"SPENDING THE NIGHT WITH CEZANNE"

What happens when you can't sleep? Paint all night long, of course! At least that's what I do. Last nite was really productive, I painted till four o'clock in the morning and even though I was still very much awake and wired up, I had to stop because my wrists were killing me after painting so small for so many hours.

Anyways, I finished the Cezanne I posted about yesterday. It was a very challenging but rewarding thing to paint this with oils in such a small canvas. I was having a hard time with the flowers, so the ones in the back have more of a likeness to Cezanne's painting. The ones in the front are kinda made-up, I did what I could. I started with thin layers very diluted with turps, to establish my lights and darks, but once that was dried to the touch, I just used the paint neat, very rich and thick. The biggest challenge was to keep myself from over blending. That was the purpose of this painting exercise, to keep my strokes loose and spontaneous. That is very difficult for me, I love to blend and blend and blend. Sometimes I feel like my hand has a life of its own, even though my brain is saying stop blending, the hand just keeps on...I think I was semi-succesfull with this one, nowhere near as super blended as my previous oils, but still...it could've been better. I did the finishing layer with colored pencils to sharpen the details.

Oh, well, I think I'll make another pot of coffee, I've only slept three hours and my body is telling me to take a nap right now, but my mind is just racing with a million ideas. Besides, my hands are aching to grab a colored pencil and start a new project. There you go, Sleep 0 x 1 Art. Back to the studio and to some action and fun. Lotsa coffee and punk rock should wake me up!



Many hugs and have a wonderful and creative day,
Jade