Inspired by Paul Cezanne, Montagne Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine, c. 1887.

We chose Cezanne’s painting of Montagne Sainte Victoire because we liked the way the tree bordered the landscape. The painting caught our attention because of how everything fits together in it, like a puzzle. We also liked how Cezanne painted his images as if he was looking down on his landscapes, from a high point as if he owned the land.

The painting took 2 year to complete. It is of the Montagne St Victoire which Cezanne could see from his house. He often painted the same mountain, which is the main focus of this paintings. He did a number of versions which have a different outcome every time with different brushstrokes, views or style. This was his birthplace, and he was fascinated by it. He also described the mountain as the birth place of a God.

He uses geometry to describe nature, and the landscape in this painting is very modern for the time. He also uses a wide range of colour and brushstrokes to represent the depth of his objects. His brushstrokes are small and rushed. He cropped the view so that the branches of the tree mimic the mountain outline. We think he really enjoyed this painting because he signed it, which he usually did not tend to do.

The animation reflects how Cezanne developed the painting and the difficulties that he had to go through. To do our animation, we used stop frame animation, by re painting the painting’s scene onto glass with various paints and brushstrokes, mixed media like rice and couscous to give it texture. We also used oil pastels, felt tip and acrylics.