Nature in the visual arts
Man has always tried to understand and control his environment. Inseparable from this instinctive effort is his impulse to express his understanding of his environment and life.
Using nature as his guide and inspiration, the visual artist – the painter or sculpture –formulates a basic style or mode of expression with which to express and communicate an idea, feeling, or mood. He sees shape, color, texture and space in nature. He uses them, and organizes them into a work of art.
Thus, the visual artist turns to nature for insights to power his imagination and inventiveness, because practically everything under the sun is raw material for the visual artist to draw his subject from. Many an aesthetically admirable work of art by visual artist has Nature for its theme. Among the favorite subjects are landscape, seascapes, and cityscapes; flowers and fruits; animals, and the human figure.
