A rejuvenating soak

"Don't be an art critic. Paint. There lies salvation."

Paul Cezanne

I seem to have a voracious appetite for learning these days and will devour anything to teach and inspire me in my art and writing. Another course started this week - though I doubt I'll have time to do anything with it before the weekend [pouty sulk]. It's Tam's course on Magical Mythical Makings over at her Willowing ning site.

I'm also absorbed with books, magazines, online pages. I just want to learn. It's never a chore - isn't that wonderful! When we really and truly want something with all our heart, then you follow that dream without thinking. Learning is suddenly relaxation - who would have thought that when they were cramming for exams as a 16-year-old! Of course, now I'm teaching myself only what I want to learn which I guess makes all the difference.

The last couple of evenings I've rested my weary mind in the pages of my sketchbook, transported into the world of the Impressionists. The wonderful Three Muses came up with the perfect challenge - to be influenced by a famous painting. It was a little hard to know where to start, but I knew I wanted a lesson from a Master. So, I grabbed some books and looked for something that spoke to me (the particular words I was after were something like "I shouldn't be too difficult to try and copy"). Of course, who can trust a painting to be so one dimensional?

Well, I picked Cezanne's bathers because I figured I could get away with 'sketching' rather than an in-depth painting. I loved how the lines around my figures were free and uninhibited by the desire for complete accuracy - this was impressionism after all. Staring deep into the painting takes you into the world of the artist - you almost get to feel that touch of brush on canvas. It was a fun exercise.

Top picture was my sketch - mixed media, mainly neocolour crayons, plus some watercolour and inktense pencils; next was the original by the master himself - as if you needed telling! (Interestingly, the version I copied from my book had colours closer to my own - I wonder which printed reproduction was closest to the original?); final two, I couldn't resist a little play in Photoshop (the bottom one benefits from enlarging).