Claude Monet: Water Lilies
Composition
Monet paints this image using layers of paint applied over many years. Each layer is made up of blurry rhythmic brushstrokes forming abstracted blends of colours. The multitude of blurry layers gives the painted pond a sense of depth, where we see Monet depict the materiality of a body of murky water.
Light
Water lilies depict light reflecting on the surface of the pond. It also visualizes light travelling through the pond illuminating particles in the body of water; Monet uses light as a tool for depicting the depth in the pond.
Theme: Peace
Around the time of completion, Monet was interested in finding peace. He wanted to use paintings to visualize peace, allowing viewers to find a sense of calm. In this case, Monet paints his peaceful French garden pond, where water is a symbol of relaxation and ease in nature.
Scale
Monet wanted these massive paintings to stretch around the walls of galleries, the idea being that they would have no corners. By making these paintings large and panoramic, Monet is compelling us to the perspective of looking at a close-up of his depicted garden pond. By viewing a close-up of the pond, we are less interested in its form and instead immersed in the visual qualities showcasing the depth of the pond.
Monet paints this image using layers of paint applied over many years. Each layer is made up of blurry rhythmic brushstrokes forming abstracted blends of colours. The multitude of blurry layers gives the painted pond a sense of depth, where we see Monet depict the materiality of a body of murky water.
Light
Water lilies depict light reflecting on the surface of the pond. It also visualizes light travelling through the pond illuminating particles in the body of water; Monet uses light as a tool for depicting the depth in the pond.
Theme: Peace
Around the time of completion, Monet was interested in finding peace. He wanted to use paintings to visualize peace, allowing viewers to find a sense of calm. In this case, Monet paints his peaceful French garden pond, where water is a symbol of relaxation and ease in nature.
Scale
Monet wanted these massive paintings to stretch around the walls of galleries, the idea being that they would have no corners. By making these paintings large and panoramic, Monet is compelling us to the perspective of looking at a close-up of his depicted garden pond. By viewing a close-up of the pond, we are less interested in its form and instead immersed in the visual qualities showcasing the depth of the pond.
Digital Painting
The layered approach to painting can be replicated digitally using Adobe Photoshop. Here, 15 layers are constructed, with each layer having colour applied in a digital improvised way, reflecting Monet’s process. For this voxel print, I started working on the back image, and then applying layers on top of that image.
The layered approach to painting can be replicated digitally using Adobe Photoshop. Here, 15 layers are constructed, with each layer having colour applied in a digital improvised way, reflecting Monet’s process. For this voxel print, I started working on the back image, and then applying layers on top of that image.
Voxel Print
Similar visual features to both the original painting and the digital painting. The voxel print retains an overall visual articulation of Monet’s Water Lilies. By retaining its visual qualities, the voxel print has the theme of peace embedded within the crafted object. It has a smooth tactile nature, based on the hard digital materials it is constructed from, separating its tactile nature from the original painting and the depicted pond. Now a crafted object, the images expose the 3D nature of objects and therefore showcase depth more accurately, rather than the illusion of depth Monet paints.
Below is the transition from original to digital painting and the final 3D print.
Similar visual features to both the original painting and the digital painting. The voxel print retains an overall visual articulation of Monet’s Water Lilies. By retaining its visual qualities, the voxel print has the theme of peace embedded within the crafted object. It has a smooth tactile nature, based on the hard digital materials it is constructed from, separating its tactile nature from the original painting and the depicted pond. Now a crafted object, the images expose the 3D nature of objects and therefore showcase depth more accurately, rather than the illusion of depth Monet paints.
Below is the transition from original to digital painting and the final 3D print.
Pond water tends to be mirky with fragments of materials floating within.
These fragments appear at different depths when light shines through
the body of water. Monet captures this sensation by layering his paints;
however, his image is still restricted to a 2D plane. Voxel printing can
expose this 2D plane, and offer fragments of material to be dispersed
through the crafted object. When a backlight shines through the print
we get a similar quality to light rays shining through a pond, as the light
illuminates and is distorted by the material fragments. The voxel print
has a cinematic quality due to harnessing light within an object, which
separates the print from most Stratasys J750 prints.
The ability to harness light showcases the depth and 3D nature of crafted objects in ways Monet cannot capture.
