(Credits) Left: Claude Monet,The Bridge at Argenteuil,1874. Right: Karen Hewitt Hagan AFTER Claude Monet's The Bridge at Argenteuil
My GOAL: To study and paint from an impressionist painting each month for a year. On a very small canvas. Choosing works from deceased artists only, I’ll try to learn about their techniques, the colors they used colors, their brush work and how they were inspired during their creations.
Mainly, I wish I could talk with them, but they're not here, so I'll have to learn from their brush strokes and seek out the rest of the information wherever I can find it. At the end of the year, I should have 12 works completed and 12 mini essays on my favorite painters and their inspiration. It can’t hurt me to try.
Will I succeed, will I quit, what will I learn and how will it affect my own work? Hmmm…
My First Attempt:
Daunting task I have assigned myself! I guess it's not supposed to be easy. So this was a whole lot harder than I thought it could be, and will take much longer than I thought. Maybe I should have started this project after my two shows in February are done?
First, I spent hours looking through images of impressionistic paintings and reading about their works and their lives. Finally I chose a subject I'm familiar with - boats. With boats, maybe I'll have a slim chance of succeeding in capturing some of their beauty?
I chose to do a study of Claude Monet's "The Bridge at Argenteuil".
Essential Info (or stuff I needed to know)
Argenteuil is about 14km Northwest of Paris. The Seine River flows through Paris and was the main route of transportation and protection for Pairs. Many artist including Renoir, Sisley, van Gogh and Monet painted this river. Monet lived from 1840 until 1926. This painting is currently in the collection of the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. He painted it in 1874 when he was a young man of 34. The size of this painting is 60.5 x 80 cm which translates into 23.6 x 31.5 inches.
I read that Monet painted at the Argenteuil Bridge 7 times the year of the first Impressionist Exhibition(1874), so I surmise that he was very inspired by this scene, comfortable with it and found it pleasurable.
My first Question:
As I was painting this I asked myself: What colors did Monet use?
I guessed that he used a simple color selection, so I started with what I had on hand French Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Yellow Ochre Light and Titanium White. Quickly I realized that he probably had another blue, so I added Manganese Blue Hue to my selection.
I have since learned that he has been quoted as saying he used: (2)"...flake white, cadmium yellow, vermilion, deep madder (modern equivalent is alizarin crimson), cobalt blue, emerald green, and that's all."
There is some differing discussion about these colors, and his paintings have been analyzed and the colors “they” came up with differ from the above. I'm going to side with the direct quote for my records. I guess it was that cobalt blue that made that vibrant water color and sky color. Manganese came close for me. Maybe I'll try some cobalt later. I haven't had it on my palette for years now.
My next question:
Did he paint this in the studio or on site? Maybe some of you know that answer? I'd love to know. I can't find that info yet. Monet was known in the later part of his career as painting outside only in the morning and afternoon, using his studio during the glaring light of midday. But that was much later in his life. He was a young man when he painted this painting. They say he painted from the time he got up until he could no longer hold a brush at the end of the day. Sounds familiar.
My Revelation about his painting:
As I studied the composition - It is entirely splendid. The number of triangles that I encountered as I was painting were numerous.
In composing paintings and in posing models I always try to create some triangles in the composition. Triangles keep the eye moving around the work making it exciting, leading you to the "payoff" or the center of interest.
In Monet's painting there is a loose open triangle formed by two of the masts of the sailboats, one formed by the reflection to the left bottom of the foremost sail boat and the most notable one in the building to the right onshore. There is also a dark triangle under the tree to left of this building. The cast shadow (in a triangle) from the bridge onto the rectangular structure is what is most luscious to me. It holds the eye longest in the painting for me.
In total and at fist glance this Monet painting is a simply stunning, a peaceful and luxurious view of a simple river side life. It sparkles. In detail it's a very complex composition masterfully designed, skillfully rendered and painted beautifully to say the least. I learned so much by working on my small version of it. Look at the two paintings posted and see what you think. I invite your comments...It was really tough trying to make my study painting look like his. The real jewel was not my painting, but what my hand learned from actually doing this exercise.
How this affected me: It encouraged me to add a bit more complexity to my compositions and to utilize the triangle component more often in my planning.
Doing this exercise makes me want to dig out my photos from my trip last fall where we visited Marseille and Cassis in the south of France. I’ve painted some from those images, but not enough. I have seen some of the beautiful bridges of France, with the boats lined up along them and stood at the harbor’s edge in the small working man’s fishing villages…maybe it’s time to paint more of them?
Stay tuned.
