sign in sign up
<<
Home , Van Gogh (opera), Van Gogh Museum, Vincent (opera), Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield with Crows

Inspired by

Vincent(1853 – 1890)

Vincent van Gogh, who does not know him? He is one of the most well known and popular artists. For young children is often one of the first artists they learn about and easily recognize. It is easy to be charmed by the colourful work of Vincent. But... it was not always like that. During his life he was very unsuccessful and misunderstood.

Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30th 1845 in , a village less than 20 km from my hometown Breda.

As the son of a minister (or preacher), he did not have an easy childhood. Expectations were high, and throughout his young life he switched schools often. Vincent had several positions in his early twenties, in an gallery, a book shop, as a preacher, but non very successful.

BOX WITH WATER COLOURS

It is said that at the age of 26 he received a box with water colours he started to use. He studied and painting from books. A year later he decided to dedicate is life to making art. He even applied to the Acade- my of in Brussels. But without much success. And here the ten productive years of Vincent van Gogh started and he travelled along many place in the , Belgium and .

TRAGEDY

His life story is so tragic. Today his tragedy is probably responsible for his huge success. How can a man, making such beautiful, colourful paintings, only sell one single painting throughout his life? And how can a man that is known that he was a difficult person to deal with, aggressive, easily de- pressed making such bright, colourful work?

Even though Vincent was only productive for a relatively short period of ten year, before he committed suicide in 1890, he made a dazzling amount of work.

I always feel drawn to his early work in the Netherlands, the dark - es and paintings. Probably because I do recognize my country in it and I understand why he made it. I feel connected with it. COLOURFUL PALETTE

But I decided to go for a much more colourful palette in today's lesson. Because his color combinations are so unique and so super inspiring! I myself love using a limited colour palette, so I decided to make a palette inspired by two of his paintings and use only those colors.

Though some of my personal favourite Vincent van Gogh paintings are Starry Night (1.), and (2.), I have chosen for Wheat Field with Reaper and Sun (3.) and The Harvest (4.) as my main inspiration sources, for I wanted to use a colour combi- nation I would not personally pick myself to get out of my comfort zone.

1.

2. 3.

4. ASSIGNMENT How much time do you have to spend on this e-course this week?

Less than 1 hour: - Read the PDF - Watch the video - Chose your favourite Van Gogh painting. Pay close attention to Vin- cent's usage of Colours. Search for 5-6 or 7 matching colours that will make an interesting colour palette and make a colour swatch of it. Pin the colour swatch above your desk to inspire you for later use when you have more time.

More than 1 hour: - Read the PDF - Watch the video - Chose your favourite Van Gogh painting. Pay close attention to Vin- cent's usage of Colours. Search for 5-6 or 7 matching colours that will make an interesting colour palette and use only those.

Make a inspired by Vincent's paintings (even if your painting is not a landscape.) Decide for yourself if you want there to be a figure in it, or maybe you will only make a landscape? (You know me I can not re- sist adding a doll in it!) Feel free to follow my steps in my video, or make something different yourself.

In the video I use the following colours:

• Dark yellow • Cadmium • • Ultramarine • Ochre • Turquoise • Payne's grey • White

InspiredSTEP BY STEPby Vincent van Gogh

1. Draw a landscape inspired by Vincent van Gogh. Add collage elements to the background, such as pieces of washi tape. Cover the page entirely with washitape.

2. Study the colours of your favourite Van Gogh painting well and pick a colour palette of 5, 6 or 7 colours and use only those.

Paint the landscape from your imagination. Mix the colours with white to make them lighter.

3. all the sections of your landscape. Does it already look Van Goghish to you?

Here I have made mixtures of yellow, ochre, Payne's grey, ultramarine blue and light green with a lot of white. Don't be afraid to get messy! 4. I paint the face of my doll with my chosen colours. For a skin-tone I mix yellow, orange and white. I add the colors in layers to make the doll more painterly. Here I am adding blue along the sides of the face.

5. I keep on layering colors in the face of the doll. I add white, skin-tone, turquoise, traces of green, skin- tone again. I allow the paint to dry between layers, but keep on layering until I am satisfied.

6. To make the landscape more painterly, I use a smaller, flat brush and paint stripes into the wet paint layers. I keep on making mixtures and add traces of white, yellow, blue and green to the colours.

7. I exaggerate outlining the landscape in blue lines, just like Vincent. 4. Paint '' with your finger tips.

5. Add a layer of clear gesso when all the paint is dry. The clear gesso will give the surface a lot of tooth to work on with crayons and .

Allow the gesso to dry very well. Use a heat tool if you want.

6. Add details to the face with . I love using dark blue for this, inspired by Vincent van Gogh.

7. Finally add lots of detail using the crayons, pencil and an acrylic paint marker.

I have added many stripes, swirls, circles and dots, as if the doll walks along a field with wild flowers. Use your intuition and do not over- think. Allow your passion for colour to speak! 5. 6.

7.

More Vincent. RESOURCES

Books: Meesterwerken in het (Van Gogh museum, 2002)

Art: http://www.wikiart.org/en/vincent-van-gogh

Images: 1. Starry Night, 1888 2. Wheatfield with Crows, 1890 3. Wheat Field with Reaper and Sun , 1889 4. The Harvest, 1888 5. Cafe Terrace at Night III, 1888 6. Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin, 1888 7. Starry Night, 1889 8. Self Portrait, 1886-1887

8.