Matisse and his Motifs – 9 x 12 inch acrylic on watercolor paper    

I am thoroughly enjoying this class on Matisse. I watched a documentary about his life, as well as looked through all 496 paintings of his on Wikipaintings. I love especially, his foray into Fauvism…those so called “wild beasts” of art, that defied the art system of their day. Matisse and Andre Derain, are two of my favorite fauvist painters. I just love their unrealistic use of colors. Their art just draws me in…and I just want to keep gazing at their brushstrokes, and learn from them. I also spent a lot of time looking at Matisse motifs, repeated patterns in his work, and his favorite still life objects. He used those vermillion goldfish in quite of few of his paintings, so I decided to include them here. As well as the leaf motif of his cut out collage art. He was an amazing artist, and I am happy to be able to share this week with him…in a way, learning at his side. This class that started last week…Studying Under The Masters, by Jeanne Oliver, has been so much more than I imagined it would be. It has thoroughly fired me up!  

Here is a progression of this painting…from photograph, to charcoal drawing, to layers of acrylic.

I have 18 paintings already for the month…so I am getting closer to my goal of 30 for January. That feels SO good!

“I wouldn’t mind turning into a vermillion goldfish.” ~ Henri Matisse

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