Building form through colour Cezanne Style!

It is fascinating to study Cezanne's paintings and see how he builds up the form of objects through his use of colour.

"Cézanne's rejection of the intense contrasts of light and shadow of his earlier years in exchange for a refined system of color scales placed next to one another." (Heilbrunn Timeline of History)

His brush strokes are clearly visible and often mirror the contours of the objects. Colours are also used to link key objects together.

I must admit I find painting in the style of Cezanne quite a challenge, not so much in his use of colour to create shape or form but I do have to strongly fight the urge to straighten lines and correct perspective. Painting the vegetable marrow on the plate which seemingly hangs against the surface of the chest which appears flat on the paper is a classic example as was the table itself the two halves of which if you look carefully do not join up. Creating a table which appears to be larger at the back than the front also felt strange too do but this is a common trend in his still life paintings. The more free use of colour though is quite fun to do, and the painting style quite quick although you do need to wait between each colour application for the paint to dry before applying the next layer. Here is a close up of the chest with Poirot's prize vegetable marrow on the top. Do you notice how the plate seems to be floating due to the change in perspective? You can also see how the layering of colour on the chest helps to create the sense of form but it is all about shape and form, not texture.

The table has had many layers of paint already. I began with the lightest of washes but am using more juicy paint mixes for each subsequent layer. The table is nearly finished. It just needs its darkest top layers.



Ona