Claude Monet is perhaps the most widely known of the Impressionist painters, and it was one of his paintings, which a critic disparagingly called only ‘an impression’ of a painting, which gave the group their name. He completed almost 250 water lily paintings of the pond in his beloved flower garden in Giverny, and they were his focus for the last 30 years of his life. Though Monet was impoverished for many years, one of his water lily series fetched over $80 million dollars in 2008!
Copying the Original
Copying the master is one of oldest methods of art instruction mainly because it helps to develop skill. In fact, that’s how most of the old masters, like Michaelangelo, began learning their craft. It’s a way to study composition, color theory, brushwork, and the use of light and shadow from the very best. Art practice trains us to really look at what’s around us which leads to greater awareness, and potentially, to greater understanding of ourselves and life.
So, follow along with this exercise and try your hand at creating something beautiful, while learning how a modern master like Monet worked. This water lily painting was created between 1897-1899 and now hangs in the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna in Rome. It is 81 cm X 100 cm but for our purposes we’ll work smaller!
Let’s Begin!
You can watch the time lapse video of me painting to get an idea of the process.
Materials
Painting Substrate
A substrate, which can be watercolor paper, a panel, cradle board, Bristol paper or any heavier bodied paper. I used a small 6” X 6” piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper. For your first attempt staying in the 6” – 8” range might be best. You can enlarge as you gain confidence.
Acrylic Paint
I used ultramarine blue, green, a tiny amount of quinacridone magenta (red would also work), titanium white, and a dot of yellow. I used Liquitex, but acrylic paints are fine. Use whatever colors you like or have on hand. We’re not going for perfection but rather to have fun while learning something new.
Brushes
I used a ½ inch flat, ¼ inch flat, and a fine point liner. Use what you have.
Pencil and Eraser
Beware that erasing too much will degrade the paper and even tear it.
Miscellaneous
Water container and a rag, or paper towels.
Directions:
Step 1. Make a light drawing of the water lily pads and lilies. Go light to minimize erasing or altering the paper. Also, heavy lines may show through the paint.
Step 2. Lay your paints out on a palette. Nothing fancy here! I use a paper plate or deli paper. If you live in a hot climate, it’s good to have the ability to spritz your paint with a little water so they don’t dry too quickly especially, if using acrylics.
Step 3. Mix some blue and white and begin filling in the water area of your drawing. Note how the water is darker and has more green at the bottom of the painting and also in the top right area. The center actually has a slight purplish cast to it. Save that area – we’ll come back to it.
Step 4. When the pond water is filled in, mix some green and white then add a tiny amount of blue. Keep playing with the colors until you get a shade for the lily pads that you like. Remember, it doesn’t have to be exact, only pleasing to you!
Step 5. Fill in the lily pads. I went over them to add some shading with a lighter green. But looking more closely at Monet’s original, a touch more blue would have matched his. Blend colors that you like.
Step 6. With the edge of the smaller brush (not the liner), paint the lilies white. Slightly turning the brush offers a smaller stroke, or even holding the brush straight up to get the thin edge of the bristles will make a small lily blossom. You can practice first on a piece of paper. Don’t worry if the lilies look like blobs (mine did!), you can come in later and fix them.
Step 7. Take a watered down, but not wet, light magenta or red and swipe the water lily on the right. Dab it with the cloth or paper towel if necessary for a more subtle effect. Do the same for the lily pad in the upper left. With the pinkish color on your brush, mix in a little blue to get the purple or lavender shade in the middle left area of the pond. If it’s too purple dab it with the cloth or leave it if you like the color! This is your interpretation.
Step 8. Finish your work. Here’s where you can use a fine line brush to add shadows around the lily pads or clean up the lilies. Put in the yellow dot in the upper right lily. Check the colors. Could your painting use a bit more green-blue in the center, or depth in the bottom of the painting?
Tip: A handy way to get your brush strokes like Monet’s is to swipe your brush on a piece of paper so it’s almost dry and then the strokes will show up as movement, as is portrayed in the middle of Monet’s painting.
Here’s how my painting turned out:
Congratulations!
You have just completed an art activity that the masters throughout history engaged in to refine their craft. See how easy and fun it is? You can try this with any of the masters work and learn something new each time. It’s practice, not talent, that will make you an artist.
I hope you enjoyed this practice. Please share your experience because I’d love to know how this worked for you.
Questions About This Exercise:
Did this exercise take some of the intimidation out of painting? Are you happy with what you created? And are you motivated to try it again, perhaps with a Van Gogh?