Monet in Pourville - collage

I've been studying some of Claude Monets coastal works. I so admire the way Monet takes a simple scene and paints it over and over again depicting different light effects. This is a collage of his paintings looking left from the beach access pathway at Pourville (the blue one somehow flipped itself).

And these are his paintings looking right.

It's obvious that the sweeping view of the beach and headland to the left is the one that caught his attention. However, he did create a popular painting looking to the right. And just look what an amazing job Renoir does in the same location.

YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER?

PEONY PASSION
by Sea Dean
10" x 8" Low Profile Wrap Canvas


Currently available at Daily Paintworks

RADIATE I
by Sea Dean
6" x 6" Wrap Canvas
Framed as shown
Now available at Artfinder


With all the garden shows in our area it's hard to ignore that this is flower season. I read a blog recently that asked for readers to share their favorite flower. I was quite fascinated to read the answers. I wonder if blogs in other parts of the world would come up with different results. I actually went back and counted all 270 choices and the clear winner was the lucious PEONY chosen 34 times,  followed by the DAISY with 25 (no surprises there) and runner up, a tie between ROSES and SUNFLOWERS. Also popular were POPPY, a favorite of Georgia O' Keefe with 14 votes and HYDRANGEA with 15 votes, both loved by many daily painters.

GIVERNY 1900 by Sea Dean after Claude Monet

 Currently Available at Daily Paintworks

Some surprises were that Claude Monets favorites, IRIS and WATERLILY had only one vote each and they are some of the most famous flower paintings in the world. There were also some unusual one vote flowers to research; the amusing Dutchmans Britches, Maga and Margarita, Psychotria Elata (which apparently looks like lips), Spiked Rampion, Schersmin, Laurina Blossom, Lisianthus and Borage. More surprises came with Gladiolus, Cherry Blossom, Orchid, and Carnation with only one or two votes. And Daffodils only 5 votes and Tulips only 7. Even grouping all types of lily, they still only achieved 9 votes.

STAR PERFORMANCE by Sea Dean SOLD

My favorite bouquet flower is STARGAZER LILY. They are outrageously beautiful and their perfume is out of this world. I love receiving cut flowers, but so many die or droop quickly, not the proud Stargazer! I also love luscious deep red PEONIES and PETUNIAS because my father planted them and I plan to paint the gorgeous bouquet of silk peonies on my dining table at the moment. In memory of my grandmother, who loved her small garden, there are, HYDRANGEAS and PANSIES. For my sister her name translates as LILY OF THE VALLEY. For my mother SUNFLOWERS AND GERANIUM for garden favorites and GLADIOLI as cut flowers.

More of my favorites are VIOLETS and SNOWDROPS, which stir memories of making posies for my mother, grandmother and teachers when I was a child. And BLUEBELLS, BUTTERCUPS, COWSLIPS, DAISIES, FIREWEED, FOX GLOVES, FRANGIPANI, HOLLYHOCKS, LUPINES, SNAP DRAGONS and STEPHANOTIS all have their special place in my heart.

BUTTER UP BUTTERCUP by Sea Dean

Currently Available at Daily Paintworks

I think we usually choose certain flowers because they have a special connection, perhaps they were a grandmother's favorite, or it starred in your first bouquet. I've given my choices and now it's your turn. What are your favorite flowers and why? I love to read your comments.

FAMOUS ARTISTS BIRTHDAYS - PAUL SIGNAC

Today we celebrate the birth of Paul Signac, who was born in Paris 11 November 1863. He followed a course of training in architecture, but in 1881, after attending an exhibit of Claude Monet's work, he turned to painting.

ROAD TO GENNEVILLIERS 1883, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Few changes in style can be as obvious as that of Paul Signac as displayed in these two paintings. In "Road to Gennevilliers", painted in 1883, Signac shows a tendency towards impressionist treatment of colour and an obvious fascination for brushwork, but by 1886 in "Comblat le Chateau, Le Pre" he has plunged deeply into Pointillism.

COMBLAT LE CHATEAU, LE PRE, 1886, Dallas Museum of Art

The change came about when In 1884 he met Georges Seurat and was struck by his systematic working methods and colour theory Signac became Seurat's faithful follower, friend and penned scholarly descriptions of Neo-Impressionism and Divisionism. He abandoned Impressionism and short brushstrokes to experiment with scientifically juxtaposed small dots of pure color, intended to combine and blend not on the canvas but in the viewer's eye, the defining feature of Pointillism.

I've had my moments with pointillism and in some of my paintings I still tend towards the style, as in my recent pet portrait "Pepsi Cola". It's a radical theory and a difficult practice. It's a great personal achievement when you know you've got it right.

If you want to give it a go, it's important to paint standing up at an easel and have plenty of room to step back. Actually, it's great exercise because you will walk miles in the course of completing even a small painting.

Although he was an impressionist, some of the most awesome paintings I've seen were created by Claude Monet with minute dots and dabs of thick paint, sometimes forming troughs half a centimeter deep as he went back time and time again to modify. This can be seen in his "Haystacks" series. His tiny marks are barely visible in print, but are awe inspiring when seen closeup.

Pointillism took it much further, making the dots part of the design. In pointillism the dots are bold and available for everyone to see.

More about Paul Signac here.

MONETS GARDEN - CITY LIGHT - LET IT FALL - SILENT AUCTION

SILENT AUCTION

My popular silent auction is back for the holiday season.

There are over 40 paintings in the Silent Auction. See them all here. Bid privately by clicking on the email button at the top of the page. Or leave a comment here. Bidding is in $5 increments but you can bid as high as you choose. Low bids sometimes spark a bidding war and higher bids may discourage competition. You may bid on as many pieces and as often as you choose. Please include the name of the painting you are bidding on and your email address.

The auction runs till midnight PST 30th November 2015. Bidding is available online and at all my seasonal shows. I will try to keep you informed, but you may email me any time to ask for your current standing or increase your bid.

You will be contacted if you win. Auction prices are for pick up in Kelowna, BC. Canada. If you would like your painting shipped I'm happy to do so at cost. Cash or Paypal. 

LOT 5
MONETS GARDEN

by Sea Dean
8" x 10" Canvas Panel
Liquid Acrylic
The current bid is $30 
Bidding is in $5 increments

LOT 9
CITY LIGHT
by Sea Dean
8" x 10" Canson Arches Board
Acrylic and Ink
The current bid is $30
Bidding is in $5 increments

LOT 44
LET IT FALL
by Alex Fong
8" x 6" Watercolour
14" x 11" double mat with original bio on the back
 

This pretty ALEX FONG PRINT "LET IT FALL" is also in the Silent Auction. Alex Fong is a household name in Canada and we are lucky that he lives in our area. Alex told me that this rare print features his own rescue cat. Prints are not allowed on Daily Paintworks so this item can only be viewed here. To bid email or comment quoting Lot 44.

THE BEGINNINGS OF IMPRESSIONISM - FOUR FRIENDS

RENOIR, PISSARRO, BAZILLE, MONET

The early beginnings of the impressionist movement can be traced to four friends that were painting around Paris in the mid 1800s, Renoir, Pissarro, Bazille and Monet. The four paintings above show the type of work that they were creating before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war. This was before they were THE IMPRESSIONISTS, before the first exhibition and before any of them had perfected the styles they became famous for.

Little known facts ...

Pierre-August Renoir trained as a porcelain painter, which shows in his tiny brush strokes. Just think your granny may own a plate painted by him.

La Grenouillère, by Auguste Renoir 1869

Monet started life as a cartoonist and earned enough to buy his parents a house. He was 86 when he passed away which was a grand old age for the time and outlived them all. Seeing these two paintings together you can see the genius of Monet working with light and shadow. Those yellow trees silhouetting the people on the little island and the turquoise ripples are mesmerizing.

La Grenouillère by Claude Monet 1869

Camille Pissarro was a Jew. He was born on the Island of St Thomas, which at the time was Danish, but is now part of the US Virgin Islands.

The Road to Versailles by Camille Pissarro 1869

Frederik Bazille was from a wealthy family. He was nearly 7 ft tall. He fought in the Franco Prussian War and died during the conflict.

Summer Scene by Frederik Bazille 1869

During the Franco Prussian war 1870 - 1872, Monet and Pissarro, took their families to London, England. There they continued to paint and toured the galleries, studying the art which had been created outside the French "Salon" system. Art in England was governed by "The Royal Society", but it wasn't as limiting as the French equivalent. On these gallery trips, they must have seen the light filled, emotive paintings of Turner and the grand Landscapes of painters like Constable.

On his return to France, Pissarro discovered that his home had been requisitioned as a stable during the war and all his early paintings were scattered around the muddy yard to keep the horses feet dry. Disillusioned Pissarro moved to Pontoise, to start again.

Prior to the war, the now deceased Bazille, had proposed forming a group of artists working outside the Salon system. Pissarro thought now was the perfect time to form the group. During the winter of 1873/4, Pissarro working with Renoir and Monet gathering a group of 15 like minded artists and founded the "Société Anonyme des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs, etc.".

The first event of the society was an exhibition that spring. The space was donated by photographer Nadar on the busy Boulevard des Capucines in Paris. The core members invited their friends to exhibit as well and the first exhibition opened 15th April 1874. Thirty artists participated and 165 paintings were on show. No photos survive of the event, but we know that the walls were the fashionable crimson and Renoir, democratically arranged the paintings in two rows, large ones above and smaller ones below. This was quite different from the rigid structure of placement in the Salon exhibition.

I will be researching all the paintings and talking about them in a series of blogs to follow.

SAILING WITH MONET
by Sea Dean
8" x 10" Gallery Wrap Canvas
Currently available at Daily Paintworks

VIew my online Gallery of large works and Limited Editions at ARTFINDER
View my online Gallery of small works at DAILY PAINTWORKS
Shop for Limited Edition ACEO and printed products here
Art Cards $5 and Art Postcards $3 here

15 APRIL 1874 - IMPRESSIONISM IS BORN - La Salon des Refusée - FREE SHIPPING

GIVERNY 1900
By Sea Dean after Claude Monet
8" x 10" Wrap Canvas

$90
FREE SHIPPING TILL MAY 1st, 2015

View my online Gallery of originals here DAILY PAINTWORKS
Shop for Limited Edition ACEO here
Art Cards $5 and Art Postcards $3 here

Reblogged from "Birth of Impressionism and the Musee Marmottan, Monet in Paris" Kim Miniciello

Posted on April 15, 2014

Impression:Sunrise, Oil in Canvas, Claude Monet, 1872, Musée Marmottan, Paris

Ahhhh April in Paris!  What a better month to hold an art exhibition. That is just what happened on this day one hundred and forty one years ago. It was an exhibition that changed the art world forever.
On April 15, 1874 a small group of artists arranged a small independent art show to buck the establishment. They called themselves the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptures, etc. The exhibition included artists Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Berthe Morisot and others. 

It wasn’t until French art critic Louis Leroy wrote a scathing critique entitled “Exhibition of Impressionists”  (coined from an exhibit "Impression Sunrise" by Claude Monet, that the group would become “Impressionists.”  

Kim writes "When I lived in Paris I was fortunate to see this painting many times as well as other works by Monet, Renoir and Morisot at the Musée Mormottan Monet, which is in the 16th arrondissement only a few blocks from where I lived. Originally a hunting lodge on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, it is a gem of a museum. It has many beautiful works of art most notably a bequest in 1966, of Michel Monet’s collection of works by his father.

What I love about Monet’s collection here is that there are works that seem to be works in progress and those done during his later years when he was afflicted with cataracts. With these one can get a sense of his painting process. And the color palette from the cataract years is much warmer with golds and yellows, not typically Monet but gorgeous.

Today on the birthday of this major art movement I wanted to pay homage to the “Artists Independent” who later became known as “Impressionists,”  the painting that coined the term, and the Museum where it currently resides!"

A side note, Impression: Sunrise was stolen from the Musée Marmottan Monet in 1985, recovered in 1990 and has been back on display since 1991.

LIST OF FIRST IMPRESSIONIST EXHIBITION ARTISTS
By Sea Dean

These are the artists that participated in the first Impressionist Exhibition: It wasn’t until the third exhibition that they officially called themselves “Impressionists.” Each artist has links some of which are in French because as yet there is no English translation. I have to admit that until I researched I was unfamiliar with many of these artists and it appears they were quite obscure. Some are so obscure that there are no links at all.

• Zacharie Astruc (1833 - 1907) French (see Note Peter James Field)
• Antoine-Ferdinand Attendu (before 1870 - after 1898) French
• Édouard Béliard (1832 - 1912) French
• Eugène Boudin (1824 - 1898) French
• Félix Braquemond (1833 - 1914) French (see Note Peter James Field)
• Jaques-Emilie-Édouard Brandon (1831 - 1897) French?
• Pierre-Isidore Bureau (1827 - 1876) French
• Adolphe-Félix Cals (1810 - 1880) French
• Paul Cézanne (1839 - 1906) French - BLOGGED
• Gustave Henri Colin (1828 - 1910) French
• Louis Debras (1820 - 1899) French
• Edgar Degas (1834 - 1917) French
• Jean-Baptiste Armand Guillaumin (1841 - 1927) French (see Note Peter James Field)
• Louis LaTouche ? Can't find anything

• Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic (1839 - 1889) French (see Note Peter James Field)
• Stanislas Lepine (1835 - 1892) French
• Jean-Baptiste-Léopold Levert (1828 - after 1880) French
• Alfred Meyer ? (1872 - ?) German
• Auguste De Molins (1821 - 1890) French
• Claude Monet (1840 - 1926) French - BLOGGED
• Mademoiselle Berthe Morisot (1841 - 1895) French - BLOGGED
• Emillien Mulot-Durivage (1838 - 1920) French
• Joseph (Guiseppi) DeNittis (1846 - 1884) Italian
• Auguste-Louis-Marie Ottin (1811 - 1890) French (see Note Peter James Field)
• Léon-Auguste Ottin (1836 -? ) French (see Note Peter James Field)
• Camille Pissarro (1830 - 1903) French
• Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 - 1919) French
• Stanislas-Henri Rouart (Henri Rouart) (1833 - 1912) French
• Léopold Robert (18 - ) ? (There was an artist of this name but he died in 1835)


THE BIRTH OF IMPRESSIONISM Kim Minichiello
THE LOST IMPRESSIONISTS by Peter James Field
Kathleen Adler’s ‘Unknown Impressionists’ PHAIDON
Research by Sea Dean


REF 2084 GIVERNY 1900 by Sea Dean

CLAUDE MONET - ROUEN CATHEDRAL SERIES - FREE LESSON

I spent the day with Claude Monet while teaching my "Paint a Masterpiece" class. I will show my demo on tomorrow's blog, meanwhile I thought it a good time to share a study I completed earlier in the year but never posted. 

THE CATHEDRAL AT ROUEN

In the early spring of 1893 and again in 1894, Claude Monet rented a room overlooking the entrance of Rouen Cathedral and spent many hours painting 30 canvases intended for exhibit in Paris. 

In the spring I read a great blog by Cindy Michaud, MEETING MONET, which linked to a cute slide show of 10 paintings by Claude Monet of Rouen Cathedral arranged according to time of day. Why stop at 10, I thought? So I set to finding the 30 paintings and arranging them in order. Arranging the paintings involved the careful examination of the way light and shadow fell on the building. I spent days in the company of Claude Monet, studying his brushstrokes, colour theory, mixology etc. It was very illuminating.

I feel as if I took a trip to France. It is totally absorbing spending days like this with a Master like Monet. What an incredible variation in colour Monet found in that stone building. Beautiful as it is as a grey stone building, Monet enshrined it forever in glorious technicolour.

Unfortunately my computer froze and refused to save the Pic Monkey file, so I took a small print screen and three larger ones (below). I hope you enjoy the study as much as I did creating it.

.

REGATTA AT ARGENTEUIL - PAINT A MASTERPIECE CLASS

REGATTA AT ARGENTEUIL - Wikepedia version

REGATTA AT ARGENTEUIL - Musee d'Orsay version

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Regattas at Argenteuil

Circa 1872 

Oil on canvas

H. 48; W. 75 cm 

Paris, Musée d'Orsay 

Bequest of Gustave Caillebotte, 1894 

© RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d'Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski

This is one of the challenges we have when studying famous works on the internet. The first image is the version as shown on Wikipedia and the second image is the one shown on the Musee d'Orsay website. I would think the more accurate version is the one published by the Museum where a painting hangs, but it's difficult to tell unless you are looking at the image on the website and standing in front of the painting at the same time. It's likely if you did that in the Musee d'Orsay you would quickly attract the attention of one of the docents.

I saw so many beautiful works of art in Paris and I'm sure I must have seen this, but I can't tell you which is more accurate. What I can say is that when you stand in front of one of Claude Monet's works you are struck by his unusual choices of colour. At this stage of his career he was painting largely in the soft and heavily mixed colours of version II rather than the more vibrant version. The Wikipedia version was probably chosen because it is more pleasing to modern eyes used to viewing bright acrylics. Because I'm very familiar with Monet's work, I know he was rather fond of that pale rusty red and sea green combination, so personally I would probably choose to work in those colours.

These are some of the things you learn in my PAINT A MASTERPIECE class. Next class November 1st. Contact me for my fall schedule.

TIP:- When attempting to view or paint a masterpiece, try and get as close to the source as possible. 

REF Regatta at Argenteuil

LOT 11 SILENT AUCTION - GIVERNY 1900 --- NEW WORK FLAMING GLORY

Flaming Glory by Sea Dean

Giverny 1900 by Sea Dean

FLAMING GLORY
by Sea Dean
6" x 3" on Strathmore Windpower

View my online Gallery of originals please visit DAILY PAINTWORKS
Shop for Limited Edition ACEO here

GIVERNY 1900
by Sea Dean
8" x 10" Gallery Wrap Canvas

An exclusive auction of recent works by Sea Dean and others. Bid on my exclusive SILENT AUCTION here

A demo from one of my Paint a Masterpiece classes. I often like to add a twist and in this case it was copper under-painting that adds a different dimension under room light. No need to frame this as the edges are painted copper to match the under-painting.

How do I bid?

It's really very simple...

1. Visit the website, or come to one of my upcoming shows to view the lots.
2. Enjoy the work on offer (you can hover to see details or click to see a larger image with more details). Some is from my own hand and some is from my peer collection.
3. Choose which pieces you would like to bid on and click the link in details. 
4. The link creates an email so you can send me your bidding details.
5. As bids come in I update the website and my paper record to correspond.
6. On November 15th at midnight PST bidding ends. 
7. Winning bidders will receive an invoice from Paypal with the name of the work, your bid and shipping. Tax is included. Multiple items to the same bidder will be shipped together.
8. On payment your item(s) will be shipped within 3 days in plenty of time for holiday giving.


Cat # 12084 Giverny 1900 and Cat # 14167 Flaming Glory

EARLY MORNING TREES

EARLY MORNING TREES

by Sea Dean
6" x 68 Original on 140lb Windpower

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting, please visit Daily Paintworks

Shop for Limited Edition ACEO here

One of my favourite paintings. Very Monetesque. Looking for a good home.


Cat # 13105

COPPER WATER - Artist Turns up a Monet

COPPER WATER

Original Painting by Sea Dean
Mixed Media
6” x 8” Gallery Wrap Canvas
Professional Acrylic with UV Protection
Signed on edge which is painted with copper metallic to match
(The lower images have turned bright on blogger but the upper image is accurate)

Purchase via Daily Paintworks

I have a wonderful new tool in my studio: It is called THE ARTIST'S MUSE and it consists of an art instruction book and three sets of cards. I haven't got to the instruction book yet, but this painting was inspired by the cards. You pick up to three cards (blind) and follow the instructions. I picked one from each deck. Here is what I picked.

DOORS OF AWARENESS CARD - Do an abstract painting of a subject making it realistic enough so a viewer could still identify the subject, yet keeping it ambiguous.

WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY CARD - Make your painting a combination of transparent, translucent and opaque passages. A transparent pigment allows you to see completely through it. A translucent pigment has an opaque added to it, and of course opaque means you can't see through it at all.

CIRCLES OF GROWTH CARD - Choose your favourite colour and make a painting out of it. Use different values and hues of the same colour. Also incorporate the colour you like the least, or one you haven't tried before.

I found THE ARTIST'S MUSE on Amazon here

I also tried some new Acrylic Ink on this painting and I'm happy with the result. Now I want more!

First, I started painting upright as in a portrait, then I turned it and continued painting the opposite way up to the image above. Finally, when finished, I was looking a different angles to decide where to sign and how to display the piece and when I turned it upside down I saw the Monet cathedral like structure emerge. Amazing! I admit I was thinking about water while painting and Monet loved reflections, so it's not surprising this came through while I worked.

The painting has a substantial amount of copper which makes the lime yellow and magenta pop. I wish you could see it in real life. As the light changes, so does the painting and it appears to get a life of it's own.



Cat # 140102 Copper Water

BEACH WONDER ACEO, TOPIARY ROSES OSWOA and HOME AND NATIVE LAND Canadian Flag

BEACH WONDER
ORIGINAL ACEO BY SEA DEAN
2.5" x 3.5"
On Auction

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me. You may also view ALL my available ACEO in my Facebook Gallery here.

This looks like a plain and simple painting of a beach scene, but it was not so simple to paint. The scene is one of my multi layered paintings with the final layers including iridescent pearl, iridescent bronze and interference gold to create the effect of sunlight on the waves. Here I was working on making a simple scene awesome and I think I achieved a great result. One day when I have a permanent home I will paint this for my bedroom in a very large size with a great big set of brushes.

I've read many Artist's advice on how to paint water and a very well known artist whose name escapes me, wrote that wave strokes must connect to make it look realistic. Well, when I was in Paris and had a opportunity to study Monet's work close up, I realized the previously mentioned expert was obviously wrong, however, I do admit it is very difficult to pull off. The first layers of the water were painted using Claude Monet's style of rapid dashes to denote waves. The final layer of glints and glistens on the water were added using the same effect and were even more challenging to achieve while still making the scene look natural.

My signature on the left here shows up more than in the actual painting because it is created in interference gold which is only visible from certain angles.

For some reason my blog has become out of sync with the start of my Daily Paintworks auctions, so today you have the pleasure of two new works from my studio. Here is the second.

TOPIARY ROSES
OSWOA Postcard
ORIGINAL ACEO BY SEA DEAN
6" x 4"
On Auction

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me. You may also view ALL my available ACEO in my Facebook Gallery here.


And finally, as CANADA DAY is upon us I´m passing on this great photo from Loblaws via Artist Barbara Muir´s blog. 

And below is one of my patriotic flag paintings. 


HOME AND NATIVE LAND
ORIGINAL ACEO BY SEA DEAN
8" x 6" Canvas Panel


 
 









Cat # 13157  Beach Wonder    
Cat # 13158 Topiary Roses  
Cat # 12065 Home and Native Land