I had given thought to doing custom cartoons for people for a base price of $50 (till I got a few clients going).  But ever changing as I am, I quickly rethought it and decided I don’t need another set of things to do.  I mean hey, I can only neglect so many things before Becca hits me over the head with one of my many unfinished canvases or half empty sketchbooks.

But I guess I see doing any kind of art as a stepping stone to whatever your next project is.

So I am tackling oils. 

I have put this off as long as possible. 

I’ve broken out the books (or am playing around on wikipedia…lol) and have started reviewing the work of the masters again. 

The interesting things I have found so far have been the way that the painting with oils has changed so much over the centuries.

It’s completely different for me to be moving to oils.  I’ve worked with Acrylics, watercolor and enamels, but only really lightly ever even tried to do much with oils. 

The more I learn, the more I realize I am going to be hitting the history books.

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Oh yeah, this is actual size stonehenge.

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My new little gadget for my iGoogle homepage informed me:

“Artist Leonardo da Vinci died at Cloux, France” on this day in history.

Over the last few years, Leonardo’s work has been blemished with Dan Brown’s novel, The daVinci Code, and in many ways, Leonardo has experienced a sort of second death of his works in popular culture. Unlike the 1519 death, Leonardo’s work has suffered the indignity of fictional interpretation.

This would be equivalent of looking at a Thomas Kinkade painting, and finding the letter “N” somewhere, decry it as a some symbolic reference to a ritualistic cult bent on “taking over the world through the adequate use of cow-tipping”.

Anything you do or say is open to interpretation within the context of the viewers own mind. You can’t very well make everything Kosher or PC, or else all artistic expression fades, creativity itself dies, and the true artist becomes silent. But we must also remember that the very same contextual reference from our own minds is what makes our own artwork unique. (ie. No one else could have dreamed up the works of M.C. Escher in exactly the same way.)

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Check it out. The image is also here below for tomorrow when it’s archived.

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I was reminded once again today that art takes many turns. Sometimes people create things for either protection or to harm others.

The exhibit “The Art of the Shiv” shows different Shivs created by inmates from everyday materials. This image is an unbreakable comb with razor blades inserted to make a knife akin to a butcher knife.

People create things for many reasons and not all of these reasons are good reasons that people enjoy.

I was amazed that such things could be created by everyday things and it does make you look at ordinary things in new ways.

Check out the gallery here.

Tags: shivs, shiv, create, art, artist, inmate, knife, knives, stab

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The article really brought to light something I didn’t think about before. This is that Rembrandt saw the beauty in the everyday people. Though he was commissioned for many famous people, when he painted on his own, it was the everyday people that he captured in such an eloquent fashion.

Often I get caught up in painting or drawing the ideals rather than see the beauty right around me. Since this is the week of thanksgiving, think about the beauty that is right around you, that you may walk right by and never notice. Capture it. Savor it, and let your brush, your pencil, or your pastels capture your heart rather than just what your eye sees.

Tags: Rembrandt, paint, painting, artist, art history, art, Dutch, painters, painter, beauty

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Gardner Museum

Maybe it’s because Rembrandt and I share the same birthday, July 15, or because I love the illuminated feel of his painting that I find this painting so amazing. It might be because it’s depicting Christ in a well known passage of scripture, or it might be the fact that I’ll probably never see this painting in person because of it’s theft. Whatever it is, I hope someday it is found. I hope one day to be able to see it in person.

It’s amazing how many pieces of recognizable art that we know and love have been stolen. Here’s another example, Munch’s “The Scream” was stolen 2 years ago and only recently recovered.

On August 30, 2006, two years after the theft, Norwegian police announced the recovery of The Scream and The Madonna by Edvard Munch. The paintings were stolen in August 2004 by two masked thieves during a daylight raid of the Munch Museum in Norway. The thieves threatened museum staff with guns before removing the paintings and escaping in a black vehicle. (reference)

The FBI has a site dedicated to these art crimes and a place where you can submit a tip online, at your local field office or nearest US Embassy or Consulate

Tags: art, theft, crime, crimes, art crimes, art theft, stolen, artist, Rembrandt, munch

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According to this site (image), Apparently to make your own oil paints you need these things:

Pigments , Binders ,
a Grinding slab and Muller ,
a Palette knife , Empty tubes

Pigments

Pigments themselves can be either biological or naturally occurring. Some are even made from the mucus of a type of snail. Surprisingly, there is a great deal of scientific study behind pigments dealing with the way that light is reflected in certain wavelengths to produce color. In contrast to dyes, pigments are not soluble and require the binder (or drying oil) to assume a liquid quality for painting.

Binders

Binders are generally drying oils which harden to a “tough, solid film after a period of exposure to air.” (according to Wikipedia) After the pigments is sufficiently ground (using the muller and grinding slab), the binder is then added to get the desired thickness to the paint. Too much oil and you have a runny mess, too little and you have dried pigment in a tube.

Then you use the palette knife to insert the paint into the empty tubes to store the paint for future use. As I am one of those people who are prone to wasting paint, I now have a much greater appreciation for store bought paint. I also have a lot more appreciation for the painters I’ve admired over the years in history books.

If you would like to see more detail on how to make your own paints, I’d suggest this site which I used as the image above left. They go through a detailed example with images of someone making paints.

Tags: paint, pigment, painting, colors, color, mixing, art, artist, painter

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Born November 1, 1887 Lowry became famous for painting the urban settings in which he lived and much to his chagrin, worked.

Lowry retired from the Pall Mall Property Company in 1952. During his career he had risen to become chief cashier but he never stopped collecting rents. The firm had supported his development as an artist and he was allowed time off for exhibitions in addition to his normal holiday allowance. It seems, however, that he was not proud of his job; his secrecy about his employment by the Pall Mall Property Company is widely seen as a desire to present himself as a serious artist but the secrecy extended beyond the art world into his social circle.

Much of his style includes very populated streets and people living and working in these urban settings.

At first Lowry was considered an outsider to the Art world because of the lack of formal art training and the almost childlike simplicity of his paintings with straight lines and “match stick people”. Ironically, one of the records that Lowry holds even after his death is that of “Most Honors Declined” after several prestigious honors were offered to him and he refused.

Lowry to me is an example of most of the artists today. It is not uncommon to both be a serious artist and have another job which is your livelihood today. Lowry also proved that being an accomplished artist comes with a lot of hard work, dedication and passion for doing art.

Tags: Lowry, Artist, LS Lowry, L.S. Lowry, History, Art history, Art, Passion

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