Homage to Cezanne

In 2014, there was a show of Cezanne’s work at the Barnes museum in Philadelphia. So, is that why I decided to name this week’s painting “Homage to Cezanne?” Actually, no. The reason I set this still life up is that I have learned a bit more about Cezanne, his influence and art in an online class I have been taking. I wanted to think about his apple paintings while I painted my own.

Favorite Things

But first, I am excited to share this week’s “Favorite Things” painting. You may recall that in early 2020, I promised to share a painting, or perhaps a drawing, every week.

Now, let’s talk about Cezanne. I confess that I have not been a huge fan. Nor were there any fans, that I knew of, when I was at art school in Philadelphia. This probably makes sense. The school I attended is focused on the fine art and craft of realistic drawing and painting.

But as I have listened to others talk about his work, I have heard several things that resonate with what I learned in school. For instance, Cezanne wrote about his thinking while he worked and painted. And, he often thought about the objects he painted as basic simple and three dimensional shapes. This is exactly the language I heard over and over again at school.

What’s Different

What’s different about Cezanne’s thinking is that he took what he knew and decided to challenge tradition. He showed more than one perspective in many of his paintings. Classically trained artists may think that Cezanne didn’t have the chops to show proper perspective.

But I actually think he had the chops and chose not to show proper perspective anyway. His mind was more interested in the lusciousness of the paint and the objects he painted were a means to an end. Now that is something to think about!

Here’s an example of one of his apple still life paintings. This painting is entitled “Still Life with Apples and Pears” and is on view (when it opens again) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. See how much motion there is from the angle of the table? Also notice the wall in the background is different, has a corner in it right at the peak of the pear? Is it me or does it look to you as if each of the still life objects is about to run away, off to the left of the canvas?

What do you think of this painting? Do you like it? Do you want to spend more time figuring out what’s happening in the foreground, the table top and the background? Would you rather not have to think about those things when you look at a painting?

Homage painting

So, you’ll notice in this homage painting, that I didn’t paint with three different perspectives. I didn’t pile on huge amounts of paint either. That’s AOK with me right now. I am glad I thought about Cezanne while I painted this painting. But I wanted to paint luscious apples and tangy lemons in a bowl. So in some ways this is a tip of the hat to Cezanne; not a direct reference. However, his approach to painting certainly has me thinking!

Palette

I continue to use a palette with fewer colors than I used while I was attending school in Philadelphia from 2014 to 2019. But really, that’s not saying much! Why? Well, we used 20+ colors on our palettes. Lately, I have done paintings with as few as 5. This week, if you count the block-in, I used 7 colors. But I didn’t use Burnt Umber after the block-in. So, I guess you could say I used 6…or maybe 6.5 colors.

So I ended up using Alizarin Crimson Permanent, Cadmium Scarlet (OMG this is one of my absolute favorite colors), Raw Sienna, Cadmium Yellow Light, Phthalo Blue, Cerulean Blue and Lead White. For you smarty artists out there, you can see that I have 1 cool and 1 warm of each of the primary colors. As I think about a painting, I look for the least number of colors that will get me where I want to go.

This makes sense to me as I strive to create a sense of harmony in a painting. It also makes sense to me financially. So I waste as little paint as possible each time I paint.

Lead White

OK I am now venturing into territory that I am only just beginning to understand. But aren’t we all? Wait…I promise not to talk about the unknowns of the pandemic here. I’ll keep this conversation focused on lead white paint. However, I write about this luscious paint because it’s more expensive than many of the other paints on the palette. And, each artist can be very opinionated (who moi? HA HA HA) about their lead white preferences.

So, I decided to try a different lead white for all kinds of reasons including financial. I purchased Lead white #1. I was so excited to try this paint because it is less expensive than the version I had been using. But, alas I find it unpleasant to use. Specifically, it’s not buttery or smooth. Rather it’s almost tacky and stringy. I also found that it was cooler and more opaque than my preferred brand.

And, believe me, I did not just use the new lead white on one painting. I have used it for the last 5 or 6 weeks. In other words, I gave it a really good run. But, I don’t see myself ordering it again.

Light and Glare

Besides adjusting to and deciding I disliked the lead white paint I have been using, I am adjusting to the light in the new studio, too. While I was working on this painting, there were several days where the glare at specific times was difficult. In fact, I actually had to stop painting for an hour because the light coming in from the skylight was blinding me. Also, it was creating glare on the painting.

Here’s a photograph of how bright the light was on my painting hand!

Solution? I decided to skip the hours where the glare was too severe. It’s turned out to be a fleeting problem. This week we have had cloudy and rainy days and the light has been absolutely exquisite.

I may sew some window covers for the skylights. I’m still thinking of a workable, usable and convenient design for the covers. For instance, it would be helpful if I had the ability to adjust the coverings without having to entirely remove them. The coverings in Norman Rockwell’s studio had pull cords on them. Hmmm…maybe I will need to make something similar.

For Sale

So, this week’s painting is for sale for $375. And, if you are interested in supporting my lead white habit and painting practice, then please click here to buy it and thank you! And, I’m excited to share that I have a portfolio page on my website now. There are other paintings for sale on that page. Feel free to browse around!

If you or someone you know is interested in seeing the new paintings I create and learning a bit about art history, too, sign up to receive weekly posts here. And feel free to share your favorite artists, paintings and what you like about them in the comments below. Stay safe and thank you so much!