The term that gives name to this style also gives insight into one of the techniques greatly exemplified in the movement. The concept of Impressionism was to paint an artist's "impression" rather than a reproduction of a subject. Classical perfectionism was discarded in favor of creating work born out of the creative impulse of the artist. The notion was to create paintings that actually transmitted the fleeting feeling connected with the human experience of a moment instead of reproducing still images.
One of the most identifiable techniques of the Impressionists is the way they treat shadows. Previous painters thought shadows should be the same color as the object casting the shadow but darkened with black and brown. The impressionists broke up shadows in a different way based on their study of the way light and color work together. They added hints of the complementary color to the object's shadow instead of the reflected color of the object itself.
The brushwork of earlier painters was extremely precise and controlled. That precision is what allowed them to paint exacting replications of the landscapes or figures that they captured. Impressionist painters were much looser with their brushwork. Every stroke was thought out just as carefully, but the strokes often appear tiny, random and less controlled. Impressionists also applied their brushes to light canvases, while their immediate predecessors typically started with a dark background.
The Impressionists used color differently from many artists who came before. First, they would sometimes use color without mixing it on a palette before applying it to the canvas. They tried using paint in its pure form. In addition, Impressionists used a technique called broken color. This involved using interweaving spots or strokes of color in different sized brushstrokes to create the impression of movement or light. This is what causes the textured look on so many Impressionist paintings.