# anybody ever teach landscape painting at night? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717 "2010-03-17T02:21:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pabstist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e99b99/32.png) [@pabstist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pabstist)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/1 "2010-03-17T02:21:14Z")
I got a job teaching at a college, 3 studio classes; one of them is landscape painting- from 6 to 9 pm. How the hell do I teach landscape painting after dark? Seriously, WTF? It starts May 10th, so I have about 2 months to figure out this train wreck. ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/2 "2010-03-17T02:22:13Z")
I think it would be hard painting landscapes in the dark. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/3 "2010-03-17T05:09:53Z")
Glow in the dark paint? ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/4 "2010-03-17T05:19:10Z")
some of the most beautiful landscapes I know were painted at night by Russian painter [Kuindzhi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkhip_Kuindzhi). So, erm… take 'em to Ukraine, I suppose 😃 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/5 "2010-03-17T05:22:46Z")
But, seriously, folks. A good number of artists will work from photos. It isn’t as “purist” or as immediate as painting “plein air”, but it’s done more than most will admit. You could require students to take their own photos by carefully choosing lighting and composition (or… google image search “awesomely cool landscape” :~} ). Then clip a large print to their easel… Or, by May, won’t you have a few hours of daylight left? A lot of my films are shot within an hour of sunrise or sunset for the warm, horizontal light. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/6 "2010-03-17T06:13:10Z")
Night. Vision. Goggles. Should make for some interesting painting too. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/7 "2010-03-17T12:12:40Z")
I teach art evening classes . They will have to work from photographs, drawings or other images eg other artist s works. The beginners can work from what you initially provide then you will have to encourage them to look for and provide their own source material later in the course. The more experienced should already have source material of their own or be expected soon to bring it in… if the evenings get lighter and longer you might have some limited time outside in the summer but the vast majority of the time will be studio based. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/8 "2010-03-17T12:30:54Z")
> [@pabstist](#): > > Seriously, WTF? It starts May 10th, so I have about 2 months to figure out this train wreck. Did you start by checking out an almanac? On May 10 in Indianapolis, the sun sets at 8:48pm. Granted - that’s not a ton of light at that time. But it’s not “dark”. ---
**Author:** ![pabstist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e99b99/32.png) [@pabstist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pabstist)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/9 "2010-03-18T01:45:01Z")
Here’s the course description- ART325 - Landscape Painting Students will study how to see and paint from nature and how to construct a landscape using perspective, value, volume, and composition. They will examine color relationships and create balance and contrast. Prerequisite: ART124 Beginning Watercolor or ART201 Beginning Oil Painting or permission of the instructor. Read the first ten words! Ughhh, I guess we’ll be working from photos. I suppose I could have them bring in their own, at least. I think it would be a better learning experience if they could work on their own compositions, and en plain aire; much more challenging than copying a photo. And, I was really hoping to get paid for teaching outside all summer! ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/10 "2010-03-18T02:09:47Z")
## Is this an entirely new course? If so did the person making that description actually have any idea what it might entail? And if not new what did the previous tutor do in the circumstances? There should be an existing Scheme of work. If however you start in May (rather than Sept which is when my classes normally start) then you should at least have some summer evening day light to go out with. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/11 "2010-03-18T03:35:16Z")
OK, that’s worse than an astronomy class I was TAing for, then. The labs were 10 to midnight (which makes sense), but then the class itself was at 8 AM the next day. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/12 "2010-03-18T15:56:28Z")
Honestly, when I read the thread title, I thought it was a _fantastic_ idea for a painting class. Night time landscapes would be a very interesting course to take because of the different things you need to make note of, what to do to not just get “here’s a black canvas”, and to focus on different things than you would in the daytime. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/13 "2010-03-19T03:00:21Z")
Let’s see, there’s “Sodium Vapor Lamp reflecting off Wet Parking Lot” night… and “Street Lamp reflecting off Neighbor’s Mini-Van” night… and “Security Floodlight reflecting off Pile of Broken Forklift Pallets” night… Oh, and don’t forget “The Light from Schmedemans’ Family Room TV On American Idol Night Spilling Out From Between Vertical Blinds As Seen From The Neighbors’ Bushes” night. Can I still sign up? I took the pre-req’s… that midnight class in the school janitor’s men’s room. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/14 "2010-03-19T04:05:14Z")
The sodium-vapor lights vs. reflected moonlight look in (real-life) streetscapes is honestly pretty freakin awesome… I did some nighttime landscape paintings when I was doing that sort of thing fulltime, sounds quite engaging actually… ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/15 "2010-03-19T06:48:38Z")
My immediate thought was one of my favorite paintings: [Nighthawks](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.inspiringcities.org/documenten/interviews/121594165_0ceeaef62ahopper_by_rwclark_picture.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.inspiringcities.org/index.php%3Fid%3D1%26page_type%3DArticle%26id_article%3D17996&usg= __Oqw-TIpuNd11kL-wKBQ8MetVdpU=&h=779&w=1426&sz=200&hl=en&start=4&sig2=vRj-C-SR5tuhGHiY9iE3sQ&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=1HaZEKEXwUcsNM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnighthawks%2Bat%2Bthe%2Bdiner%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1R1GGLA_en___ US357%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=lh2jS8ObBaGetAPn0pm9BA) I think by simply turning this into city landscapes at night could be a very cool idea…of course, there is something called “homework” where you might require them to do some daytime landscapes as well. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/16 "2010-03-19T11:52:38Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Did you start by checking out an almanac? On May 10 in Indianapolis, the sun sets at 8:48pm. Granted - that’s not a ton of light at that time. But it’s not “dark”. Living in Michigan, I wasn’t seeing the problem either, but his location shows as Vermont. The Sun’s going to set about 50 minutes earlier than in Indianapolis. **pabstist** , on the first day, you could try to find a different time to meet. First option might just be an hour earlier on the same days. Or at least offer to start that early, and students can get there when they can, and stay into the dark if they want. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-ever-teach-landscape-painting-at-night/532717/17 "2010-03-19T13:14:48Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Living in Michigan, I wasn’t seeing the problem either, but his location shows as Vermont. The Sun’s going to set about 50 minutes earlier than in Indianapolis. Yeah - I guess my location doesn’t lend itself well to being supportive… 🙂 Indiana in the Eastern Time Zone \*really \*stretches the definition of “east”.