Reference Books for Landscape Painting

I recommend the following books about landscape painting.  Start with Kevin Macpherson's books for your first foray into the subject.  

Landscape Painting Inside and Out: Capture the Vitality of Outdoor Painting in Your Studio With Oils

by Kevin Macpherson

Start here, this basic book covers the basic building blocks of painting - seeing color, mixing color, light and shadow and seeing shapes with a focus on small plein air studies.

Landscape Painting Inside & Out by Kevin Macpherson

A follow-up to Kevin's first book takes plein air sketches into the studio for larger works.  A masterful breakdown on the creative process and design.

Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting by John Carlson

A classic must-read, but not an easy read.  This book is dense on text, short on illustrations and requires attentive reading.  For the serious artist, but well worth the effort.  You will find something new with every reading.

Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice by Mitchell Albala

A compilation of the best from many good books on the subject of landscape painting, including technical and equipment difficulties.  The author accurately sets up the challenges of painting light with pigment.  If you didn't know what you were up against as a painter, you will once you read this book.  The solutions are what your journey as an artist is about.

Mastering Composition: Techniques and Principles to Dramatically Improve Your Painting (Mastering (North Light Books)) by Ian Roberts

An excellent study of design and composition with a focus on landscape and still life.  The leap from "a painting is a picture of things" to "a painting is the abstract design behind the shapes" is a difficult concept to grasp.  This book will move you from making pictures to creating paintings.

Composition of Outdoor Painting by Edgar Payne

A classic by one of the greats of the golden age of landscape painting.  Text-dense and a challenge to read.  Don't tackle this until you are well into the subject.