Artists & Illustrators - UK (2019-12)

DEMO

DEMO

Paul Cézanne’s painting is seductively

rich in tone and texture, with its thick,

visible brushstrokes and powerful

lights and darks. To explore these

techniques, make a tree (a classic

Cézanne motif) your subject. Working

over a dark underpainting, use the

direction of your brushstrokes to

describe the form of the tree.

1

Start with a canvas board and

paint a simple landscape as a

backdrop. Mix French Ultramarine with

Titanium White for the sky. Apply the

paint from the top of the canvas to the

bottom with horizontal brushstrokes,

gradually adding more white and

blending the paint as you go. For the

grass, mix French Ultramarine with

Lemon Yellow and apply it with large,

horizontal strokes. Work upwards,

adding more lemon yellow as you go.

You don’t have to leave this to dry, but

it is easier if you do so before drawing

on it. Draw the outline of your tree in

pencil without putting in any detail.

Selwyn’s materials

•Paint

Titanium White, French

Ultramarine, Lemon Yellow, Burnt

Umber and Burnt Sienna

•Primed canvas

•HB pencil

•Flat brushes

•A solvent

•Rags or paper towels

2

On your palette, mix French

Ultramarine with a small amount

of Burnt Umber to make a dark, bluish

black. Paint the tree in silhouette,

using your outline as a guide.

Apply the paint thickly, using large

brushstrokes to add texture. Most of

this will be painted over, but vary the

direction of your brushstrokes to help

create a sense of texture and form

from the outset.

3

While the dark paint is still wet,

load your brush with a good

amount of lemon yellow. Apply the

paint to the foliage area with short

vertical and diagonal brushstrokes

without reloading your brush, starting

in the places that light strikes the

foliage: this way you get the rawer,

lighter colour where you want it.

As you work, the paint will start

to blend into a dark green. Keep

building up the clumps of foliage,

adding more yellow paint as needed,

while leaving the shadow areas dark.

Clean your brush.

Mix a small amount of Titanium

White with Burnt Sienna to make a

soft pink, then paint this onto the light

side of the trunk. The dark, blue-black

base colour will mix with it slightly,

adding subtle variations in colour,

which will create the look of bark.

4

Now develop the texture of the

grass. Use short, choppy, vertical

brushstrokes without thinning your

paint. Paint the shadow underneath

the tree, using the dark mix of French

UltramarineandBurntUmberfrom

before;it willblendandmergeslightly

withthegrasscolourunderneath,

givingit a moreconvincingshadow.

Inthefinalstage,keepdeveloping

thelightsanddarks.Ratherthan

paintingindividualleaves,usethe

shapesandblocksofdifferenttones

tocreatetheformofthefoliage.

Cézanne’sgreatskillwastofindthe

underlyingshapesofhissubject.

Thisis anextractfromSelwynLeamy’s

newbook,TATE:MasterOils, published

byIlexin partnershipwithTATE

(RRP£14.99).www.ilex.press

Top tip

Use the direction of

the brushstrokes to

describe the shape of

the foliage just like

Cézanne did

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Artists & Illustrators 53