MONET- the master Impressionist

Water Lilies, 1906

The Japanese Bridge, 1918-24

from the "Haystacks Series", 1890-91

- a detail of scumbled colors in his work-

Monet (1840-1926) is a painter you should recognize, by name and work.... He is a master of using color to describe form and light. monet was concerned with capturing a moment of time and light... he would often work on a canvas for a brief time, the same time every day, just to capture that particular light and atmosphere...

Notice his use of hot and cold colors and complementary colors to create effects... also notice his use of scumbled, layered paints - allowing your eye to mix the colors.

See more of his work here...

Anselm Kiefer- paintings with texture!!!

Kiefer, a German "Contemporary" painter (born 1945), has used painting to explore and express his feelings of the dark history of his country. His work contains imagery and symbols from WWII- including landscapes, text, objects and personal symbols.

*Look at how he adds textures to the painting's surface- placing hay, adding wax to the paints and even shaping the canvas into objects!! Wow! Also notice how he uses LARGE scale canvases to make the work visually powerful.

You can see more of his work here....

David Hockney- High Energy use of Color!

Hockney, a British painter, set designer, photographer and creative powerhouse, is one of the most recognized painters of our time. He was classically trained in painting and drawing - skills that are evident in all of his work. over the years, Hockney has explored many ways to be creative- photography, set design, and recently cell phone videos... challenging himself to adapt that media and technology to meet his creative ideas.

His recent work uses strong colors and patterns.... and are a great place to look for techniques and ideas of how to make dynamic colorful paintings!

See more of his work here....

20X30 ideas!!!

Here are a series of amazing work to inspire you!! These are by: Monet (Impresionism), Jerome Witkin (realist), Janet Fish (realist), and Chuck Close (also realist).

Click on the artist's name to see more of their work...

TULA's amazing landscapes- with a modern twist!

Tula uses traditional painting techniques to create these dramatic images. The work has an interesting twist- these are imagined places, paintings created from her memories of traveling in her youth. These are NOT real places. Another interesting twist is her use of color strips along the edges of her paintings. These strips seem to change in color, responding to the colors in the painting... Perhaps she is reminding us of the artist's ability to fool the eye with color and value.

The work is large (6 feet across) and transforms as you get closer into a pattern of color and values.

* note how she uses changes in VALUE, COLOR and CLARITY to make it look more realistic.

See more of her work here...

CHASE, Master of Landscape

As part of the Hudson River School of painters,

Friedrich William Chase created dramatic landscape paintings, which romanticized the power of nature.

* note how he used color complements to create the "glow" effects in his work....

See more about the Hudson River School artists here...