Chasing Monet in London
Between the years 1900 and 1904, Claude Monet rendered a series of paintings of the Palace of Westminster, where the British Parliament resides. His repeated exercises of the same view show how the enigmatic artist captured the transient light and mood of a particular place over time. This is an excellent exercise in the art of focus. In the beginning he would execute small color studies and then take them back to his studio for completion in France. Later he would hire photographers to capture images of the view under different atmospheric conditions and send them on to his French studio. He was one of the first artists to defend the use of the camera, in his absence, by claiming that his paintings were his own business and was not up to the critics to judge his works, but the final viewer, and that they would decide the merits of his technique. Painters today who utilize technology to secure dynamic images also face similar criticism, but in the end the output is what really matters.
So take a page from Money and consider doing studies just as he did. You may chose to use the same locations and compare your results to his, or you can find your own London subject matter on your own. The city offers unlimited possibilities. He has also done the same with churches and cathedrals, and you won’t have any problem finding an abundance of those in close proximity to where you are staying. Don’t forget to pack light, and depending on flight restrictions and your preferences, you may find water-soluble oils more to your liking for traveling.
Since there are so many locations to chose from Hotels in Islington will be more than happy to point out sites of interest to help you narrow down your painting locale. Islington Hotels can also be indispensable when it comes to interpreting the labyrinthine map and schedule system of the underground railway, which can get you anywhere you need to go, if you can read it.
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