Pisaro Plane Analysis Head Drawings

Camille Pissarro offered the following advice to an art student around 1896. I encourage you to read it critically. I'll comment later on.

"Look for the kind of nature that suits your temperament. The motif should be observed more than for shape and color than for cartoon. In that location is no need to tighten the grade which can exist obtained without that. Precise cartoon is dry and hampers the impression of the whole; information technology destroys all sensations."

Camille Pissarro

"Do not ascertain too closely the outlines of things; it is the brush stroke of the right value and colour which should produce the drawing. In a mass, the greatest difficulty is not to give the profile in item, but to paint what is within. Paint the essential character of' things, endeavor to convey it by any ways whatever, without bothering about technique."

Camille Pissarro

"When painting, make a choice of' subject area, see what is lying at the right and at the left, then work on everything simultaneously. Don't work bit by flake, but paint everything at one time by placing tones everywhere, with brush strokes of the right color and value, while noticing what is alongside. Use small castor strokes and try to put down your perceptions immediately."

"The center should not be fixed on one point, merely should take in everything, while observing the reflections which the colours produce on their environs. Piece of work at the same fourth dimension upon sky, water, branches, ground, keeping everything going on an equal basis and unceasingly rework until you have got it."

"Cover the canvas at the beginning get, then work at it until you tin see nothing more to add. Observe the aeriform perspective well, from the foreground to the horizon, the reflections of heaven on foliage. Don't exist afraid of putting on colour, refine the work little by little. Don't proceed according to rules and principles, but paint what you lot notice and feel. Paint generously and unhesitatingly, for it is best not to lose the first impression. Don't be timid in front of' nature: ane must be assuming, at the risk of beingness deceived and making mistakes. I must take merely i master --- nature; she is the one always to be consulted."

My thoughts (and I want to hear yours)
The foregoing advice is one of the pivotal texts of Impressionist technique. It has echoed down to our times through diverse teachers. Whenever I've read Pissarro's advice, I've taken it with a grain of common salt, especially when it was presented dogmatically. Here are some of my initial reactions:

1. To his credit, Pissarro talks about seeing besides as technique: "The centre should not exist fixed on one indicate, but should accept in everything..." Capturing an impression not merely a matter of brushes and paints. It's at least every bit much a problem of learning to come across. For example, learning to isolate and compare colors is essential to painting them convincingly, regardless of what brushes you lot use. Since Pissarro'south fourth dimension, we've learned a lot near how the human center sees colour, so it's possible to be more analytical about that.

2. When he says "Don't proceed according to rules and principles, but paint what yous observe and feel," I would counter that knowing the rules and principles helps y'all find and feel more accurately. Telling a student just to "pigment what they detect" is useless advice unless you explain what to wait for and why things look the way they do.

three. I never understood why the line "Precise cartoon is dry out and hampers the impression" was necessary. Is he just making an excuse because he can't depict well? Why can't I have both good drawing and accurate color? Artists who combined academic cartoon skills and impressionist methods, such every bit Krøyer, Mønsted, Zorn, Sorolla, and Sargent could capture impressions without disregarding precise or accurate drawing.

John Singer Sargent

3b. However, it makes sense when he says "Do not define as well closely the outlines of things; it is the brush stroke of the right value and colour which should produce the drawing." Painting students who accept just drawn with line demand to learn that paint strokes don't have to be linear; they can exist whatever shape or texture, and for this kind of opaque painting, the value and color, (plus edge quality, opacity, etc)  have to be considered, likewise.

4. John Vocalist Sargent (in a higher place) sometimes painted in the "small-scale touch-impressionism" way. A subject like the 1 in a higher place necessarily is made of small touches, well observed. Sargent is perhaps a closer ally to Monet than to Pissarro, but Monet didn't like to write about his method.

five. Painting in "everything at once" rather than "scrap by flake" is simply i way of painting. Information technology applies more to opaque oil painting, and less to watercolor or gouache, which can favor a more planned and organized approach. Oil can be painted in many means: "window shading," area-by-area, systematically, or indirectly (equally with Maxfield Parrish) and the results tin can be accurate and strong.

6. If Pissarro wants to capture an overall impression immediately, why does he say: "Utilize minor castor strokes and endeavour to put downward your perceptions immediately."? Big brushes are much more efficient for capturing overall impressions rapidly. Students don't need encouragement to use small brushes. They need to be encouraged to use bigger ones, especially at the beginning. He does say to "paint generously and unhesitatingly" and I think he'due south right there: be willing to employ lots of paint. Past painting unhesitatingly, I recall he means to develop your intuition, and that comes from a combination of practice and analysis.

7. Painting overall with brushstrokes of a given module makes information technology hard to achieve scale. If you want to brand something look big, you lot demand to alternate large shapes with tiny touches. Nature is non composed of bean-size blobs. I retrieve the advice should be to apply a variety of tools and to look for contrasts of scale within the subject. And to achieve depth, the advice might be to paint from background to foreground, not overall or 'everything at once.'

8. If you employ the same tools or approach for every office of the scene (sky, h2o, buildings, etc), those areas will all look the aforementioned and they will all look like pigment. In Pissarro'south example, it leads to what contemporary critics called "woolliness," meaning it looks like the whole thing is rendered in counted cross sew together. No problem if you want your painting to have that expect, merely if you want your painting to concur the mirror up to Nature, it may non be the best advice.
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I welcome your thoughts in the comments. What parts of Pissarro'southward communication are useful to yous or your students? What parts don't make sense or seem wrong?

tomlinpinuplanst.blogspot.com

Source: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2018/01/pisarros-advice-to-art-student.html

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