Edouard Manet paints Claude Monte and his wife Camille in his studio boat
STAGE 1 DRAWINGS
Individual drawings were made and moved around to determine the best composition. This one was unbalanced. The paint box’s new position required reverse direction, so I photocopied it to tracing paper, then photocopied that upside down to copy paper.
STAGE 2 BACKGROUNDS
All background areas were painted first so that foreground painted edges had precedence.
STAGE 3 BACKGROUND REFERENCES
The far distant background reference came for a number of Monet’s paintings.
STAGE 4 LIGHTS THEN DARKS
Way back in college, our art teacher said, “I like to paint the lightest and darkest areas first so I may balance each successive tone with accurate comparison.”
STAGE 5 BEGINNING MY STAGES
Various first stages commence: the “house” and awning, the oars’ concentric waves with reflections, and shadowing. I later realised that the straight line shadow of the awning should be wavy. All the way through it was think, think, think about shadow angles and strengths, reflections in the water, structure of the boat, correct perspective of the feet and more.
STAGE 6 THE REPLICA
Here the “replica in perspective” of Manet’s painting is almost complete and I leave it that way, the paint box, stool, one boy, awning support, Manet’s palette and skin color underpainting are on the way.
STAGE 7 ALMOST DONE
Nearly everything except the skin and clothing areas are developed.
STAGE 8 COMPLETED WORK
Edouard Manet paints Claude Monet and his wife Camille in his studio boat, oils on canvas 76 x 101 cm (30 x 40") Portraits, clothing, altered shadow angles and strengths, varying color tones, completion of lady rowers and plants among the grass. The collage of Monet’s own painting of the studio boat has been added along with the painting title for viewers unaware of who’s who. The expression on Manet’s face and his posture suggest that the boys may have asked a curious question or made a challenging remark. Also, the two women in the rowboat are from a painting by Pierre-auguste Renoir, titled The Skiff (La Yole).