How did Jacob van Ruisdael influence Thomas Gainsborough’s painting Cornard Wood?

By 1748, when Thomas Gainsborough painted Cornard Wood, the Dutch 17th-century landscape painter Jacob van Ruisdael had become the predominant influence on his work.1

While Gainsborough’s earlier landscapes were influenced by Jan Wynants, his style evolved to incorporate the influence of Ruisdael by the time he created Cornard Wood. Although the painting is noted for being full of naturalistic detail, it is believed that Gainsborough likely never painted the scene directly from nature, instead drawing upon the stylistic language of Dutch landscapists who were popular with English collectors at the time.1