Impressionism
Lesson 3: Use of Light
Optional Activity
As you learned in this unit, the Impressionists were preoccupied with the effects of light on natural subjects at various times of the day and in various seasons. One of the best ways of understanding how light affects nature is to conduct your own light documentation experiment. Here's what to do:
Select a subject in your own neighbourhood on which you can easily see the effects of changing light. Try to select quite a large subject such as the side of your house or other building, a sculpture, or a garden scene, particularly one that includes a pond. Remember the subjects that Monet used to document light: the facade of Rouen Cathedral, haystacks, and the Parliament Buildings in London. He chose these subjects because they were large enough to change significantly in different lights and at different seasons.
Observe the area over a few days in a few lighting conditions (for example, early morning, noon, and late afternoon). Write down your impressions of how the light affects the subject. Your notes will form the basis of your photographic study.
Select the three or four times of day when you feel the lighting conditions are most interesting and then take a series of photographs at each time. Try to take at least three photographs at three different angles at each of the times of the day you've selected. Make sure you take the same three angles at each time of day!
If you are using a conventional camera, get the pictures developed and then scan them into your computer. If you do not have a scanner, check with the company that developed your pictures. They may have scanning facilities available. If you have a digital camera, then transfer all the pictures to your computer.
In your word processing program, create a document that includes your notes and your pictures. Your goal is to identify themes that you may want to draw or paint. Look again at some of the Monet's paintings of Haystacks, Rouen Cathedral, and the Waterlilies. Do any of the light effects he captures remind you of your photographs? What colors would you use to paint the subjects you photographed?
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