Being able to experience nature firsthand was important, but it was even more essential for the Scalp Level School artists to be able to later replicate the holistic experience gleaned from the visual treasures they saw. Like most landscape artists, the Scalp Level painters were faced with challenges when it came to capturing scenes outdoors. Precise brush strokes and attention to detail required a studio setting which was not available on location. Therefore, there was a great need for a way to duplicate what was seen in an efficient manner. As a result, when Scalp Level School painters found themselves out gazing upon an area they wished to capture, they would quickly produce a small painting called a landscape study. Landscape studies were usually done in oil on small pieces of card or paneling that measured only a few inches in size. Because of their small size, these studies could be taken back to Pittsburgh at the end of the summer, serving as a way to remember what the artists had seen.
As noted, when artists created these landscapes studies, they were done fairly rapidly. Evidence of this can be seen in the broad brush strokes and thick applications of paint. Despite their quick completion, these studies involved great attention to light, often showing off the artist's impressionistic style. The finished paintings that resulted drew on this element of light and perfected its grandeur.
Herein, the importance of landscape studies cannot be undervalued. Final paintings executed by the Scalp Level painters in the studio were often compilations of different studies, making pinpointing the exact area rendered nearly impossible. Yet, these quickly rendered images allowed their creators to capture the immediacy of nature, memorializing it for posterity.
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