This was the formal garden of Marie Antoinette, the 13-year-old Queen of France. When she first moved to the Palace of Versailles, she wanted to make some changes that her husband, the young dauphin King Louis, let her make.
This garden was to commemorate the struggle of the Americans for independence over England, which in those days was the enemy of France.
At the end of the garden ram the River Seine and beyond it the distant mountains. The trees lining the gravel pathway are Italian cypresses, perfect for their cone like shape and fast growing ability.
What you will learn in this picture:
- How to paint the perspective of a pathway going off into the distance
- How to make realistic cypress trees that support the illusion of distance
- How to paint shadows that are consistent with the direction of the light source (here the direction of the sun)
- How to paint the river with light playing on its surface