The Impressionists

I love art, I particularly like works from impressionist artists especially works from artists such as Claude Monet, Cezzane, Edgar Degas, etc. I like Monet's masterpiece, Impression, Sunrise. The painting depicts  overall visual effects instead of details, and used short "broken" brush strokes of mixed and pure unmixed colour—not blended smoothly or shaded, as was customary—to achieve an effect of intense colour vibration. What in the world is this art form called impressionism?

Impression, Sunrise, Claude Monet

Impressionism is a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists. Their independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s, in spite of harsh opposition from the conventional art community in France. The name of the style derives from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise), which provoked the critic Louis Leroy to coin the term in a satirical review published in the Parisian newspaper Le Charivari.

Woman with a Parasol, Claude Monet

Impressionist painting characteristics include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles. The development of Impressionism in the visual arts was soon followed by analogous styles in other media that became known as impressionist music and impressionist literature.

In today's contemporary art, when an artist starts to paint something, he can choose to paint every details from the subject he is painting. Or he can choose to paint his subject in such a way that he does not care about details, as long as he gets his colour right and he can show the effects of light on the colour he uses on his subject. Some may this type of art from, if you stand from a far distance you can get a better appreciation of the painting, meaning the details begin to stand out. From near the painting may look messy and the subject does not stand out. Abstract art is even more difficult to appreciate as most often people do not understand what was on the painter's mind when he painted an abstract art work.

I learnt to paint in oils during my teenage years. I did not take up painting seriously as I thought that generally artists find it difficult to survive in this real materialistic world. Famous artist such as Vincent van Gogh did not make a fortune by selling his works. In fact he was so miserable in life that he became mad and at one stage and cut off his own ear. He constantly lived in poverty. To survive, he relied mainly on financial help from friends. His works become so valuable only after his death and fetch millions of dollars in auction houses. Most people back then always think that artist could not enjoy the fruits of his works during his lifetime, but after his death then only he became famous and his works start to sell. As a result, I only took up painting as a hobby and chose engineering as my career. In my mind, engineers will have survived better than artists in good times and bad times.

Vinvent van Gogh, Self Portrait

Sun Flower, Vincent van Gogh

 Things have changed since the past decades. Even here in Singapore, you will find artists who are able to sell their works and earn a decent living. They own big houses and live comfortably. If you look at the artists from China, their works can command even higher price in auction houses. Most of the famous artists are multi-millionaire. One of such artists is Chen Yi Fei whose works sell for millions of dollars. Nowadays when people more affluent, they will invest in arts. As a result there is always a market for good pieces of artwork.

Appreciate good paintings is indeed a very good past-time. You can admire the vivid colours that an artist used and the effect of light on the colours he used to depict his subject. This is the highest form of relaxation for those who are constantly under the stress of daily life. If you can't afford to own any paintings, just make a visit to local art museum and you can still enjoy beautiful paintings at your own free time. Better still, if you have time to spare, why don't you pick up some brushes and start to paint. You don't know how much fun you can have by painting your own subjects, be it still life or landscapes. There are a lot of teaching materials for beginners to start this out as a hobby. I recommend oil painting to beginners as oils are opaque. One can easily paint over the mistakes one makes for many times until one is satisfied. Water colour is not easy for beginners as it is not that forgiving as long as mistakes are concerned. One cannot just simply paint over the mistakes as the colour will get thicker and not easily covered with another layer.

Some of my paintings done in the 90s.

My painting at local exhibition

My painting at local exhibition

Asian Tiger

Orchid flowers

By the beach