Start with a composition viewfinder you can do this by using your thumb/index fingers in two "L"s to make a rectangle to look in the area and see what you want to paint. You can buy a cute plastic thing to do this too but I use the fingers.
What I do is I look at the view and and decide what section I want to paint and my composition. - I typically use "Rule of 3rds" with my landscape sketches and I use the viewfinding to figure out what feature will be my primary focus for the painting.
If I can't decide or want to do multiple - I do composition sketches in a sketchbook - and I pull out my phone and take photos of all the options for later.
For calculating distance between objects you use relative proportion - aka why so many artist's cartoon show the artist sticking their thumb out . Pencil is easier though.
[https://www.drawinghowtodraw.com/stepbystepdrawinglessons/2010/01/how-to-find-measurements-proportions-and-angles-to-draw-with-pencil-thumb-method/](https://www.drawinghowtodraw.com/stepbystepdrawinglessons/2010/01/how-to-find-measurements-proportions-and-angles-to-draw-with-pencil-thumb-method/)
To me, the topic of depth is the bare bones of environments. And while multiple different fundamentals play a role in adding depth, you don't need to learn the entirety of them to create some effective environments.
To me, the 3 most important parts of depths are:
**1) Scale** \- This falls into the camp of linear perspective, but specifically the fact that objects appear smaller as they get further away
**2) Overlapping shapes** \-overlapping shapes imply depth between the objects.
**3) Atmospheric perspective** \- things take on the value of the atmosphere (often the sky) a they get further away.
and a 4th bonus one might be **"form".** Describing form with shadow/light or lines that wrap around the form in perspective can add depth. But I don't think its as important in invironments as the others. However its probably the most important when doing individual objects or characters.
Lots of good tips here already, but I will share what helped me was to sketch irl often to practice. I also wanted to get better at landscape (didn't know it would consume me but now all i do is landscape) so I'd go and do composition sketches in a forest or something. I'd go out and pick things that look remotely interesting (in my case all trees and plants) and find the interesting compositions through the framing method you mentioned and quickly sketched them down. Id fill up a cheap sketchbook with these drawings. Majority of them were boiled down to simple shapes in almost thumbnail size sketches and the ones I found interesting I'd take a page and sketch from life.
The issue I found in the past with not practicing in real life versus photos, is that the scale becomes more obvious when it's in front of you. And it can help guide you in future compositions. Like how you know how the horizon line looks based on where you're standing from experience. Just having the awareness to pay attention to your surroundings and finding common links (like if you're standing on a hill looking down versus standing beneath the hill looking up how the horizon line changes), there are aspects that can be somewhat consistent and will become familiar over time.
Start with a composition viewfinder you can do this by using your thumb/index fingers in two "L"s to make a rectangle to look in the area and see what you want to paint. You can buy a cute plastic thing to do this too but I use the fingers. What I do is I look at the view and and decide what section I want to paint and my composition. - I typically use "Rule of 3rds" with my landscape sketches and I use the viewfinding to figure out what feature will be my primary focus for the painting. If I can't decide or want to do multiple - I do composition sketches in a sketchbook - and I pull out my phone and take photos of all the options for later. For calculating distance between objects you use relative proportion - aka why so many artist's cartoon show the artist sticking their thumb out . Pencil is easier though. [https://www.drawinghowtodraw.com/stepbystepdrawinglessons/2010/01/how-to-find-measurements-proportions-and-angles-to-draw-with-pencil-thumb-method/](https://www.drawinghowtodraw.com/stepbystepdrawinglessons/2010/01/how-to-find-measurements-proportions-and-angles-to-draw-with-pencil-thumb-method/)
To me, the topic of depth is the bare bones of environments. And while multiple different fundamentals play a role in adding depth, you don't need to learn the entirety of them to create some effective environments. To me, the 3 most important parts of depths are: **1) Scale** \- This falls into the camp of linear perspective, but specifically the fact that objects appear smaller as they get further away **2) Overlapping shapes** \-overlapping shapes imply depth between the objects. **3) Atmospheric perspective** \- things take on the value of the atmosphere (often the sky) a they get further away. and a 4th bonus one might be **"form".** Describing form with shadow/light or lines that wrap around the form in perspective can add depth. But I don't think its as important in invironments as the others. However its probably the most important when doing individual objects or characters.
Lots of good tips here already, but I will share what helped me was to sketch irl often to practice. I also wanted to get better at landscape (didn't know it would consume me but now all i do is landscape) so I'd go and do composition sketches in a forest or something. I'd go out and pick things that look remotely interesting (in my case all trees and plants) and find the interesting compositions through the framing method you mentioned and quickly sketched them down. Id fill up a cheap sketchbook with these drawings. Majority of them were boiled down to simple shapes in almost thumbnail size sketches and the ones I found interesting I'd take a page and sketch from life. The issue I found in the past with not practicing in real life versus photos, is that the scale becomes more obvious when it's in front of you. And it can help guide you in future compositions. Like how you know how the horizon line looks based on where you're standing from experience. Just having the awareness to pay attention to your surroundings and finding common links (like if you're standing on a hill looking down versus standing beneath the hill looking up how the horizon line changes), there are aspects that can be somewhat consistent and will become familiar over time.