Seven days of wood smoke and crackling leaves— Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

A Road in the Countryside, Near Lake Leman, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, 1845-55
I’m in Maine for my last 2013 painting workshop! The frost isn’t quite on the pumpkin (at least not in Rockland or Rochester) but autumn is in the air. I’m leaving some wonderful fall landscapes for you.
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot was so repressive in his color sensibility that sometimes it’s hard to know what season he was painting in. In a way, that’s no surprise; he had a narrower range of pigments available to him than the Impressionists who followed him. When he was doing his early plein air travels in Italy, there weren’t even paint tubes. (They were invented by an American painter, John Goffe Rand, in 1841.)
Nevertheless, Corot managed to anticipate the major theme which plein air painting continues to mine almost 200 years later—a fresh, vigorous painting style that describes the landscape without getting unduly hung up on the details.
The Bridge at Narni, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, 1845-55

Let me know if you’re interested in painting with me in Maine in 2014. Click here for more information on my Maine workshops!
Carol Douglas

About Carol Douglas

Carol L. Douglas is a painter who lives, works and teaches in Rockport, ME. Her annual workshop will again be held on the Schoodic Peninsula in beautiful Acadia National Park, from August 6-11, 2017. Visit www.watch-me-paint.com/ for more information.