12 principles of impressionism

1. 1.The Impressionists used a perceptive method in their brush strokes choosing colors with minimal pigment mixing, allowing the eye of viewers to optically mix the colors as they looked at the artwork from a distance. 2. 2.Impressionists paintings retain an overall luminosity in their paintings by avoiding blacks and dark earth colors as shades, instead they mixed darker shades of blues and violets with complementary colors. 3. 3.It must be noted that Impressionist used Black, but only as a special color in its own right. The impressionists also simplified their compositions, omitting detail to achieve a striking overall effect. 4. 4.The Impressionists often painted wet into the wet paint instead of waiting for succeeding colors applications to dry, this process created softer edges and intermingling of shimmering color. 5. 5.Impressionist for the most part avoided the use of thin paints to create glazes like the old masters. Rather the Impressionists put paint on canvas expressively and thickly and did not rely upon layering techniques in the same fashion of their predecessors. 6. 6.Impressionists give special emphasis to aspects of the play of natural light, together with an acute awareness of how colors reflect from object to object-called Reflected Light and how colors show through semi-transparent things called Translucent Light. 7. 7.In outdoor paintings, called plein air describe the act of painting in the outside environment rather than indoors (such as in a studio setting) they could observe nature more directly and set down its most fleeting aspectsespecially the changing light of the sun. 8. 8.The Impressionist confidently painted shadows with the blue of the sky as it reflected onto surfaces, which gave a wonderful sense of freshness and openness. The impressionists also simplified their compositions, omitting detail to achieve a striking overall effect. 9. 9.The Impressionist found their subject matter around them rather from history, like their predecessors. Instead of focusing on ideal of beauty they tried to depict what they saw at a given moment, capturing a fresh, original vision. Their compositions were simplified omitting detail to attain a striking overall visual effect. 10. 10.The characteristic features of impressionism are appearance of spontaneity, through broken brushstrokes of bright, often unmixed colors. Producing a loose or densely textured surface rather than the carefully blended colors and smooth surfaces favored by most artists of the time. 11. 11.The influences of impressionism were Japanese color woodblock prints, which motivated a new sense of design and space. Photography encouraged visual delights of informality in composition. Color Theory inspired a new way of using colors together, Manufactured Pigments in Tubes advanced portability and time saving techniques Portable Easels moved artist out of the studio and into nature as source.

12. 12.The Impressionist period was a rich interchange of ideas produced from inspired dialogue, debate and mutual influences. This, synthesis of contemporary adaptations through enhanced traditional methods created the extraordinary art form we appreciate today.