Drawing Monet in coloured pencils

One my favourite occupations used to be drawing oil paintings by past masters - in coloured pencil.  

Morning on the Seine early in morning light - a copy of Monet's work in coloured pencils

copyright Katherine Tyrrell

One such was "Morning on the Seine" by Claude Monet - in a different colourway - which I drew some years ago. It's prompted me to think I should do more. I know I always learned a huge amount each and every time I copied a painting by an old Master.  

I think the last time this drawing was posted on this blog was back in 2013!

However, for those contemplating the benefits of copying paintings, it's VERY important to remember there's a lot of difference between 

• copying somebody who's out of copyright (like Monet) and 
• copying an image by an artist or photographer whose work is covered by copyright 
• see Copyright Infringement and "Fair Use" - Basics for Art and Artists

Morning on the Seine by Claude Monet

Monet's "Mornings on the Seine" is a series of 21 canvases painted in 1896 and 1897.

Monet often painted the River Seine and its river banks, near his home in Giverny, His aim was to capture the fleeting effects of dawn light on the River Seine n France - and create another series of paintings!

• He painted the same scene at different stages of sunrise and in a variety of weather conditions.
• He often painted from his specially equipped boat which he used as a floating studio. 
• Working from before dawn his aim was to record the subtle changes in color and atmosphere as the sun rose
• Monet often painted emphasising misty, blue, green, pink and purple tones.

Having patiently scouted out views along the river, Monet then painted the pictures from a boat that he had converted into a floating studio. For an extended period he rose by dawn in order to paint the changing effects of light as the sun came up. He then lined up the canvases on easels in his studio to complete them together as a series. Fifteen were shown at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1898. Metropolitan Museum of Art

You can see some of the paintings below. They're all called Morning on the Seine near Giverny 

• Metropolitan Museum of Art  (New York, USA)
• White House Historical Association (Washington DC) - a gift to the White House in memory of John F Kennedy
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston MA)
• North Carolina Art Museum (North Carolina) 
• The National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo, Japan - not currently on display)