Impressionist Methods and Materials

[Phyllis Franklin]

I attended the impressionist exhibit at the High in Atlanta and was blown away. Of course I said "I can do that". http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/smile.gif It looks so simple and free but in reality it is difficult and planned. Would like to see a discussion thread about methods and materials that have helped other artist understand the impressionist style better.
Thanks, Phyllis

[Nancy]

Don't be discouraged. Even Monet had a tough time of it. I just finished reading a book written in 1929 a short while after his death, titled MONETS GARDEN. There were days when HE couldn't get it right.

Once he had the villagers take the leaves off the trees as the warm weather prompted an earlier spring than the artist had planned.
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[henrik]

Hi, I have studied the book "Paint with the Impressionists" by Jonathan Stephenson. It contains info on materials and techniques used by the most famous impressionists. There are demos in various categories; landscapes, seascapes, figure, still life, portrait.

The book contains step by step demonstrations of original work by the author done in the style of the various impressionists.

[henrik]

Oh - one fun thing to do is to zoom in on your digitized image until it gets real pixelated - it is now possible to see many different colours that you at first did not see.

This is great for making "impressionist color choices". It works best if your image is reduced somewhat in color depth (i.e that it is dithered).

Here is a heavily dithered image of my youngest daughter.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Critiques/User/sofie2.gif [/URL]


This is a closup of the shadow on the left side of her head. There are some great colors there to put on your palette.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Critiques/User/sofie4.gif

Then; get of your Prozac medication, cut of your ear and have a blast http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Alternatively http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/smile.gif if you have access to Fractal Painter (or is it just called Painter these days), there is a great Van Gogh filter that can be applied to an image; great for seeing how he could have painted it.

[This message has been edited by henrik (edited January 12, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by henrik (edited January 12, 2000).]

[Phyllis Franklin]

Thanks henrik. It does sound like a great book to have and doing the pixel images on the computer sounds like fun. Thanks for suggesting that I try it. http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/biggrin.gif