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Posts Tagged ‘history’

Secrets of a Great Artist

 

I started thinking about this yesterday. If I could ask one person to reveal their artistic secrets and knowledge, who would it be? I realized that I wouldn’t ask any of my favorite painters – no Sargent, no Gerome, no Bougereau. I think that I’m always in search of learning new skills, and I’ve always been amazed by classical musicians.

So, as I was thinking along those lines, I’d have to say I would ask John Williams, the great movie composer. Knowing very little about the fundamentals of music composition, I still think music is organized and created much in the same way art is. My questions to him would include ideas around structure, repetition, tone, themes, priority of melody, etc. There are talented composers making music right now, but he is still the most consistent and strongest one that I know.

Superman, Jaws, Star Wars, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, ET, Home Alone, Indiana Jones…just goes on and on.

I listen to movie scores like I look at art. I feel complete when I look at a “masterpiece”, and I want to know why and how.

Bladders of Paint

I came across a blog post this morning from Matthew D. Innis that included this photo of the evolution of paint tubes. I consider myself lucky that I don’t have to deal with the problems of the original bladder tubes that were known to burst quite frequently. This is a fascinating display of technology in a rather traditional profession. I suppose, though, that relatively soon the practice of using tubes of paint at all will be outdated due to digital mediums. Here’s to the pioneers of the bladder revolution!

 

Mixing Corresponding Whites

Georges Seurat: The primaries in order and their individual whites.
I’ve gone through a few palettes. I’m currently using a handheld wooden palette from a plein air set similar to this one. I have to clean it everyday or risk ruining it with dried up paint. I previously used a large piece of glass that I could scrape easily days after painting. I have pros and cons for each of them. I’m always looking for ways to make painting more efficient.
This photo intrigued me because of the additional row of paint. They are all whites plus the color below. I’ve always been frustrated by mixing whites because of the overpowering tinting strengths the colors have compared to white. Maybe the answer is to tube my own whites that correspond to all of my colors? I don’t use a million colors, so one day of tubing might be worth it if it saves me time and energy that I would otherwise use for mixing later.
Thoughts? Check out a good article about famous painters and their palettes here.

Jean-Leon Gerome

Prayer on the Rooftops of Cairo
Jean-Leon Gerome – 1865

19th century Realism. Although I learned about the well known periods of art (Renaissance, Impressionism, Modernism, etc.), I seem to have been deprived of the one period of art that I like. In addition, it is the period and genre that I have now learned the most from, post college degree of course! I am constantly trying to catch up and discover all of the artists that I and so many other students never knew existed.

My new favorite is Jean-Leon Gerome. The Art Renewal Center has a great inventory of his works along with so many other realist painters. Even though I feel somewhat ignorant when it comes to great artists of the 1800′s, I am looking forward to viewing all these works through fresh eyes and a matured appreciation of art. Can’t wait!

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