Hello and welcome to my studio
and especially to Part Two in this five part Impressionist painting series.
In part two,
we're going to deal with the next important impressionist painting technique
that's going to help you transform your paintings into that impressionist style.
Now.
In part two, we are covering the important topic of brushwork.
Now, I have previous videos on the types
of brushes I recommend for painting in this particular style,
and you can find a link to one of those videos at the end of this video.
And a quick reminder that I have
a comprehensive How to Paint Like an Impressionist painting course.
You can find a link to that below this video or in the description.
Now, let's look at impressionist brushwork in more detail.
Let's look at what we mean by loose brush
work in the context of impressionist painting.
By this we mean loose brushwork is the use
of expressive and gestural brush strokes to suggest the form and texture
of a subject rather than showing it in a highly detailed or realistic way.
The goal of loose brush work is to capture
the feeling of the scene rather than the precise representation of it.
And impressionist painters often used
large brushes and applied paint in a direct,
spontaneous manner, and they would do color mixing often
on the canvas itself instead of blending the paint away.
The resulting brush strokes would often remain visible on the finished painting,
creating a sense of movement, texture, energy, and spontaneity.
So loose brushwork is a hallmark of the Impressionist style and is used
to create that sense of light and atmosphere and emotion in the painting.
Now, it's important also to understand
what the Impressionists were really all about.
Fundamentally, the impressionists were a rebellious group of painters.
Now, what were they rebelling against?
The impressionists were rebelling against the Old Masters school of painting,
and the Old Masters would use blended brushwork and glazing compared
to the impressionist, direct, bold, and textured brushwork.
The Old Masters sometimes would have to spend a very long time methodically
building up layers of glazes to create the color effects they were after.
The Old Masters were looking at achieving a sense of depth and luminosity
in the color and a sense of realism in their paintings.
So details were very important.
Lots of texture and impasto was simply not tolerated.
Now, the impressionists, by contrast,
focused on trying to capture the essence of a scene rather than the photorealist
approach, which meant they worked quickly and spontaneously chasing the light
sometimes to get that loose and expressive look.
They used a wider range of colors, bigger brushes, and the result was
that textured, bold, and quite a huge departure from the old Master approach.
So in this respect, we have to understand that impressionism was a rebellion against
the Old Masters, and the impressionists of the late 1800s didn't take this lightly.
They really did go all out to break the mold of that Old Master approach.
So today we have to keep in mind
that brush work is very important, and we can't skimp
on brush work if we want an impressionist look to the painting.
So let's get into the tips that I suggest you use for getting a loose
and impressionist approach with your brushwork specifically.
Number one is practice with larger brushes.
Using larger brushes will help you
to create a loose and more expressive brush stroke.
Try starting off with a size 10 or even
a size 12 brush on a smaller panel, let's say a 10 by 12 inch panel.
This. Will force you to ignore the details
and instead try to suggest details with big brush strokes.
Number two is hold your brush differently.
Now, because the oil painting brush or the acrylic painting brush these days has
a very long handle, use that long handle to its best extent.
Try holding the brush at the end
of the handle, and this will give you a broader, more gestural stroke.
Try moving the brush with your whole arm
as well, not just using the wrist to get little flicking brush strokes,
but try and get that bold sweeping brush stroke or that strong dab of the paint
on the canvas using the brush to butter it on.
Look at the shape of the object you are painting.
Try and use your brush strokes to suggest
that shape by moving the brush in the direction of that shape.
Is it round, straight, vertical, horizontal?
Use the paint almost like a very soft clay
to mold those shapes, and your brush accordingly has to be moved
in that direction in a strong and bold fashion.
The third tip is work quickly.
Impressionist painters were known
for their sense of spontaneity and immediate direct painting approach.
So they wouldn't work like an old master and paint a glaze, then wait for a couple
of days for that to dry fully and then paint again.
They would react to the light and atmosphere in that moment.
Perhaps they only had an hour to capture that moment.
So to capture the feeling of the actual
light effect that we spoke about in video number one, you had to work quickly
and you couldn't overthink your brush strokes.
So if you take this quicker approach,
you'll create looser, more gestural brush marks as a result.
And you may be surprised at just how
energetic your painting becomes as a result.
Now, tip number 4 is also using a limited color palette.
And I know we covered this in the first
video, so I won't go into this in detail as far as harmonies are concerned.
But by having a limited number of colors on your palette, you're going to be using
your brush more than just a tool for putting on paint to the canvas.
You're going to also use it to mix paint, whether it's on your palette or even
on the canvas itself by dragging paint into other wet paint as well.
So your brush is going to help you create a more cohesive looking scene.
By using a fewer amount of colors,
there is less chance that you're going to create a complete mess of muddy color.
It actually becomes easier to move and mix colors around using your brush alone.
Now, the final tip is an important one,
and that is to practice creating smaller painting studies.
So paint on a small surface, or if you got a large painting surface,
try to divide it up into perhaps four smaller painting areas.
You could simply just draw some pencil outlines on one large panel and create
smaller studies within those outlines you've drawn.
But by doing small studies,
you're going to be forced to work with the bigger brush strokes
and the limited amount of time within a smaller space.
And this is going to prevent you
from getting bogged down in details and fussy over-blended paintings.
You're just going to be putting down big shapes and helping them suggest
the subject instead of trying to break it down into a thousand tiny brush strokes.
The smaller surface will also help you complete the painting in one session.
And this is a very important idea.
Trying to complete a large painting in one
session is probably not possible, but on a smaller surface it certainly is.
And you'll get that sense of immediacy and also the pleasure of completing
the painting and a lot more confidence as well.
And as you become more familiar and build up this muscle memory,
you'll be able to paint larger paintings as well, medium sized paintings.
You could complete those in one or two days and your paint would still be nice
and wet for you to be able to work in a loose fashion.
So keep in mind that getting this loose
brushwork does take practice and patience, but with time you'll develop your own
unique style and it's like writing with a pen.
You didn't develop your writing style overnight.
It took time for that muscle memory and your unique gesture to develop.
So trust the process, keep practicing,
make your mistakes, and keep moving forward.
And you'll notice an amazing transformation in your brushwork.
Well, I hope you found this video
interesting and useful with tips that you can apply to your painting.
Remember, practice!
I've kept saying it, and I'm going to repeat that again.
Practice what you see and you will notice how quickly your painting improves.
Don't forget, you can find out more about
my course on How to Paint Like an Impressionist.
Find a link to that in the description
and you'll find a special offer there for you as well.
Now, keep an eye out for part three in this impressionist painting series.
You don't want to miss that and you won't miss it if you subscribe to this channel
right now, hit the notification button and you won't miss any of the future videos.
And don't forget, there's also a nice free
course for you in the link above, and you can find out more about
that in your own time as you're learning to paint like an impressionist.
Okay, that's it for now.
Enjoy your painting and until next time, cheers for now.