Our trek through landscapes that inspired Canada's Tom Thomson and The Group of Seven

With a vast landscape in front of me, how do I choose what to paint?

The most important four lines in my work are the boundaries of my picture plane. This is my watercolour world. My window. My playground.

To help me pick that window, I carry with me about three different mattes. The matte shown above has an aspect ratio of 3 to 5. That is, I can paint a small watercolour of size 3" by 5" or scale that to something like 15" by 25" (approx. 38 cm x 64 cm). The frame ratio is fixed 3:5.  If I hold the matte at full arm's length I capture a small part of the scene. If I move the matte closer to my eyes, I capture a larger part of the scene. I can hold the matte in landscape mode (above) or turn the matte at right angles for portrait mode. My mattes are marked in thirds and halves. Thirds are important for strong compositions. These marks and the window help me correctly position major shapes and lines.

My "landscape mattes" are simple tools that help me plan and prepare my plein air watercolours.