One of my favorite artists is French painter Claude Monet (1840 – 1926), was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement’s philosophy of expressing one’s perceptions before nature, especially as applied to outdoor landscape painting. Monet was best known for his series water lily paintings, he also did a series of of over 20 paintings of a row of poplars that were near his private garden in Giverney.This lesson focuses on his painting “Four Poplars” using chalk pastel create the reflection.
Step #1: With a pastel pencil draw the shore line.
Step #2: Draw a line for the bushes along the shore and repeat the same line as the reflection in the water.
Step #3: Draw four tree trunks coming from behind the bushes and repeat the the tree trunks as the reflection in the water.
Step #4: Now use soft chalk pastels to create your Monet, start with light colors and add dark on top.
Step #5: Use a cotton swab as your paint brush to mix your colors.
Step #6: Add a another layer of chalk on top to create depth. See some examples below.
