Skip to main content

What Materials Did Claude Monet Use for His Paintings?


Monet was a French Impressionist artist who used several materials to envision, draft and finally create his artwork. His first painting was “Impression: Sunrise” and provided the basis for the name of the Impressionist movement. Impressionists often used natural landscapes in their art and depicted varying degrees of light to create an impression of the actual image.

Canvas

The canvas that Monet chose to paint on consisted of light hues, from white to a light gray and even yellow. His brushstrokes added texture and depth to his painting by juxtaposing several layers of color. His focus on creating textures on the canvas that complemented the object resulted in vibrant art. Many times, he mixed his colors and formed them directly on the canvas instead of using a painter’s palette.

Oil

Eugene Boudin was Monet’s mentor and began teaching him to use oil paints in 1856. The oil paints were used to master an outside painting technique. However, Monet actually finished many of his paintings in his studio. He spent several days watching his objects as the light changed, and he determined ahead of time the proper oils, colors, and textures to use. He then painted on location with his oils and took the painting home to complete in his studio.

Color

Monet confined himself to painting with just nine colors, according to artist and art critic James Heard. These colors were lead white, madder red, vermilion, french ultramarine, black ivory, cadmium yellow, chrome yellow, viridian, and emerald green. Limiting his palette of usable colors made it possible for him to focus on his art and develop a special attachment and meaning for each color. Monet believed that color choices depended upon the artistic purpose and the ability to use the color effectively.

Charcoal and Sketchbooks

One lesser-known fact about Monet was that he started out creating charcoal caricatures of people. When he was 15, he was able to begin making a living selling his caricatures while studying at the Academie Suisse in Paris. Another interesting material that Monet used was a sketchbook — which goes against the romantic ideal of an Impressionist artist filled with inspiration creating art on the spot. Actually, Monet was a judicious painter and carefully plotted his ideas.

References

“Paint Like Monet”; James Heard; 2006
1st Art Gallery: Claude Monet [http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/Claude-Oscar-Monet/Claude-Oscar-Monet-oil-paintings.html]

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

List of Musical Techniques and Their Meanings

Musical techniques are the building blocks of any basic music training. These techniques allow performers to improve their coordination and develop accuracy through repetitive daily exercises. Musical techniques progressively build upon previously learned techniques. Scales Scales form the basis for other musical techniques. Student may study major and minor scales as well as modern scales, such as the whole-tone and octatonic scales. A scale consists of patterns of half steps and whole steps. These whole steps and half-step arrangements will be different for each scale. Scales are musical techniques that can help a performer to play faster and more accurately, and make learning new pieces easier. Chords Chords require knowledge of major and minor scales. Chords come in several different forms that affect the sound. Triads consist of three notes spaced a third apart and classified as major, minor, augmented and diminished chords. Seventh chords build on triads and have an additional no
Post a Comment
Read more

Why Claude Debussy Never Cared About Music Theory

  Claude Debussy was born on August 22, 1862. So, I felt writing a blog post to celebrate would be appropriate. Debussy was a revolutionary composer who challenged the conventions of Western music. He was influenced by the impressionist painters, the exotic sounds of gamelan music, and the symbolist poets. He created a musical language that was expressive, colorful, and atmospheric. One of the most remarkable aspects of Debussy's music is his use of harmony. He did not follow the rules of tonality and functional harmony that dominated the music of his time. Instead, he used modes, scales, chords, and parallel movements that created a sense of ambiguity and fluidity. He also experimented with timbre, texture, rhythm, and form to create musical images that evoked moods and emotions. Debussy's music can inspire us to think outside the box and explore new possibilities in our own compositions. We can learn from his innovative techniques and his artistic vision. We can also apprecia
Post a Comment
Read more

Similarities of Classical and Baroque Music

Music has evolved through the centuries and undergone drastic changes. One of the most significant transitions was from the Baroque to the Classical period of music. In this paragraph, I will compare and contrast some of the main features of these two styles, such as ensembles, instrumentation, and counterpoint study. The Baroque and Classical periods of music have many similarities. While the style of music changed drastically, certain key elements remained the same between the two styles. Composers in the Classical period sought to simplify music and create clearly audible musical lines. In contrast, composers from the Baroque period were interested in creating complex and highly ornamented musical lines. The Baroque period occurs from approximately 1600 to 1750, and the Classical period extends from 1750 to 1820. Ensembles Ensembles are groups of musicians that perform together. Both the Baroque and the Classical period had similar types of ensembles, such as operas, orchestras, str
Post a Comment
Read more