1. "For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment; but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life - the light and the air which vary continually. For me, it is only the surrounding atmosphere which gives subjects their true value." – Claude Monet

2. Impressionism is an art movement from the 19th Century; it originated in Paris with a diverse group of artists composed of Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro who organised the group and were later joined by Paul Cezanne, Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley. Together a total of 30 artists participated in an exhibition that rebelled against the artistic standards of the Academie des Beaux- Arts, who held annual art exhibits called Salon de Paris. The term “Impressionism” originated from art critic Louis Leroy who commented on Monet’s painting ‘Impression: Soleil Levant’. Leroy said that the work could not be considered finished and therefore was rejected for the Salon de Paris exhibition. The term ‘Impressionism’ was adopted and used to the Impressionists benefit.

3. Impressionists often painted outdoors rather than indoors to observe nature more directly and capture the characteristics of the moment, especially weather and transient aspects of sunlight. Impressionist painting are consisted of short, broken, thin and thick brush strokes of pure unmixed to exploit the principle of simultaneous contrast, making the colours appear more vivid. Pure impressionism avoids the use of black paint, but will contain greys and darker tones produced by mixing complementary colours. The subjects of impressionism vary from everyday life and people, to nature and still life compositions. With the 19th Century Industrial Revolution it became increasingly popular for impressionist work to display city scenes, the hustle and bustle of daily life in the city, as well as people enjoying their leisure time.

4.  Claude Monet  Willows at Sunset  73 x 92cm  Oil on Canvas  Heidi Malott  Golden Hour  6 x 6 inches  Oil on primed masonite

5. Monet has been described as one of the ‘driving forces’ behind impressionism. Monet aimed to have a strong understanding of the effects of light on the colour of nearby objects and the effects that the combination of colours creates. Monet repeatedly painted the same subject in different lights, at different times and through the changes of weather and season. Monet captures the moment with almost a scientific precision and enlightens the audience with a record of the passing time and movement of light. It is possible to suggest that Malott has been heavily inspired by the Impressionist movement, perhaps even post-impressionist, where the moment becomes slightly more deluded with heavier, thicker brush strokes. There are definitely compelling similarities between the two works of art, displaying two artist’s unique approach to portraying the view.

6. Firstly, both pieces show strong impressionism themes, displaying iconic, broken, brush marks that were left with no further smoothing. This has allowed the impressionist to work quickly in order to capture the spontaneous, fleeting moment. Monet’s piece is more delicate with the brush strokes, plentiful yet thinner and creating a more detailed outcome. Heidi Malott uses thicker, heavier brush strokes, paying slightly less attention to detail. The sunlit trees are the main subject; this is evident as Malott has focused attention here with many broken brush strokes, unlike the longer, smoother brush strokes of the background. Secondly, the subject of both these piece’s are trees at sunset, capturing the sunlight perfectly as it embraces the trees and nearby foliage. Both Impressionists had a strong collection of both country and city scenery varying in weathers, times of day and composition. I prefer Monet’s trees at a distance; it gives the viewer, quite literally, a wider picture and understanding of the situation. By this, it allows more space for the background, displaying delightful hues of the sunset. Malott decided to take a more cropped approach, closely focussing on the trees. Lastly, harmonious colours add to the warm glow and serenity of these natural landscapes. Both artists use a harmonious colour palette of greens, yellows, oranges, whites, browns and blues. Malott has a variety of light and dark hues within her piece; however they seem somewhat dulled by her use of thick brush strokes, lacking to show details. Monet has a wider variety of colours and hues, the trees are darker yet the background sky is light and airy. Overall I do really like the sense of movement that Malott’s piece produces, you can imagine the breeze rippling through the leaves and across the grass. Heidi Malott has taken a unique, picturesque approach by cropping her piece to focus in on the trees, the main subject. I also like her thick brush strokes, although this limits detail, I feel that it creates a space for the viewer’s interpretation. This piece has inspired me to create one of my own.

7. Here I have recreated the above free image from Morguefile.com, I decided that I wanted to experiment with a cool colour palette; therefore a winter landscape would be the best approach to successfully achieve the desired outcome. I have used white, blue, and brown to create my cool natural palette and have used heavy brush stroke marks. I found it difficult to create small lines in this style as it can often look misplaced. I have been influenced by the work of Heidi Malott who creates Impressionism pieces with thick, heavy stroke marks, the outcome being a simplified version of reality. I find that this quality to her work allows the viewer to finish the story, filling in the gaps. I have tried to capture the winter wind that would be rippling through the branches of the trees by merging them with brush strokes, limiting the detail yet applying movement. I am satisfied with my outcome but would perhaps like to try to create a bigger piece to allow more room for smaller detail.