Cézanne, day 4

Another good copying day! I took a 2 mile walk around the city this morning before the Gallery opened (my ride got me into town early), and got to the museum right at 10:00. Jumped right in mixing batches of colors. For this painting I'm working from a limited palette of Permalba white, cadmium yellow medium, cadmium red light, alizarin, manganese blue, ultramarine blue, and burnt umber. Using these, I mixed as many different colors as I could discern in Cézanne's painting. I know that my pigments are different from what he used, but since I am not making a forgery, I don't care about being authentic here. It's good to get close enough. I like to mix enough different colors that I can just choose among them as I'm painting, much like choosing pastels out of a box.

I worked for a long time on the white cloth in the bottom of the painting. I also roughed in some color on the hanging fabric, and started painting the fruit. I got interrupted quite a bit today, but generally enjoyed the conversations I had with visitors. The time flew by (and I took a long lunch and walked through the Andrew Wyeth exhibit down the hall), so I still haven't quite covered all the white canvas. I feel like I'm on the right track, and will keep painting and repainting different areas until I feel I've gotten close enough. Copying Cézanne is a whole education in itself, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm going to take all the time I need with this one.

click the images for a larger view

Here is a photo taken of me with museum visitor Stephanie, taken by her boyfriend Ben.

Cézanne, day 3

Another absolutely beautiful day in DC! I have gotten into the habit of walking an hour a day, so today I took the Metro in (my friend and driver, Katie, didn't go to her office today), and got off at Foggy Bottom, the first station in DC, so I would get my walk in. The weather was absolutely perfect and I enjoyed my brisk walk of almost 3 miles, including a stop for breakfast at a Starbucks on the way.

This painting does not want to be painted in a hurry. Cézanne worked and reworked - you can see the thick build-up of paint in many areas. I'm still trying to get the white canvas covered, first pass. Then I'll go back and paint over everything again.

This is how much I got done before lunch.

(click the images for a larger view.)

After lunch, I had just gotten back to my easel when I was completely surrounded by a large group of foreign visitors who crowded me - I felt like I was in a football huddle. One was asking me questions, and I was starting to answer him, when I heard the guard call out, "Please step away from the easel!" The group quickly backed off and hurriedly left the room. The guard was surprised to see me standing there - I had been completely hidden by the group (I am not very tall!) We had a good laugh about it, and I told the guard he had saved me. Some people from other countries don't understand our desire for personal space!

I continued to work on the large background cloth. My colors are brighter than the Cézanne - as one visitor told me, mine looks as if the painting has been cleaned. But when I go over all these areas again, I will get closer to the right colors. I don't know if Cézanne did glazing (I guess I could research that...)

End of Day 3

I walked back to the same station to go home, so another 3-mile walk! I'm making the most of the unusually glorious weather we've had all summer. I should sleep well tonight.