The job of being an impressionst

The job of being an impressionst

Painting is not about duplicating nature, it's about interpreting the scene so viewers can feel it, not just see it.

The job of an impressionist painter is not to duplicate what they see, the camera on a Smartphone will do a much better job. Impressionists paint to record the feeling of the moment and this is quite different from merely painting what is there. In many respects such painters are illusionists and they will pull out all the tricks they know to make you feel like you are there in the painting. They don't spend hours tracing out the forms and then painting them in. Often they will change things to suit the mood they are portraying. This means they will be leaving things out, putting things in, making up things completely and exaggerating colour, light, shadow and form. Painting is not about duplicating nature, it's about interpreting the scene so viewers can feel it, not just see it. It's about inviting them to make up their own story as they revel in the illusion. It's about making people stop in their stroll through the gallery and engaging with their own imagination. This is the wonder of being an artist and particularly an impressionist.

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Comments

Very nice, you can almost feel the damp air

You've demonstrated your thesis very well.