Impressionist Painting

Discover how to capture the luminous colors, dynamic brushwork, and compelling compositions that define impressionist painting. Combine technical training with historical context to understand how this revolutionary art movement influenced modern aesthetics and spawned new artistic directions.

This course covers the following skills and knowledge:

• Mixing and blending colors effectively
• Creating expressive, gestural marks with your brush
• Structuring compositions in the impressionist manner
• Understanding aerial perspective
• Capturing the varied textures found in natural environments
• Using photographic references as painting guides

Six-Day Schedule:

• Day 1: Historical overview of impressionism as an artistic movement, then begin a master study copying an impressionist masterpiece.
• Day 2: Complete your master study and refine techniques through finished work.
• Day 3: Explore composition principles specific to impressionism, plan your final painting, create sketches and compositional studies, and select a harmonious color scheme.
• Day 4: Study Fauvism and its relationship to Impressionism, continue developing your final artwork, and begin layering your first colors.
• Day 5: Examine post-impressionism and the Bay Area Art Movement, and complete additional work on your original composition.
• Day 6: Finish your creative project using either impressionist or post-impressionist approaches.