ART HISTORY
brushes (useful for loading with paint)
becoming more common.
That wet-into-wet technique had
an important bearing on some of
the stylistic traits of Impressionist
painting. Firstly, those luscious,
impasto strokes remained visible
on the finished canvases, giving
a mottled texture in which every
element was painted in the same way.
It meant that something ephemeral
like a reflection of light on blossom
was rendered as substantially as a
more solid object, like a thick tree
trunk or the garden wall. Likewise,
those broken marks meant that hard
edges were less clearly defined too.
Replicating this democratic approach
to mark making is a key feature of
recreating the Impressionist style.4
MIX YOUR DARKS
In 1905, Claude Monet revealed
that his palette was a matter of habit.
“I use Flake White, Cadmium Yellow,
Vermilion, Deep Madder, Cobalt Blue,
Emerald Green, and that’s all,” he
said, adding that the important thing
was knowing how to use them.
Earlier in his career, Monet had
also used Ivory Black, although he
soon dropped this in favour of mixing
shadow colours from a combination of
two or more complementary colours.
So, for example, the rich scarlet of
Vermilion sits at the opposite side of
the colour wheel to the lush Emerald
Green, meaning that when the two
colours are mixed, they create a
complex range of darker shades.5
USE BROKEN COLOUR
Rather than completing paintings
to an even, smooth level of finish, the
Impressionists broke with tradition by
leaving gaps between some of the
marks in each layer, which allowed
the previous layers to show through.
This use of “broken colour” creates
a vibrantsurfacetoa painting.More
importantly,it allowsa degreeof
opticalmixingtooccur.Whenviewed
froma distance,strokesofdifferent
coloursplacedbesideoneanotherwill
appeartofuseslightly;a perceptualLEFTClaudeMonet,
WaterlooBridge,
Overcast,1903,
oiloncanvas,
65.5x100.5cm© ORDRUPGAARD, COPENHAGEN. PHOTO: ANDERS SUNE BERG
Artists & Illustrators 33