CLAUDE MONET ✩ Painting with the Masters - ✩ Davis Arts Center, Autumn 2015

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Class description: In this beginning painting class we will also learn a little Art History and hear about the Impressionist art movement and the life of Claude Monet. Students will practice  his fanciful painting techniques and elegant study of light, and will use acrylic paints on canvas board to create a lovely Monet style painting of their own.

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During our first class we learned a little about French Impressionist painter Claude Monet and the Impressionist movement he inspired. We learned “Impressionists” earned that name because they painted what they saw and felt rather than painting something exactly the way it really looked. 

We then took a look at several of Monet’s beautiful landscapes and noticed his short brush strokes and dabs of color that emphasized light and shadows. We then took a look at where he lived in Giverney, France, and the garden and pond that surrounded his house where he painted dozens of beautiful paintings all year around so they always showed the changing of the seasons. 

Monet's Japanese Bridge painting in Spring

Monet's Japanese Bridge painting in Summer

Monet's Japanese Bridge painting in Autumn

Since it is autumn, I thought we would do a colorful autumn landscape in Monet’s painting style. Since we could not visit France (I wish!), I thought we could paint a Japanese Bridge closer to our home. My first choice was the bridge at the gorgeous Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. 

Autumn at the Japanese Tea Garden, San Francisco

Practicing Monet’s painting techniques…

Students begin our Monet paintings

a first layer of Impressionist painting technique

Some of our beautiful Monet-style paintings….