impressionist garden painting
inspired by gardens fit for royalty

Similar to our homes - gardens are designed in many styles.
A garden can be very formal and planned out in geometric patterns with walking paths, statues, fountains and ponds.  
These are photos I took of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina; it is the largest private home in America. 
A garden can also be quite whimsical, carefree and natural. ​
Planned or natural - a garden is a source of artistic inspiration.  The garden paintings of French artist Claude Monet are well known and are the springboard for this project.  Claude Monet painted in an art style known as impressionism. 

Characteristics of impressionism:
 - Paint applied in short rapid strokes or dabs
 - Subject matter of natural and informal scenes 
 - Emphasis on light and reflected light
 - Objects are not outlined
Click below to learn about Impressionist Art

Dab garden painting

materials:
heavy weight paper
Q-tips (5 - 6) 
toothpicks (2 - 3)
pencil (optional)
ruler (optional)
tempera or craft paint - assorted colors
  (including green and yellow)
paper plate or scrap paper for paint palette
Let's get started!
Project Introduction
​
Step One: 
Beginning with green and yellow a Q-tip is used to create a backdrop of leaves; a toothpick is moved through the wet paint to add bits of stems.
Step Two:
Use additional colors to "plant" flowers on your background of leaves and stems.
Ideas to take your painting a step farther:
Use you toothpick to add tiny bits of color.
Make more gardens with varied color choices.
Glue the painting onto a background paper to make a card for someone special.

additional inspiration

You can enjoy a virtual tour of a castle or palace garden online.  I used Google search and found MANY choices if you are interested in exploring; I have included two links below to get you started.
Click below for:
YouTube tour of Biltmore Gardens
Click below for a peek at the beautifully landscaped gardens in France at the home of Claude Monet. 
YouTube tour of Monet's Garden
(the video begins with rooms in his house, scenes in the garden begin at 2:38)

i enjoyed sharing this project & hope that you will paint gardens to share.   
​                                                                                                                                                     -Julie