173. Workshop - Coniston, Lake DIstrict, Cumbria

Schmincke and Unison Soft Pastels

on Daler Rowney Murano Paper, 16" x 12"

I was privileged to do another workshop with the enigmatic and thoroughly enthusiastic Impressionist pastel artist, Eiko Yoshimoto, at the Mall Galleries last week. We work from a selection of our own photographs because she dislikes seeing students walk out with ten identical paintings at the end of the day where they've copied the tutor's demo. I took the photograph below whilst in the Lake District in Cumbria. (Eiko always insists I sign my name "properly, not just initials!")

If you ever get a chance to study with her, please do; her teaching style is unique as she teaches using stories and analogies which, of course, you remember more easily.

116. After Paul Cezanne: Detail from Still Life Flowers in a Vase (1888)

(After Paul Cezanne)

Caran d'Ache Neocolor II Watersoluble Wax Pastels and

Pilot DR 05 Pigment Pen on Goldline Sketchbook Paper, 2.25" x 2.25"

Hi Everyone, Apologies for not posting for a few days. Have I told you how much I love Neocolor II wax pastels? They are yummy - look at the depth of colour! Another good thing about them is that you are allowed to use them in the national galleries if you use them dry. You can wet them with a brush later - either at home or in the cafe!

This detail is of the rose and carnation at the extreme left of the original painting; can you see them? I drew the outline lightly in pencil, softened it all with a wash brush then, when it had dried, went back in with the pastels. I had to straighten the 'wonky' edges by making a black ink border - LOL! (Paul Cezanne's original painting is below.)

The last day of Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 challenge will be tomorrow and I'm looking forward to seeing all your beautiful collages. xx

Original painting by Paul Cezanne

"When the colour achieves richness, the form attains its fulness also."

(Paul Cezanne)

115. After Paul Cezanne: Detail from The Card Players (1893-96)

(After Paul Cezanne)

Oil on Pebeo Linen Canvas Board, 4" x 4"

Original Painting by Paul Cezanne

(Work-in-progress images are beneath the text.)

Hi Everyone, we're on the last stretch of Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 Challenge now! Thank you Leslie and congratulations to you all - everyone has done really well and it's been great to meet some new friends along the way.

This is the painting that Qatar bought in 2012 for $250m!!! (That was £160m in our money, at the time anyway.)

This time, I thought I'd just pick out a detail from the original and chose the hands as it is such good practice. Oh my! This painting was so hard. At first, although happy with the fingers, I could not get the flat shape of the back of the hand right - it just looked swollen. I took heart from something Tom Coates said at a workshop I attended; he said portraiture is about painting mistakes and then correcting them until you get it right. So I persevered.

I started fiddling then remembered hearing that Paul Cezanne had reduced his work to painting the cylinder, the cone and the sphere. So I removed some of the paint and focused instead on the shape of the knuckles (I noticed diamonds), the base of the wrist and the middle of the hand (looks almost like a Ferrari symbol). Once I got the knuckles right, the 'swollen' look disappeared - merci, Monsieur Cezanne!

Have a successful, productive and happy weekend, everyone!

 Smoother

Household lighting!

Before eliminating some of the 'black' and tidying up the sleeve (in daylight)

(Schminke Atrament Black and MH Magenta)

112. After Paul Cezanne: House with Cracked Walls (1892-94)

(After Cezanne)

Staedtler Pigment Liner and Derwent Aquatone on Goldline Cartridge Paper, 2" x 2"

Good morning everyone! Once again, thank you so much for your lovely comments - they are fuelling my creativity. Imagine this house - oh my goodness!

Original painting by Paul Cezanne 

Below is a work-in-progress photo with some items relating to its size.  Happy painting everyone… and drawing, doodling, sewing, etc., etc.  :)

105. After Paul Cezanne: The House of Doctor Gachet in Auvers, 1872-1873

(After Paul Cezanne)

Oil on Pebeo Linen Canvas Board, 8" x 8"

Well, once again, Leslie Saeta, thank you for setting us another '30 in 30' challenge. It forced me to get my paints out and I chose to do a copy of a Cezanne. It was much more complicated than I had anticipated but I'm really glad I did it as I enjoyed trying to work out how the master might have tackled his original.

The original painting by Paul Cezanne is below:

The original painting by Cezanne

Happy painting everyone; I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's work.

49. Mini Master - Still Life, Pitcher and Fruit

Acrylic on Saunders CP watercolour paper, 3" x 2"

 

Here is another 'mini master'; this one is Still Life, Pitcher and Fruit by Paul Cezanne, painted in 1894.  I thoroughly enjoyed painting it and discovered quite a few things that I had missed just looking at the painting over the years, such as the difference in temperature in the colours in the foreground compared to the background and the way he unified all the warm and cool colours in the pitcher.  Great fun!  I hope you are all having a good weekend. 

48. Mini Master - On the Beach

Acrylic on watercolour paper, 3" x 2"

This is one of my 'mini masters'; it is Edouard Manet's On the Beach, which he painted in 1873.  (In my Sketchbook Scribbles, I accidentally titled it 'At the Beach'.)  I was surprised that it was taking me as long to do as if it had been larger but realised that it was because I was trying to get it as accurate as possible because it's a fairly well-known painting. The frame itself is 8" x 6"; had I stuck to the correct ratio of the frame, the long side of the painting would have had to have been about 2.5" but instead I stuck to the ratio of the original Manet painting - I think I got away with it.

(The beady-eyed amongst you will notice that I've re-posted the image.  This is because I clean forgot to acknowledge Manet in the first photograph.)