Portrait of a Family by Sam Adoquei If you've never seen the paintings of Sam Adoquei you are in for a special treat. Aside from being a fabulous and formidable artist he is also an excellent teacher, and this summer I decided to hone my skills by signing up for his Central Park landscape workshop. In his classes Sam generously shares not only his incredible knowledge of the "how to" of painting, but also the "whys and wherefores," with many examples from art history and his own work. He gives his students a solid foundation with plenty of food for thought.
One morning he gave an inspiring talk about how landscape artists use color from three different perspectives: expressionism, impressionism and realism. Here is my summary of what he told us, as best I can remember.
One morning he gave an inspiring talk about how landscape artists use color from three different perspectives: expressionism, impressionism and realism. Here is my summary of what he told us, as best I can remember.
Expressionism, Impressionism and Realism
Expressionist painters, such as Matisse and Derain, painted directly from their emotions and ignored many of the rules of traditional western academic painting. They used colors boldly and subjectively, without attempting to be truthful to what was in front of them.
Place des Lices, St. Tropez by Henri Matisse
Painters who worked in an impressionist manner such as Monet and and Sargent had a more nuanced approach to color. They were interested in how they actually look, and tried hard to paint colors exactly as they saw them. They used loose, spontaneous brushwork, placing colors alongside each other without blending them. For instance they might place a blue stroke next to a yellow one to achieve green. So if you were to step back from the painting the color would appear as green, but if you looked up close the blue and yellow strokes would still be visible as individual colors.
Poplars on the Epte by Claude Monet
Realist artists such as Corot and Courbet painted outdoors just as the impressionists did. But their intention was to paint small studies for the creation of larger paintings. These larger works were created indoors in the studio. They were going for a smooth, polished and detailed look. Brushstrokes were not meant to be visible. If they wanted a green they would mix a green, and wouldn't try to achieve it by placing blue and yellow next to each other.
View of the Forest of Fontainebleau by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
When to Use Which
So what does this mean for the modern day landscape artist? Sam explained that if you have only one day to do a landscape painting you should paint like an expressionist, using color in a bold, direct and intuitive manner. In a two day painting you should begin in expressionism and then develop the painting into impressionism, trying to be more truthful and refined in your color choices. And if you have the luxury to work on a four day painting, then some portions of the painting may be left in the expressionist stage, others in the impressionist, and still others taken all the way to realism with much more finish and detail. If you study Sam's painting "Portrait of a Family" at the top of this page, you can see that he used all three methods in different parts of the composition.
Sunset at Gerald Point, The Hamptons by Sam Adoquei
And here's the million dollar question: in a four day painting, what part of your composition do you leave in expressionism, and what do you take to impressionism and realism? This was summarized perfectly by Vincent Van Gogh in a letter to his brother Theo: 'exaggerate the essential, leave the obvious vague'. Something for the old coconut to ponder.
Hooray, the summer landscape painting season is here! I look forward to this all year, and I'll be going outdoors to paint as often as I can. Hope these color concepts help all you landscape painters and art lovers as much as they've helped me. Happy painting!
Hooray, the summer landscape painting season is here! I look forward to this all year, and I'll be going outdoors to paint as often as I can. Hope these color concepts help all you landscape painters and art lovers as much as they've helped me. Happy painting!
