In this blog I use a small but recent garden event to inspire a series of tulip paintings. I thought it would be interesting to study three different art movements in the process. Impressionism, Fauvism and Cubism – and to compare the results to my own style. I am keen to learn from the masters, as they learned from studying and copying the masters of their time. And these three art movements follow on quite nicely from one another. In addition, I get to revisit the subject of tulips, which are one of my favourite flowers. See my Mixed Media Flower Art – Spring Daffodils and Tulips post for more tulip art.
Context
As well as taking the chance to learn new techniques, this whole tulip study came about because the Spring bulbs didn’t really go to plan this year. The daffodils tried, but the tulips were absent without leave. And the few that did show up to the party got snapped off or battered by the rain. Could also have been a cat.
So when I found a snapped tulip lying on the grass, I brought it inside and put it in a vase* of water. And it gave me the opportunity to watch it open and close throughout the day, which I was not expecting to happen. It brought me lots of joy, kind of like watching a magical tulip dance.
*It’s not a vase, it’s a ketchup bottle…
I mean, just look! It had opened up like this within an hour.
I continued to take photos, and quite like how the light has been captured here:
And I used this photograph as the inspiration to spark the Impressionism, Fauvism and Cubism tulip paintings.
Impressionism
If you’re new around here, then welcome. But for those of you who have visited my blog before (welcome back, by the way!), you may have picked up on my penchant for Impressionism. In fact, last month I wrote about Renoir – a pivotal player of the movement – who portrayed light adeptly in his paintings.
On a related note then, I feel the photograph I have chosen as my inspiration is particularly suited to the Impressionist style as it captures the light in an appealing way.
Impressionism developed in France over the latter half of the 19th Century. The Impressionist painters used short, quick brushstrokes, often thickly applying the paint. The development of synthetic pigments leading up to the Impressionism movement ensured the colours used could be bright and vibrant. The use of black and grey paint was avoided – instead, complementary colours were used to achieve contrast.
Impressionism was the main driving force behind what we have come to know as ‘modern art’ – and therefore marks a turning point in art history. Painting outside was embraced, and required the painters to work quickly. As such, paint was left unblended, and applied over previous wet layers of paint. Essentially, this resulted in an ‘impression’ of the subject, rather than a lifelike representation which was considered the aim in earlier art periods.
It represented freedom from traditional subject matter and techniques.
The Impressionism experiment
The first of my tulip paintings attempts to use the Impressionist techniques described above. I also tried to use the colour palette that was typical of the Impressionist painters. For example: cadmium yellow, cadmium red, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, and sienna. I also used a round brush which I don’t normally do. This is on A4 watercolour paper (works perfectly fine for acrylic studies):
I am totally thrilled by how this one turned out. I used thick brushstrokes, mixing directly on the paper (but not blending too much!). Trying to be spontaneous and resisting the temptation to overwork. I hope you like it as much as I do.
Fauvism
On to Fauvism now. This is not an art movement that I am too familiar with, however I am generally a fan of what I have seen. The Fauvist movement took place in the early 1900s, and was a relatively short-lived but important development in art history.
It is considered the first avant-garde art movement of the 20th Century – that is, the exploration of new ideas and methods, particularly in the arts. Even the term Fauvism is derived from the French word ‘fauve’ which means ‘wild beast’.
Henri Matisse and André Derain are considered the two most dominant Fauvist painters, or Fauves.
Key features of Fauvism are the vibrant, bold, sometimes acidic colours. And the colour combinations used can seem unusual and unnatural. Also, dark outlines and simplified shapes. The movement borrows from Impressionism with loose brushstrokes and expressive ideas.
Fauvism, above all else, is an art movement which puts colour centre stage – my kind of art movement!
Fauvism inspiration
Before I began, I decided to spark my inspiration with a couple of famous Fauvist paintings. The first was Matisse’s 1905 painting Woman with a Hat which I like because I have always been drawn to using unexpected colours, and this is a perfect example. A quote from Matisse: “when I put down a green, it doesn’t mean grass; and when I put down a blue, it doesn’t mean the sky”. This is clearly very obvious, and something I resonate with.
We were off to a good start.
I also checked out Derain’s The Turning Road, L’Estaque which is another key work, painted the following year, 1906. The colours are so intense they are practically screaming.
Further advancements in paint colour manufacture led to the availability of even brighter pigments. The painters of Fauvism would often use the paint straight from the tube, i.e. without mixing. This allowed the paints to retain their brightness and not dull the colours.
As a side point, all three of my studies (and my own version) were done with acrylic paint, which is known for its lurid colours in comparison to oils. Had acrylic paints been available during the early 1900s, I suspect they would have been popular with the Fauvists.
The Fauvism experiment
The second of my tulip paintings therefore attempts to use these Fauvist ideals, and this is my Fauvism inspired tulip painting:
I tried to simplify the shapes, and be spontaneous and loose with my brushwork. But I do wonder if I over-worked it. Still, it was fun to allow for more freedom in my painting, and I enjoyed putting down blocky areas of colour. I wanted it to be a celebration of colour, and at times used paint ‘straight from the tube’ in true Fauvist manner.
The result shows colours that I would not necessarily use, or at least not necessarily use together in quite the same way.
Cubism
Next up, Cubism. Again, I am not as familiar with this art movement so did a bit of reading up. We’re still in the early 20th Century, but we’ve branched off into even more abstract avenues.
Cubism was effectively invented by Pablo Picasso. In Cubism, perspective is not adhered to. The emphasis is on highlighting the 2-dimentional nature. As such, Cubist paintings are not meant to be realistic, and they often simplify forms – going even further than the simplification apparent in Fauvism.
Describing Cubist artworks is like watching that bit in the animated film “Inside Out”. Do you know which bit I mean? Where Bing Bong takes Joy and Sadness through ‘Abstract Thought’. Subject matter is broken down and reassembled into abstract forms. There is an emphasis on flatness, and sometimes different viewpoints of objects are presented.
The Cubism experiment
And now the third study in my series of tulip paintings; the Cubist style.
I tried to ignore perspective by ‘squaring off’ the table in the foreground, and I kept the other shapes very simple too. The colours are bold, and I’ve outlined the shapes in black – it has been years since I have used black paint! I was amazed it hadn’t dried up.
What I will say is that Cubism is harder than it looks, I had to apply some contrast in the colours to try make it look more convincing. This is the result:
While I prefer other styles, I do like the boldness of the colours in Cubism. And filling in the blocky, simple shapes with colour is very satisfying – so I can definitely see me using this style as a mindfulness practice to create some more mindfulness art!
Comparison to Ruthism
I was interested to see how my own style compares – that is, the style I have been painting in most recently. Hopefully it appeals:
Unsurprisingly it is a culmination of many influences, but I can see now looking back at the studies that it aligns most closely with the Impressionist study. Obviously, this please me. However, I can see unintentional elements of the Cubist ‘geometrics’ have found their way into my painting – purely, I think, by using a flat brush. And the colours are slightly brighter and cleaner, maybe more in line with Fauvism?
So perhaps my style adopts Impressionist notions crossed with Fauvism ideals, and a hint of Abstract thrown in. I am certainly as obsessed with colour as the Impressionists and Fauvists.
Summary
I now appreciate the importance of trying to copy the art masters and imitate their styles. It sounds like a cliché but going outside of my comfort zone in these tulip paintings has given me new ideas. I found myself thinking about the kinds of things I want to try and incorporate in my own work. For example, during this whole process, I realised how much I reach for a flat brush as default, without even thinking about it. Therefore, I’ve decided I want to try use a round brush more to see what happens.
Also, I liked mixing the colours directly on the paper, as in the style of the Impressionists. That was fun, so I will keep experimenting with that.
And I will remember this practice whenever I feel like I’m in a rut… or maybe, the key is to keep trying things outside of your comfort zone and avoid the ruts in the first place? Maybe that’s the trick?
It has been interesting to do each style in turn – starting from Impressionism, moving on to Fauvism, and then Cubism. I can understand how they developed in that order. It has helped me to see the art genres along one continuously evolving timeframe, rather than viewing them as these disparate movements with definitive start and end points. Reminds me of my music studies – studying the evolution of musical styles, as composers drew inspiration from their contemporaries and predecessors. There are links between the art world and the music world which I would love to explore more – but maybe that’s one for another time.
Final thoughts
I had a lot of fun doing these tulip paintings. At the outset, it wasn’t my intention to make recommendations as a result of this process. However, I would say that for anyone feeling ‘stuck in a rut’ – try to make a copy of another artist or art style. And for anyone interested in mindfulness – try something in a Cubist style.
Stay safe everyone, sending you all kindness and happy thoughts.