Impressionist paintings capture mood rather than offering snapshot views.
Claude Monet (1840-1926) broke away from traditional methods of oil painting that relied on preliminary sketches, the use of models and classical designs. Instead, he, along with many of his contemporaries, chose a different style that allowed for the replication of a moment in time. His aim was to capture the vitality of life. He emphasized movement, light and color. Leaving the studio, he painted in the open-air, setting up easels near his subjects. He used techniques for putting color to canvas that elicited impressions of color and form, rather than creating a formal, photographic rendition of a scene.
Instructions
1. Monet painted in the open air, as this artist is doing, to capture the moment.
Gather all your equipment into a carrying case along with several canvases and an easel. Include enough brushes, paint thinner, linseed oil, oil paints and rags or paper towels to get you through your session. Have all necessary equipment close at hand once you arrive at your destination to paint as Monet and his fellow artists did.
2. Look for views that inspire impressionism, like this view of the River Seine.
Choose an area to set up your easel. Monet and Renoir often painted together when using a common backdrop. A busy, local French restaurant inspired some of their first paintings. They painted the restaurant itself, the islet nearby, boats and weekend visitors. City parks near waterways, a verdantly landscaped shopping mall or a sculptural public fountain offer many possibilities for subject matter. Include the people that frequent these scenes and don't overlook your own or a friend's blooming, backyard garden. Monet painted quickly to capture color and form before the light or scene changed. He started anew when the scene changed enough to warrant beginning another painting. He was most interested in capturing the image with the lighting present at the time. He completed these paintings at his studio. Therefore, one outdoor foray offered several canvases to work on later.
3. Monet frequently rendered water lilies.
Use pigments similar to those Monet used -- titanium white, cadmium yellow light, cadmium yellow, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, alizarin crimson and vermilion. Viridian green and emerald green are handy to include but not necessary when first starting out. Monet used ivory black at one time but abandoned it in favor of mixing gray hues. The primary colors are red, blue and yellow. Use primary colors to create the secondary colors. Make purple by combining red and blue, orange with a combination of red and yellow and green by combining yellow and blue. Create shades of gray by mixing the secondary colors with white. Mix primary and secondary colors to create different hues. Yellow plus purple creates brown tones that are altered by adding more or less of its component colors.
4. Viewers are almost compelled to squint at the brightness of the sun conveyed in this impressionistic painting.
Employ the technique called "visual mixing" when you apply the paint. Monet mixed his colors using either a wet into wet technique or scumbling, which means applying wet color spots over dried layers. He also applied wet colors alongside or on top of one another thereby creating a third hue. Apply strokes of pure colors over masses of mixed colors to enrich the original color. Red and yellow, for example, make orange, so apply small strokes of red or yellow to enrich an area of orange. Some strokes are linear, some swirling and some dabbed on, but they do not overlap one another unnecessarily.
5. Purple and orange color variations changed this view to one of a Monet sunset.
Allow the paint to dry or become tacky, at least, between sessions. Scumbling cannot be accomplished when the paint layer is still wet. Monet applied paint working layer by layer over the course of weeks before completing a painting. Using oil colors makes for longer drying times. Acrylic paints dry within hours and can be employed using these techniques; Monet, however, did not have that option.
