch tree forest, and a city skyline.

Car Under the Starry Sky

This acrylic landscape composition features a car going down an empty road under a pink and blue sky full of stars.

The color palette has different shades of blue and pink.

Birch Tree Forest

This acrylic painting features a forest full of autumn birch trees.

The composition uses shades of white, brown, green, and goldish orange.

City Skyline - Acrylic Painting

This acrylic landscape painting portrays the night view of New York City.

There are tall buildings against a blue sky and a calm river underneath.

3 Oil Landscape Painting Ideas

3 landscape oil painting ideas are a starry night dupe, a sailboat in the bay, and a stormy sea.

Starry Night Dupe

This oil landscape painting is a dupe of Vincent Van Gogh's original Starry Night painting.

Its composition uses shades of blue, black, yellow, and white to mimic the original painting.

Sailboat in the Bay

This oil landscape painting features many sailboats in the bay, moving toward their destination.

The color palette has vibrant shades of blue, orange, yellow, and red.

Stormy Sea

This oil landscape composition features a ship fighting the stormy sea and the crashing waves.

The color palette contains dramatic shades of blue, white, pink, and black.

3 Watercolor Landscape Painting Ideas

3 landscape watercolor painting ideas are a koi pond, pillowy clouds, and palm trees at sunrise.

Koi Pond

This oil landscape painting features a pond full of koi fish moving around.

The fish have shades of white, orange, and red. There are hues of green, blue, and brown to depict the pond.

Pillowy Clouds

This watercolor landscape painting shows a vast horizon of thick, fluffy clouds in the blue sky.

The clouds seem to blend in with the sky, giving it an ethereal yet pleasing look.

Palm Trees at Sunrise

This watercolor landscape painting displays the view of palm trees alongside a beach at sunrise.

The various shades of black, orange, yellow, and red perfectly blend in the scenery.

3 Mountain Painting Ideas

3 mountain painting ideas are muted mountains, a mountain scene for beginners, and a smoky mountain sunset.

Muted Mountains

This watercolor painting shows a vast valley of smokey mountains. The valley is full of greenery, like trees and bright green grass.

Clusters of large clouds are also visible in the blue sky.

Mountain Scene For Beginners

This landscape painting for beginners features white mountains standing behind a green valley with tiny pink flowers.

A clear blue sky is also in the background.

Smoky Mountain Sunset

This landscape painting features smoky mountains against a vibrant pink and yellow sunset sky.

The composition has shades of blue, purple, black, and orange.

What to know more about Landscape Paintings?

Landscape painting is an art genre that depicts natural scenery and captures the beauty of the natural world. This art form can feature various elements and subjects, including mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, forests, lakes, oceans, deserts, meadows, and skies. Artists portray the beauty and serenity of these scenes by playing with lights and shadows, the changing weather, and the seasons' effects on the landscape. 

Some of the most famous landscape paintings in history are "The Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh, "Impression, Sunrise" by Claude Monet, and "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog" by Caspar David Friedrich. These masterpieces brilliantly show the beauty, mood, and atmosphere of natural settings.

How to paint a landscape?

To paint a landscape, you must choose your scene, prepare the materials, sketch the composition, paint the main shapes, develop the background, add elements, refine the details, do final touches and adjustments, let the painting dry, and varnish and frame.

The step-by-step guide on how to paint a landscape is listed below:

• Choose the Scene: Start by selecting the landscape you want to paint. You can take inspiration from a photograph, a real-life view, or imagination. Consider the elements you want to include, like mountains, trees, water bodies, and the sky.
• Prepare the Materials: Gather all necessary materials, including a canvas, brushes, paints (acrylics, oils, or watercolors), a palette, water or solvent, and other tools. Ensure your workspace is comfortable and has proper lighting. 
• Sketch the Composition: Lightly sketch the main elements of your landscape on the canvas with a pencil or a thin brush. This will help you plan the composition and ensure everything fits well within the frame.
• Paint the Main Shapes: Start by painting the large shapes and main areas of color. Use broad strokes and focus on covering the canvas without worrying about the details.
• Develop the Background: Start with the background elements, like the sky and mountains or trees. Work from the farthest point in the scene to the closest and layer the paint to create depth.
• Add Elements: After the background, add elements to the midground and foreground. The elements include forests, fields, hills, trees, rocks, flowers, etc. You can use a variety of brushstrokes for the elements.
• Refine the Details: Add finer details to your painting, like leaves on trees, ripples in water, or highlights on rocks. Use smaller brushes and take your time to enhance the realism of your scene.
• Final Touches and Adjustments: Add final touches or make any necessary adjustments to ensure the landscape looks flawless. Final touches can include highlights, shadows, and textures. 
• Let the Painting Dry: It’s important to let the painting completely dry before doing anything else. Depending on your painting medium, drying can take several hours to days. 
• Varnish and Frame: You can apply varnish to protect the surface and enhance the colors once the painting is dry. You can also preserve your artwork by framing and displaying it in your home.

What are the different types of landscape painting?

The different types of landscape painting are impressionistic landscapes, abstract landscapes, symbolic landscapes, romantic landscapes, and realistic landscapes.

The most common types of landscape painting are listed below:

• Impressionistic Landscapes

  Impressionistic landscapes focus on the overall impression of a scene instead of the detailed accuracy. These paintings often feature bold brushstrokes, vibrant colors, and a focus on light and movement.

• Abstract Landscapes

  Abstract landscapes use shapes, colors, and unusual forms to portray a scene in a non-realistic manner. These paintings usually don’t have a meaning. They only convey the essence or emotion of a place.

• Symbolic Landscapes

  Symbolic landscapes use elements of the natural world to portray different concepts or themes. These paintings often use symbols and metaphors to convey deeper meanings beyond what the eye can see.

• Romantic Landscapes

  Romantic landscapes portray the beauty of nature through dramatic and lovely scenes. These paintings usually contain an emotional depth with powerful meanings hidden behind the landscape. 

• Realistic Landscapes

  Realistic landscapes focus on real portrayal of natural scenes. Artists pay close attention to detail, texture, and lighting to create a scene that is as true to life as possible.