The theme of depicting our natural landscape in art has been constant through the centuries. From oil painting to black and white photography, artists across all mediums have found inspiration in depicting landscapes around the globe. From the majestic to the mundane, the fantastical and monumental, to deserted and apocalyptic, all shapes and forms of this planet have been explored creatively by artists through the centuries.
The introduction of digital tools has continued this story of visualising the landscape through art, into the 21st century. Technology has aided artists' ability to montage images and retouch, incorporate 3D elements, and create light when there is none to be seen by the human eye. New tools have greatly improved over recent years thus giving artists a huge amount of creative freedom to explore in new ways that were simply not possible before.
The following artists, although diverse in their techniques, explore the theme of landscape in Web3 and do so especially successfully.
The cool tones and sophisticated color palette found in Argentina based digital artist Eliseohz’s work are both cinematic and hauntingly beautiful in many ways. With an affinity towards snowy and rocky landscapes, set in an evening light, their artwork is otherworldly and magical. Though sometimes including a human figure in the piece, the sense of mystery is always preserved. This take on depicting the landscape is one that comes from a place of imagination, using digital tools that have only been available to the general public in the last few decades. Eliseohz has work minted on SuperRare and a large following on Instagram.
Perhaps the most well known landscape artist in Web3, Cath Simard is both highly experienced and accomplished in the realm of outdoor/nature photography and photo montage. Her pieces usually have a distinct blue tone that envelopes a moonlit scene set amongst starry night skies. Her images have a great deal of depth to them, usually with a strong subject in the foreground that stands parallel to an epic mountain range behind. Cath is a pioneer of the NFT space having released the Free Hawaii photo as CCO in 2021 of which she sold for 100 ETH. Cath is highly active in the space, a passionate explorer, and a collector’s favorite.
Australian 3D artist Mae creates fantastical landscapes with an emphasis on color relationships between the subjects depicted. The influence of Australia’s natural landscape is seen in her work, with soft clay-like hill formations meeting eucalyptus-like trees and shallow watering holes. Mae states that her work is “somewhere amongst surrealism and escapism” and she aims for it to be soothing, peaceful and calming. This is definitely achieved, and her success in the NFT space thus far is proof that her audience is also enchanted by her work.
Another powerhouse of landscape is Reuben Wu. A highly accomplished musician, photographer and artist, Reuben has shot for some of the most important brands and publications in addition to his notable success in Web3. Landscape photography is particularly challenging because of the rich history of existing work that looks at the landscape. Reuben has managed to create an entirely new way of seeing the familiar, through the use of lighting and drones to photograph the landscape at night. He pioneered a technique that has been emulated by the masses, and has had a long history of creating art long before Web3. An interesting anecdote to add is that Reuben states people often say his work looks otherworldly, when in fact what he wants to do is show that this is in fact our real planet earth, and it’s the only one that we have.
Josh Pierce is a 3D artist whose work is distinct and widely appreciated. His peaceful images of imagined landscapes are often full of diverse plant species, atmospheric elements in the sky, and strong reflections and light. Framing and composition in his work is particularly strong, with trees or cliffs lining the edges of the image to draw the eye towards the centre, where often a cloud or sun stands as the main subject. Josh is an OG fixture in the 3D art space, and his work is driven by his own self journey of spirituality and mindfulness. He has released some especially innovative works including Impermanence, a series where the artwork changes in correlation to the weather conditions of the viewer’s location.
Landscape and aerial texture photographer Eric Kerr uses a drone to photograph the American Southwest. His images are often abstract, focusing on the unusual colors and textures found in this unique landscape. Time of day and color palette are important elements to his work, making for a cohesive and sophisticated set of images that he's minted on the blockchain. It will be interesting to see in the future when Eric turns his lens onto different climates, shooting a new set of landscapes in the same way as his desert series. Eric has recently joined SuperRare, and we think that he has a promising journey ahead.
This diverse set of artists all utilize modern technology to create their artwork. They have taken the very traditional and classic subject of the natural landscape, and added their own unique approach to depicting it.
One of the primary aspects of successful landscape work is to portray this subject in a new way, or at least from an original perspective. This is very challenging to do in a compelling way. Nevertheless, a few artists have successfully found new ways of showing our planet in a manner that invokes awe and appreciation by the viewer.
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