Thursday, February 11, 2010

Can an Impressionist painting be done using a sponge instead of a brush?

I really need an expert opinion because one of the characteristic of an impressionistic painting is visible brush stocks. I have used a sponge to do my painting. Will it still be considered impressionistic?Can an Impressionist painting be done using a sponge instead of a brush?
I don't see why not. Impressionist paintings are loose and have lots of movement. The paintings are the impression the artist gets from the subject matter, they are alive with feeling, light and color; they are a snap shot or moment in time. if your painting exhibits these traits then it is an impressionistic painting. You could also cut your sponge down to be able to have a bit more control if you like. Have a look at some impressionist artist such as Monet and Renoir.Can an Impressionist painting be done using a sponge instead of a brush?
A truer statement of impressionist painting might be that it involves building color images using a palette that has little or no black or dark browns - shadows being created by contrasts - and images are built up largely of dabs of color near each other, not mixed on the canvas.. The lack of dark makes the pictures glow with light and since most of their work is outdoors, that is what they are playing with.


On the other hand, most of the junk amateur painting (';I don't see why they didn't give a prize to that one, it looks very nice';) is impressionist in that it gives the impression of the scene and the artist shows no hint of drawing ability or of accurate rendering if it were needed (';Lets do a lovely stroke of dark green here for a tree trunk and another behind it.';)


I personally would think a sponge would be a poor tool for making the tight color by color spots that I consider hallmarks, but you might surprise me.


Why do you have to label it?
I'd go for it Cookie and show what you've done. You could still excercise a fair bit of control and it was all about an impression of light and colour and not being a camera. Look at Monet's large works of water lilies;to me they are the start of abstract expressionism.
to me, impressionism painting is a style of painting that involves putting ones own impression of his or her perception, it can be done with a brush, palette knife, sponge, or a finger!

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