More Briars
(7×5) Watercolor on 140lb coldpress

In a letter to Charles Camoin Paul Cezanne advises,

“We must hasten out and by contact with nature revive within ourselves the instincts, the artistic sensations which lives in us.”

I have been rereading one of my favorite books, CEZANNE by himself; edited by Richard Kendall and published by Barnes and Noble Books; NY,NY; 2004. Arguably the greatest painter of the last 100 years Cezanne has always been an enigmatic figure; a complex individual that I could never get a feel for until I read this book the first time. Kendall says in his preface, “His letters, while sometimes densely expressed, reveal him as a man of strong emotion and passionately held beliefs; his conversations show Cezanne at his most eloquent and incisive; and in his pictures we find an artist of extraordinary diversity, the virtual mirror image of the austere theoretician so beloved of twentieth century critics.” (pg.7) I have found most of my quotes from Cezanwho desires to ne  in this book and highly recommend it to anyone who desires to better understand the life and work of this great artis.

Continuing with the paintings based on sketches and photographs I worked up this watercolor.

Planting in the Projects 4
(11x8.5), 110lb. acid free cardstock,watercolor,

I enjoyed the sight when I happened upon this scene and continue to return to it trying to work out exactly how can express the express the sense of unity and fellowship I saw. It is an interesting challenge.

On this piece I added a small box to give a change in elevation and add to the depth of the painting.

One of the things I want to concentrate on in the next few pieces for this project is value and contrast of value. In order to do this I will be creating my own value chart.

If you are interested in creating your own value chart you can find a detailed account of how I create them on my tips page.

Some of my Eating Oranges are becoming over worked in fact that could be said of most of them so I decided to try something a bit different this time. I began with a quick blind contour drawing in gel pen.  I like gel pen because when wetted it liquefies and creeps just a tiny bit.  You can also use this quality by drawing on a moistened paper. I like to use a mister for this premoistening because the droplets add a randomness to the process.  There is a inherent distortion to drawing this way because you’re not looking at the paper; however, the better the focus and concentration the better the proportions and draughtsmanship.

Once this loose drawing has been established the painting process can begin. My goal was to keep the colors fresh.

Number 12 features a ripened pear in the foreground with an orange in the background. I began this one with a brush version of a blind contour on a slightly moistened surface using a washy mixture of Windsor yellow and Holbein mineral violet. On the moist surface the edges of the line soften and the slower drying allow for more flexibility in adjusting density and opacity.

One of the technical challenges I’ve encountered in resurrecting an old palette of paints is getting the pigment to desolve completely. the simplest solution would be to clean out the palette and start with fresh; however, frugality requires I use up what I have.  I also like the way the larger particles settle on the paper.  I may try adding a bit of glycerin as an emulsifier and/or the binder gum arabic to the water.  Either of these would fundamentally change the paints’ properties but the paint has already been changed by the drying process.

While not as overtly aggressive as Eating Oranges 10 I think it does have a good energy and approach.

One thing I do want to mention is in all of the Eating Oranges Project so far the lighting has been pretty harsh and from an extreme side angle casting shadows to the left. This probably will change in the future. This and other pieces may be seen and purchased from my gallery on Daily Paintworks.

On this quick little study I went for a much more expressive attack.

Attack is the right word for this approach because of the quickness and boldness. The colors were applied and allowed to flow and merge as they would.  It is aggressive, confident and very direct but hopefully poetic in its scarcity and understatement.

I’ve been studying Knudsen’s Guide to Practical Aesthetics which are based on the ideas of INTENSITY, COMPLEXITY, and UNITY.

I will be writing more about this aid to understanding and analyzing art as I experiment and play with.

This piece can be seen and purchased from my gallery on Daily Paintworks.

Number 9 in the Eating Oranges Still Life Project again features the cup and saucer and adds two tangerines.  I also worked this one up without my glasses on and being more than a bit stigmatic I think this adds some interesting distortions to the shapes. 

For the next piece in this project I have decided to expand my palette and use colors I haven’t used in quite some time in order to go in what ever direction the muse may lead. I also want to use more pure color in the following work exploring a more expressive approach to the painting.