The Book of Knowledge: Nature Artists in France

    

(Sedum in bloom)

     The French painters often took to painting outdoors. The level of detail they put into their paintings quite amazes me. I also notice a similarity between the paintings and french music of the time. The french music is also detailed beyond what it sounds like. Take, for example, Saint-Saens' organ symphony ;). The second violins and violas get thirty second notes and thirty second rests between those notes. On their own. they sound like pins and needles poking someone. But when added to the rest of the orchestra they help with the whole structure of the piece, and actually blend in quite well. I recommend the video on Youtube with Paavo Jarvi conducting. Going back to painting... when you look at the leaves on the trees, notice how tiny the painter's strokes were. Then look at the whole painting. You can tell there are individual leaves, but you don't notice the individuality as much as just studying the leaves. 

(Also, sorry for not posting yesterday...)