In the summer of 2021, I took an art history class through Austin Community College which went over several centuries of notable artists and art movements. As a kid, I'd had an pet interest in painting but never seemed to really act on it beside playing with cheap water-colors my mom got at the grocery store.
However, this class reignited my love for painting. Especially the Impressionist movement. I really appreciate their use of color and their representation of movement. I find, personally, that the impressionist style and others like it capture emotions and subjective experiences in a much more vivid and tangible way then realistic styles.
So, I decided I wanted to paint and I wanted to be a good painter. I wasn't going in completely blind. I did remember a few lessons from my high school general arts classes, but that still left a lot of room for improvement. Between work and summer school, I started looking into tips and practices to improve my skill. That's how I learned about a Master Study.
I have always admired Vincent Van Goph's style, even as a child so I knew his was a style I wanted to study in detail. The painting I chose to replicate was actually brought to my attention in an unexpected way: TikTok.
While scrolling I came across a video by user @color.nerd who explained a slightly unfortunate history of the 1890 still life "Roses" by Van Gogh. The current painting appears as white roses in a green vase. However, accord to @color.nerd, there is evidence, based on the kind of paint used and remaining pigment, that the color was originally much more vibrant. He argues that Van Goph probably meant the depicted roses to appear as a bright fuchsia. @Color.nerd helpfully made a digital reconstruction of what the original would have looked like and later provided an open link to it.
However, this class reignited my love for painting. Especially the Impressionist movement. I really appreciate their use of color and their representation of movement. I find, personally, that the impressionist style and others like it capture emotions and subjective experiences in a much more vivid and tangible way then realistic styles.
So, I decided I wanted to paint and I wanted to be a good painter. I wasn't going in completely blind. I did remember a few lessons from my high school general arts classes, but that still left a lot of room for improvement. Between work and summer school, I started looking into tips and practices to improve my skill. That's how I learned about a Master Study.
I have always admired Vincent Van Goph's style, even as a child so I knew his was a style I wanted to study in detail. The painting I chose to replicate was actually brought to my attention in an unexpected way: TikTok.
While scrolling I came across a video by user @color.nerd who explained a slightly unfortunate history of the 1890 still life "Roses" by Van Gogh. The current painting appears as white roses in a green vase. However, accord to @color.nerd, there is evidence, based on the kind of paint used and remaining pigment, that the color was originally much more vibrant. He argues that Van Goph probably meant the depicted roses to appear as a bright fuchsia. @Color.nerd helpfully made a digital reconstruction of what the original would have looked like and later provided an open link to it.
I decided this reconstruction had to be the subject of my first master study.
Before beginning the full study, I did a few practice paintings to get a feel for the coloring and style.
Before beginning the full study, I did a few practice paintings to get a feel for the coloring and style.
This process helped me figure out the right mixing for some of the colors. Since I use acrylic paint, I wasn't able to replicate Van Gogh's style one to one but practicing before hand helped me get very close to it. I also decided to do the study on paper rather then canvas. This wasn't really choice of quality but I had been very nervous about starting this project for a long time. Using paper felt like saying, "This is a learning process. It's okay if I mess up. I can just try again."
I started the full study in the summer of 2022 in a makeshift studio set up in my grandpa's garage. I took photos every so often to keep track of my progress, which was admittedly uneven.
I started the full study in the summer of 2022 in a makeshift studio set up in my grandpa's garage. I took photos every so often to keep track of my progress, which was admittedly uneven.
Something I had realized early by studying the original painting/reconstruction was, likely before any other colors, there was a line layer of blue. Which was added onto over time, as you can see here. I used a Prussian blue.
These first steps were very simple, especially compared to the next step. Painting in each unique and detailed rose. As of writing I'm still working through them all but have been very happy with the results so far.
These first steps were very simple, especially compared to the next step. Painting in each unique and detailed rose. As of writing I'm still working through them all but have been very happy with the results so far.
Here are some close up photos of finished sections.