Plein Air Drawings

Claude Monet

En Plein Air

• French for “in the open air”• Refers to painting outdoors• This technique was used frequently by the

Impressionists to paint both city and country life.

Argenteuil, Claude Monet, 1874

Study of a Figure Outdoors- Woman with a Parasol, facing left, Claude Monet, 1886

Rouen Cathedral at sunset, Claude Monet, 1893

Water Lilies and the Japanese bridge, Claude Monet, 1897–1899

Water Lilies, Claude Monet, c. 1915

Weeping Willow, Claude Monet, 1918–1919

Assignment

• We will take a series of trips to different sites near the school and complete at least one drawing each day using soft chalk pastels.

• You will make your own viewfinders to use en plein air to help you with composition.

• If the weather is poor, we will do the same thing indoors.

Assignment

• The point of Impressionist Plein Air drawing is to capture the moment.

• The finished product each day will look sketchy and unfinished.

• Remember to capture light, shadows, and colors because these change throughout the day.

Example

Example

Example

Example

Example

Example

My Example

My Example, In Progress

My Example, Finished (this is on the way into Yu Yuan Garden from the Bazaar in Shanghai, China