Do you find yourself searching for beauty, or does it call to you? Malcolm Ludvigsen is an artist drawn to painting the beauty in simple landscapes. . . his work reflects the beauty that is all around us which often goes unnoticed.
When not painting, Malcolm is a professor of mathematics in York, UK, and has an international reputation in general relativity. Perhaps it’s this unique combination of skills and interests that compells him to paint the ever-present beauty that can be found running through even “the ordinary, domestic and common place.”
As you’ll see in the paintings below, his subject matter of choice is often simple, yet dynamic landscapes and seascapes.
This first beach scene has a dominant sky with white clouds climbing up from the horizon. All the real action, however, takes place at the horizon, where the ocean, people and green cliffs meet.
Notice how Malcom’s landscape paintings are often in two blocks—one block is above the horizon, and the other is below. Where they meet in the middle often forms an energetic scene of people or structures.
It’s an interesting compositional technique, adding in all the details of life along a narrow line between a dominant sky and ground. . . and it works wonderfully to draw in the discerning viewer.
The last painting below breaks this pattern slightly. Two blocks still exist, although the energetic landscape now swirls around the bottom edge as well.
The green shoreline is composed of wide brushstrokes pulled towards the water, creating simple details with an economy of movement. There’s also an unseen hill in this painting. . . the place where the artist stood to paint this scene.
Please visit Malcolm Ludvigsen’s website to experience more of the beautiful landscapes that captured him.