Notes on Painting with My Son
I wanted to share a few notes my youngest son and I took when recently working on an Impressionistic landscape painting together:
Read about the father of Impressionism, Claude Monet, in the book, Monet’s Garden, by Laurence Anholt.
Got out supplies: drop cloth, a few brushes, canvas or thick watercolor paper, acrylic paints, water, palette (paper plate for us.)
Created an underpainting. Cover the canvas or paper in a watered-down single shade and use the paintbrush to sketch in a loose drawing of what you plan to paint.
Mixed colors or choose existing paint colors. We mixed all our colors using the three primary colors, red, yellow, and blue, plus a little white and black.
Started painting the picture! We were working on a mountain landscape. Lots of artists reach a point known as the “messy middle” where they are no loving their painting, but keep going and persevere to the end!
Considered where the light source was in the picture. We were thinking about where the sun was rising from behind the mountains. Based on the light source, we painted in where the brighter spots would be in the landscape, and where the shadows would be.
Add a little signature or initials to the bottom corner. This always reminds me that each work of art was not created by some nameless machine, but by a human hand, and makes me appreciate a painting I see all the more.
To read a little more about Impressionism, read my post here.