Nocturne Notes

Philippe Gandiol

Dusk in Montparnasse 24 x 30” Oil © Philippe Gandiol

We recently had the opportunity to interview Philippe Gandiol and to learn more about how the influence of his childhood growing up in France has informed his current work. We asked him to elaborate a bit more about his painting in dusky and evening light for our “Nocturne Notes” series. To see Gandiol’s complete interview, visit “Voices of Experience - Philippe Gandiol“.

Philippe wrote to us about painting nocturnes and more specifically about painting, Dusk in Montparnasse:

When painting a nocturne from life, I have to rely on my own lights or/and the surrounding ones if I do a cityscape. These lights greatly affect the tones on my palette and on the canvas. So, I tend to start the painting well before sundown to establish anticipated darks and lights (warm darks, cool lights), and the main shapes. I mix several puddles of colors that could fit what I am going to need. When the sun starts going down in a landsca…