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Pitter Painter Arts: Make a Monet with Mum!

Parties & PlayPost Category - Parties & PlayParties & Play - Post Category - IndoorIndoor
Nothing to do on a rainy day? Pitter Painter shows us how to put those artsy skills to use and make a beautiful Monet… right in the comfort of your own home! All you need are a few brushes, acrylic paint and a dose of creative inspiration! 
 
Monet is all about loose painting and small strokes. Instead of mixing colours on his palette, he paints loosely on his canvas and lets the viewer’s eye do the colour mixing for him. This makes it an ideal style for little artists to learn from… with a little help from mum, of course!

Materials:
1. Painting Surface (either thick paper or canvas) – We suggest canvas boards. They have the feel of a canvas without the bulkiness of stretcher bars. A good alternative is to use watercolour paper – it’s lightweight, but won’t get wonky when wet.
2. Brushes (one flat and one pointed)

3. Paint – We suggest acrylic paints. They have body similar to oil, but are water-based, fast-drying and can be watered down to mimic watercolour.

Instructions:

1. Draw the basic shapes out on your painting surface. In the sample painting, we just roughly drew out the cliff’s shape and the horizon line.

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2. Paint each shape in its dominant color using slightly watered down paint. This will let the white of your painting surface show through. In the sample, the sky is blue, the sea is turquoise, and the cliff is green.

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3.  Paint the secondary layer of the sky using short strokes. It’s a good idea to follow the contour of the part that you’re painting. For example, the wind could be blowing so some diagonal wisps of paint would look good and give the sky movement. You can also use more than one colour for the sky and add some bits of white where you want to add hints of cloud. Add more white strokes and you get a nice puffy cloud!

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4. Now you can paint the sea. The water on the sea moves side to side so use short, horizontal strokes to paint the ripples in the ocean. You can also paint the strokes in more than one colour. The sea would have turquoise and white, and maybe even some green and blue (which makes turquoise!).

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5.  The cliff has grass in different shades. It has dark and light green grass and even some ochre for the dried grass. Make some short strokes in the direction you think the grass is blowing in. Also, remember that grass grows from the ground up so paint it the same way – start the stroke from the ground and move the paintbrush up to grow your grass.

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6.  If you look at the close-up shot of the boats and the women, you’ll see that they’re not painted in detail, just in the general shape that they have.

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7. This is part of impressionism, to just give a suggestion of the subject that you’re painting and let the viewer’s eyes put the shape together. So relax and go ahead and paint that triangle sale, the rectangle boat, the rectangle and circle of the woman’s body and head and her upside-down U-shaped parasol!

IMG_6743There you have it – congrats on your first Monet!

To enroll in Pitter Painter’s classes and learn to paint like a pro, visit the website here

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