 Welcome to Monet Café. I'm artist Susan Jenkins bringing you a subject matter that is near and dear to myself and this channel. We will be talking about Impressionism along with some steps to master Impressionistic Painting techniques. And I will offer a demonstration of my own emulation of Monet at the end of this presentation. Is there any doubt that I have a beautiful obsession with the masterful artwork of Claude Monet? Let's take a look at some of the reasons I believe he was a trailblazer when it comes to the Impressionistic style and also give you some insight to create more Impressionistic artwork yourself. I believe the reason his artwork captivates the world is because of his focus and use of light. In a way that was refreshing and quite unique for his day. I'd like to share with you this moment of enlightenment that Claude Monet had one afternoon while painting. There's a story he liked to tell towards the end of his life about a moment of an artistic awakening. He had been painting and he realized that the light had changed and the canvas he was working on was now redundant to his needs because the light had changed so much. Rather than waiting for the light to return he asked his daughter Alice who was watching him nearby and he asked her to run to the house and bring him another canvas. She scurried down the hill and not long he was asking for another and another canvas until by the end of the day the painter was surrounded by more than a half a dozen images of the same subject each compositionally identical but in other ways strikingly different from the others. This tale of sudden enlightenment is central to the Monet legend being the moment when the primacy of light became fully apparent to him. In fact perhaps more than any of the impressionist he had always made it a principal goal to try to capture the immediacy of what was in front of him and I believe that's why he is very appropriately called the master of light. It seems Monet had unlocked a magical key to the style of impressionism. It's a scientific fact that we need two elements to see anything. One is light and the other is an object. What we so often do as artists is focus more on the objects rather than the illumination and the light in the moment. Therefore I believe that a crucial and first step to paint with an impressionistic style is to learn to see the world differently and focus like Monet on the primacy of light and not merely objects in a painting. Another important step to learn to paint with an impressionistic style is to become a student of impressionism. Of course as artists we become students of nature. If you have been painting for a while have you found that you look at the world through an artist's eyes examining subtle differences in morning sunrises. But I suggest that you also become a student of impressionism studying the works of some of your favorite impressionistic artists. Another important step is to learn to interpret the landscape and so often less is more. Unlike a photograph and how every object seems to come into clear focus as artists we learn to see the crucial most important focal points and leave the rest as a suggestion for the viewer. Another crucial step is to embrace a gestural style. Remember life is moving and fluid. Lively and gestural markmaking will create a painting that seems to come to life with the impressionistic style. One of my favorite suggestions and steps for impressionistic painting is don't be afraid of color. So often like a prisoner we feel bound to the color of our reference image or the scene in front of us. And while yes there are certain rules to color theory I find that if you get value correct you can become like a kid again and play with color. My last suggestion and step is to paint, paint, paint and paint some more. Yes it is so crucial to continue to paint, paint daily if you can. Also paint small studies don't feel like you have to create a masterpiece as I often say painting is as much about the experience as the final physical product. And when it comes to painting lots, Monet was a perfect example of this. He had an overwhelming obsession to paint and I love what he wrote here. He said, and yet I want to succeed in rendering what I feel. And I believe that embodies the spirit of impressionism. We're not simply reproducing a landscape as in a photograph but we're giving the viewer a part of ourselves, a part of our heart, a visual piece of ourselves. Before my painting demonstration I thought I'd share with you a few quotes from Monet that I think will help you see he was just like many of us. We often envision the life of an artist being romantic and passionate but artists experience all of the same challenges. Here he says I'm working more and more but how hard it all is. I'm enslaved to my work always wanting the impossible. Do you ever feel that way? And here he says gardening was something I learned in my youth when I was unhappy I perhaps owe having become a painter of flowers. That's a perfect example of how often good things can come out of challenges. Here he says I felt the need in order to refresh my vision to take myself away from the place I was living. Do you ever feel like you just need to get away? Artists can often reignite your excitement for painting when you're in a dry spell. Here he says now I'm almost blind and I'm having to abandon work altogether. I found this particularly touching not only because of my own personal life challenges but for so many that I've come to meet here in Monet Café who've had hardships and heartbreaks. At the end of this section it says the light in these late images is dim and dreamlike. It's qualities remembered more than observed. We might even describe it as the light of wisdom. It's an idea that Monet may not have entirely dismissed. I'm going to share a link to a video that's fascinating. It's called The Science Behind Monet's Color. Monet actually painted 40 versions of a single scene of the Waterloo Bridge. Eight of those paintings were brought together for scientists to observe. They found that Monet used a very limited color palette in this series but was still able to evoke such a wide range of ambiances. How did he do this? The video is fascinating and I will have a link to that video in the description of my video here. But basically Monet had stumped some of the world's best scientists by his ability to see light more differently than other artists due to his unique approach to painting. Monet's paintings are still some of the most sought after and prized possessions. In 2008, one of Monet's paintings broke a record and was auctioned off at over 80 million dollars. And now I hope you will enjoy my painting presentation where I used a Monet painting as inspiration I am not creating one of his paintings. I'm actually just using his painting to emulate the style and the mood of Monet. This will be a speed version and the full real-time tutorial is on my Patreon page. If you would like the full version with my added commentary and instruction as I paint, you might want to consider becoming a patron. It's only five dollars a month. You can cancel it anytime, even if you're not a painter and you like my videos. It's just a way to support this channel to keep more free art education on the way. Now I did use some watercolor pencils. I have to give a shout out to Hippie Crafter. They donated these watercolor pencils to me and I really have loved them. I actually forgot that I like to use watercolor pencils to begin a painting. I like to go ahead and get a sketch and then use some water to dilute the area and get a little bit of color in for my sketch before starting. Now, if you've been on my channel much, you know it's primarily a soft pastel medium that I use, but I do lots of different types of mediums for under paintings and in this particular painting, I'm actually going to be wetting my pastels. You'll see this technique right here. Many people don't know that soft pastels, yes, they're paint, just like regular paint. They just happen to be dry. So you can add water or alcohol and create a nice dreamy, drippy effect. That is, of course, if you're using a water-friendly surface, like this pastel matte that I'm using. And I really did like this light green color to begin with. Now I am no Monet. I love Monet. I'm inspired by Monet. And like I said, I let his painting inspire me for this. And I will say, like I say with many of my paintings, I typically, because I record myself and I get to watch myself painting, that's kind of a blessing and kind of a curse. There are many times when I look at my painting about three quarters of the way through and I really like the looseness of it better than the final. That was sort of the case with this one too, but I still did like the final a lot. So in my Patreon version, I give all of the reasons as to why on earth would I be painting these lily pads blue. So lots of commentary, lots of instruction, but don't worry if you just are wanting to learn more and that's just not something that fits your budget right now. I have hundreds of free videos here on Monet Café. So not to worry, you have plenty of art education right at your fingertips. I will give a shout out to my patrons though, because of you, you are literally helping this channel, Monet Café continue, which brings art instruction to people all over the world. I get the most beautiful messages from those who say thank you so much in my country. I don't have any resources to learn to paint. It is a beautiful thing. And if you're a first time viewer here or you've been coming to my channel for a while and haven't yet subscribed, I would love it. If you would subscribe to my channel, also leave me a comment. One thing I'd like to know, has anyone watching seen an original Monet in a museum? I have never seen an original Monet and that would just be a dream come true for me. I kind of embody many of the viewers here who have lives that are so busy, families, and just reasons why you can't be the traveling artist and do many of the things you would dream of doing. That's why I'm always here making videos, learning what I can, and sharing it here on Monet Cafe. I hope you will keep these steps in mind if you dream of painting with a more impressionistic style, become a student of nature, a student of impressionism, paint lots. I'm not saying them all in the right order. Use a gestural style. Don't be afraid of color. Also, don't judge yourself too harshly. I know we are all our own worst critics and these things take time. So, like I said, do lots of studies, practice, and enjoy. Remember to enjoy the experience. To me, it's as much a part of art as the physical product. And try to keep those things in mind with respect to light, seeing the light, how it's behaving, and capturing a moment rather than trying to reproduce something like a photograph. I find the use of broken color is really something that embodies the style of impressionism. Just subtly laying down color next to each other, different colors, letting them interact and even vibrate sometimes with color drama. So this was a lot of fun for me. I really enjoyed this painting. I think the whole thing took a little over an hour. And I plan on doing more. This month's theme in the Art Group, Monet Cafe Art Group, and on my Patreon page is emulating a famous artist. And I got to tell you, everybody in our group and on my Patreon page has been doing a fantastic job. I have a painting coming soon in the style of Van Gogh. I hope you've enjoyed this education into Monet and Impressionistic painting. As always, God bless and happy painting. Thank you so much for joining me in today's lesson. I hope it blessed you and it would bless me if you would consider subscribing to my channel, liking this video. And if you would like extra content or just to support Monet Cafe, consider becoming a patron of mine on my Patreon page. All right, artists, until next time, God bless and happy painting.