Quite recently I had the opportunity to get up close (and almost personal) with some of Gauguin's original art... the quality of the painting disappointed me a little... but the genius is really in how he "sees" his art... his technique suddenly hit me in the face... when i was scanning this sketch... he hangs his figures on a violet frame work... something I kind of fell upon in watercolours... a different media to his but the colours are the same... when you glaze over this outline in ocher or crimson, the transparent layer of pigment moves out of the violet and creates a beautifully warm shadow that lifts the figure forward, a sensual reality that almost jumps off the page.... no amount of looking at your model (or a photo of them) lets you actually see that shadow but that inner "artist" eye can visualize it.... next with a bit of practise your hand and brush learn how to see the shadow as well
"I shut my eyes in order to see." ... Paul Gauguin
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