Monet: Woman Reading, 1872
Explore the power of complementary colours as we play pink against green in this romantic Monet.
- Book this session
- About this painting
- Colour
- What will we learn in this session?:
- Resources
- Standard Materials
- Student Paintings
About this session
In this painting, Claude Monet uses his first wife, Camille Doncieux, as the model as he captures the subtle lighting effects with a pink silk dress in the shade.
My interpretation.
- Title: Woman Reading, 1872
- Creator: Claude Monet
- Date Created: 1872
- Style: Nineteenth-Century European Painting Impressionism and Post-Impressionism
- Physical Dimensions: 500 x 655 mm
- Original Title: when exhibited at the Second Impressionist Exhibition in 1876, this painting was titled more generically, "Woman Reading."
- Catalogue No:
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (U.S.A.)
Materials
- Provided: Canvas, paint, impasto, extender, gel, pencils, brushes, palette knives, apron, light refreshments
- BYO: Sketch book
Colour
Warm and cool - complementary colours meet at the hem of the dress, creating a strong colour vibration.
What will we learn in this painting?
- Fabric
- Grass
- Skin
We will start with a warm tone.
Our initial sketch. We use the rule of 3rds to help us place the figure.
Blocking
We block in the scene with loose, gestural strokes.
Detail
Students can do a tracing from a print-out I supply to make the face easier to paint.
Detail of the brush strokes used to create the impression of grass.
Texture
Further along with texturing. As usual Monet used several techniques in the one painting.
Student paintings
These student paintings demonstrate yet again how much knowledge of style a passionate art lover has locked up - my teaching methods merely unleash what is within!
Student paintings completed in one session at Inglis Academy, November 2020.
