A Impressionist's View

An Impressionist's view of the world is simple; there is color and there is shape.  I agree that color and shape make up the world that we see, and that it often looks fascinating to represent that which we see by shapes and colors, but to me, a painting is not complete without the textures.

In painting, I first block in color and shape, much like an Impressionist.  However, when they would call the painting finished, I see one that has only just begun.  It starts with...

the sky, then the shape of the land is added in starting in back and working forward.  The chairs came last as they were the most complicated part and colors I had never mixed.  It was interesting to see that both chairs were made with the same colors, one simply had more Viridian.  Then once blocking in is done, the sky can be refined if needed.  I had to add in a few streaks of brighter blue to break up the overcast sky.  The day feels much warmer and less dreary with the blue patches hovering between clouds.

And now, that the sky has been refined, I can start moving forward again.  Starting in the back I can add textures to trees and water, then marsh grass and shrubs, finally moving to the foreground of the chairs and trees not yet blocked in on the left.  Where once there was an Impressionist painting, there will soon be a completed Realist's Painting.

The details will filter in over the next month or two.  Thanks for watching as my painting grows.

~The Anonymous Bard 11/15/11