Acrylic on Canvas, 8 x 10 inches.  This is a painting based on Edouard Manet’s  (1832 – 1883) Boating which was painted as an oil on canvas in 1874.

I prepared the canvas with a layer of pale umber out of the tube.  I was able to trace Manet’s painting onto the canvas.  I then blocked in the darks and lights using burnt sienna. And the blocking in, I started with the water and used a course brush to paint on blue and white using cerulean blue and titanium white.  I then worked on the boat using a variety of browns which I mixed from burnt sienna.  The ladies dress was then painted using blues and violets, as well as white and black.  I then blocked in the white and grey areas of the man at the oar, including his hat.  I mixed a variety of skin tones using raw sienna, cadmium red, light yellow, and white to create a range of skin tones.

“Manet painted many works based on his visits to Argenteuil where he and Renoir often visited Monet. The flatness of the background was created by filling its entirety with water, making the boat’s shape the painting’s only sense of space. Manet often took advantage of the light on the river Seine early in the morning, on his “floating studio” specifically built for this purpose. Evidence of the influence of his Impressionist friends can be seen in the quick, fluid brushstrokes of the woman’s dress.”

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