I had a lovely day today in the studio with my painting students. For both sessions, I delivered a lesson about investigating Impressionist mark making. It was designed to encourage students to consider their own mark making moving forward. If you fancy a go yourself, here’s an overview of the session.
Part 1: Name the Impressionists:
Answer at the bottom of page
- What might the brush have been like? Hard or soft? Flat, round or filbert?
- How much paint was put on the brush?
- How much liquid has been mixed with the paint?
- What movement of the brush has the artist made? Dots, dashes, scumble?
- How has colour be used?
Part 2: Painting activity:
10 minutes per image only
Recreate as much of the following four painting sections as you can. Try to replicate the nature of the marks, and colours, as accurately as possible.
Students’ outcomes:
Work by Juliet, Sarah and Hagit
Part 3: Painting activity
45 minutes only
Transform a suitable landscape photograph into your own Impressonist painting. Use the marks that feel most natural to yourself.
Discussion: What makes our marks different?:
- Brush shape.
- Length of handle.
- Size of brush.
- Type of bristles.
- Sit or stand to paint?
- How much paint we squeeze out?
- How we mix paint on our palette.
- How we lift paint onto our brush.
- The pressure that we apply the paint with.
- The movement we make with the paint.
Students’ outcomes:
Work by Wendy, Mary and Stuart
Answer: Monet, Pissarro, Seurat and Gauguin.