Ryan Delgado Art

Challenge accepted...

2012-02-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

A few blogs ago I talked about cast drawings and paintings, and how they really test you as an artist. So a few days ago, I was thinking about what was the most challenging cast to draw or paint. What was the one cast above all others that says you are a master of the art of realism if you can conquer it? Immediately I thought of the one... the only... Laocoon. Naturally, given my ambition to be the best that I can possibly be as an artist, I decided I must conquer it.
So, the other day I did a very quick sketch of it just to see if I could even come close to capturing the general rendering of the sculpture. In other words... was it "close enough"?

The problem I have run into when it comes to cast drawings and paintings is my inherent lack of patience... one of the very things such a drawing or painting tests you on. That being said, I have also never completed a truly finished, polished drawing of a cast before. They've always been mere sketches such as this one (I would define a sketch as somewhere between 30-60 minutes).
So now I have this ambition to turn the little sketch above into this:

By the way, in case you were wondering... this is not a photograph of the cast. It is a painting of the cast done by Andrea Mosley, from Angel Academy of Art in Florence. In a perfect world, I would be able to go to Angel Academy so I could learn how to do this from real masters. But unfortunately, I must learn it on my own.
One of my favorite pictures is of a student from Angel Academy standing next to his painting of Laocoon. It is practically the same painting as Andrea's, and next to his painting is the actual cast of the Laocoon from which he painted. By the amazing sight-size technique, he was able to paint the cast in actual size, so it is as though you are looking at two casts... except one of them is a painting, and the effect is somewhat surreal. Here's the picture. Take a close look at it, and allow your mind to be blown.

The artist's name is Mathew. I am positive that I have not accomplished this level of craftsmanship... for now. But I am equally as positive that even Mathew studied and worked hard to build up his skill to the point where this photograph was possible. And the same is true for absolutely anyone who is serious about learning this craft we call realism. There are two underlying statements that are made whenever someone says, "Wow, I could never do this." 1. It is an excuse not to work at it, or 2. You don't care enough to try.
Either way, it is most certainly not a matter of whether or not you possess some magical "art gene" that automatically gives you the natural ability to be an artist. It simply does not work that way. When you were a child, drawing and making messes with fingerpaints were awesome, and you know it. But somewhere along the road of life, many of us lose interest or we quit trying. It is exactly the same as whenever a young person gives up playing piano or violin. Simply stated, becoming a master at anything is a choice we make, not a gift we possess. The only gift we possess is the passion to do so. And the question is whether we nurture that passion, or let it fizzle.
So, I have not conquered the Laocoon yet. But you can't really conquer something like that with one little sketch like the one I did. It may take me a while, and I may be doing several other projects in the meantime because I'm so scattered like that. But that is truly the best part about being an artist. I don't have to be organized. Only my paintings do.

Self Portrait - Day 2

2012-02-10T18:21:00.000-08:00

After about 5 hours today, the underpainting of my self portrait has become this:

The Artist (Self-Portrait)
oil on canvas
28x22 inches
2012

And on that note, yay the weekend is here! On to the next project...

Self Portrait - Day 1

2012-02-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

Today I happily spent about 4 hours working on the preliminary underpainting for my next painting - a self portrait. This means I spent 4 hours doing a very simple, reductive grisaille using nothing but brown paint. When I say "reductive," I basically mean that I coated the entire canvas with a layer of this transparent brown paint using a mixture of turpentine and linseed oil. The result is a very thin coat that I am able to scrape away with a dry brush, and then later on add darker layers for the shadows. The result is much like a reductive drawing... only with paint. This is typically the first step to every painting I do.
I don't particularly like doing self portraits, but I haven't done one in years, and I figured it's a good thing to add to my collection. And perhaps it is something I can show later in an exhibition or two. I also thought that it would be a good update for where I am now as an artist. The last self portrait I did was many years ago when I was very much an amateur, and as you might suspect, it looked very amateurish. Hopefully, now, this self portrait will portray me in a much more sophisticated light as a much more sophisticated artist. And, for that matter, it will be painted using a way more sophisticated technique and method.

Self Portrait (The Artist), underpainting detail.

Juan de Pareja

2012-02-07T16:37:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest in a series of Velázquez copies I've done. This is Juan de Pareja, one of my very favorite portraits by Velázquez. Juan de Pareja was a slave in Velázquez's workshop, which basically meant that he was the assistant to Velázquez and helped with mixing pigments, stretching canvases, etc. However, he was also quite the painter himself, and has at least one painting hanging in the Prado along with the numerous works of his master.
I've attempted to copy this portrait before, but never had success. Now that I have finished this one, I would contend that it is reasonably successful enough to say I won't need to do it again. After all, it's not necessarily about making a perfect replica as it is about trying to better understand the style and technique of a genius.

Copy of Juan de Pareja, after Velázquez
oil on canvas
20x16 inches
2012

Grisaille sketches I

2012-01-31T20:29:00.000-08:00

The word grisaille come from the French word "gris," or gray. It largely refers to a painting done entirely in a monochromatic color scheme. Gray is not necessarily the base color used. Often one may use brown as I have below, in which the painting is technically referred to as brunaille.
The purpose of a grisaille as a matter of sheer exercise may involve a number of things. Mainly, it is an academic exercise that can serve two purposes: 1. To test an artist's understanding of value. 2. To test an artist's ability to manipulate paint.
Since it is monochromatic, it is not really an exercise in color. Although, there may be a bit of color manipulation involved. In a nutshell, the grisaille painting is an exercise in drawing with paint. Rather than using charcoal or pencil, the medium is oil and a brush. For the grisailles I've done, it was also an exercise in figure drawing and painting. I wasn't necessarily concerned about finishing every intricate detail of the figure. I was mostly interested in painting the poses and gestures, and the general idea of light and shadow shapes.

Female figure grisaille painted sketches
oil on canvas
24x18 inches
2012

So for this grisaille, I painted exclusively female figures. Part 2 will be the male figure version. Like this one, it will include a series of figures with one focusing on the torso, and another specifically on the portrait. I may also incorporate the echo, or "ghost" image as in the top left figure on this painting. Overall, it will be a similar exercise, and hopefully I can have it posted by next week.

Figure in Motion

2012-01-25T15:10:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
Just a quick update. Today I thought I would try my hand at drawing the figure in motion in the style of Robert Liberace, and working from his dvd "The Figure in Motion." I didn't quite have the time to do everything he did, but this is the result of my attempt, and I'm looking forward to doing some more later on.

Figure in Motion
graphite
2012

Portrait of a Lady

2012-01-19T16:45:00.000-08:00

Hello all... here is the latest from the studio. I was reminded of a painting I did last year as I was working on this one - the Infanta Margarita. This had to do with the painting of the dress... and how messy and loosely I was able to paint it. It was one of those things that Velázquez did when he painted fabric and clothing with elaborate designs that is visually mind-boggling. Capturing a certain texture could somehow be done by throwing spontaneous, yet intentional goobers of paint on the canvas. Just like that, it comes together and just makes sense. So once again, I tried to exploit that technique in this painting, while being a bit more deliberate with the painting of her face and skin.

Portrait of a Lady
oil on canvas
20x16
2012

Alla Prima Velázquez

2012-01-15T22:35:00.000-08:00

Tonight I enjoyed a 3 1/2 hour alla prima session in the studio. I thought I'd do a copy, and of course I chose a self portrait by Velázquez.

Master copy of Diego Velázquez: Self Portrait
oil on canvas
14x11 inches
2012

He was certainly a master of alla prima painting, though in most of his portraits he used a technique called scumbling, in which he would paint over surfaces that had already dried, ensuring that the paint he was applying would not mix with the layers already on the canvas. This gave his paintings their trademark appearance, with individual strokes of paint that you can see seemingly dancing on the canvas. He certainly did some alla prima paintings, but the one I copied tonight was probably not one of them, as the dry brush scumbling is very clearly evident in the original.
Whatever the case, all I can say is what the infamous Salvador Dalí said of Velázquez: "His genius surpasses the art of painting itself."

The Cast

2012-01-13T18:12:00.000-08:00

If you really want an exercise in patience, determination and skill, then do a cast drawing or painting. As far as academic drawing goes, the cast is meant to test your ability to see - to see light and shadows and their relationship to form. The problem with my university-based education in art is that we did the classic exercise of drawing a sphere, and that was it. After the sphere, I guess we were just expected to understand light and shadows, and depict those elements flawlessly in the rest of our work from that point on.

Torso of Satyr
graphite
2012

Take this drawing above, for instance. This is the third time I've drawn this sculpture. It is obviously a sculpture of a male torso (actually, a torso of a male satyr), which can be found at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. I frequently go there to do some sketching, and this is one of my favorite sculptures to sketch. What makes it so appealing to me is that I am always seeing something new and different with it. I've also found that my drawing of this torso has improved each time. It looks pretty good here, but if you were to look at the actual sculpture and compare it to my drawing, it doesn't look that impressive. The shadows, angles, and proportions are not perfect by any means. But it is so much better than my first attempt almost a year ago, which I drew from a different angle:

Torso of Satyr
graphite
2011

And... this is the problem with a liberal arts education in art. In college, this sketch is probably as good as it would get. It would have been a single exercise, never to be revisited again. And this is why I would discourage anyone from getting an education in art at a typical liberal arts university if you are truly serious about learning the discipline of drawing and painting, and becoming a master of it... but that's another blog for another time.

The work I do today is the result of self-teaching, reading lots of books, studying the techniques of the old master artists, and working to evolve in my ability to draw and paint. Not that I have perfected anything... I am certainly still learning. This is the beauty of being an artist - constantly learning new things and improving in skill (provided you keep working). A prayer of Michelangelo was "Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish." This is a profound sentiment, because it actually petitions God to allow us to remain imperfect. And to embrace that imperfection so that we may continue to want, but that we work toward what we want. It is too easy to ask God that we may be the best at what we do. It is much more fulfilling to work toward becoming the best, and then thank God for the opportunity to become it.

I finally did my first cast painting, and it goes without saying I am not completely satisfied with the outcome of my effort, but it was a good exercise and experience. I had it partially completed last week, and when I came to a stopping point and cleaned up, I walked away from it disappointed. There was a certain angle that was off, and I knew it was too late to correct it. Usually, my inclination when this happens is to scrap the painting altogether and start over. But I decided to keep it and continue working on it with the hope of finishing it as best as I could. Now that it is finished, the error in the rendering is still hanging over my head, but it will serve as a reminder to pace myself and to be certain that everything is accurate before moving on to the next step - whether in a drawing or a painting. As I said, patience is one of the many things in which cast drawings and paintings test you. But the work of being an artist must go on, and hopefully with each failure, and new lesson learned, the task will become slightly less daunting.

Cast painting
oil on canvas
20x16 inches
2012

Studying Portraiture

2012-01-04T19:28:00.001-08:00

Portrait study of a woman
oil on canvas
14x11 inches
2012

Those that know me well are well aware that my favorite artist of all time is Diego Velázquez. Another book I happily acquired for Christmas is Velazquez: The Technique of Genius by Jonathan Brown and Carmen Garrido, which goes through and discusses the painting technique used by Velázquez in several of his greatest works, including close-up images of the paintings showing the brushwork. Though my only issue with this book is that it does not include two of his greatest portraits ever - Juan de Pareja and Pope Innocent X. Otherwise, it is a fantastic resource for studying his method and mastery of paint handling and manipulation.

The miracle of Velázquez is that his brushwork is so effortless and unsophisticated, and yet it comes together to create a perfect image. I've always been fascinated by the way he paints portraits - particularly the eyes. There are so many intricate details that go into painting or drawing eyes, and yet Velázquez seems to pull them off with just a few swipes of his brush. Take Juan de Pareja, for instance:

detail of Juan de Pareja

I can make out 3 steps or layers to the eyes - black, mid tone, and highlight. On a better detail image, you can also see that the small amount of light on his earlobe is a single, simple stroke of red. It doesn't seem as though Velázquez was a perfectionist that liked to spend a whole lot of time on a painting. Many of his works, such as this one, were alla prima (at first attempt/all at once).

I still attempt to work paint in the same manner as Velázquez, though as simple as his method was... it is by no means easy. One of my favorite pieces of his is the Coronation of the Virgin because it is also one of his most colorful pieces, and I could go on and on about everything else that draws me to the image. It is also an excellent example of his mastery of portraits.

detail of Coronation of the Virgin

As I continue to study the technique of Velázquez, and also continue to paint some studies of portraits, I am looking forward to my own technique to evolve into something much more loose, and yet even closer to an academic style than it has been... something I've been trying to do for a while.

And we're off...

2012-01-02T17:50:00.000-08:00

Here is my first painting of 2012 - a quick little alla prima landscape. Kind of sketchy and random... I just wanted to do a fun little landscape, and hopefully I will have a more elaborate Grand Canyon painting at some point. For now, I will be focusing on figure and portrait paintings, and some still life. Unless of course I am commissioned for a landscape at any point. More to come soon...

Grand Canyon from the Colorado River
oil on canvas
16x20 inches
2012

Portrait sketches

2011-12-30T14:57:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. This week I have been busy gearing up for what will hopefully be a greatly productive 2012. I happily received 24 blank canvases for Christmas, and I am looking forward to using all of them in the coming year. The painting sketches below are the two I worked on this week.

Portrait of a Woman
oil on canvas
20x16 inches
2011

Portrait Figure Sketch
oil on canvas
20x16 inches
2011

I also finally got my copy of Lessons in Classical Drawing by the great Juliette Aristides. I haven't gotten too far into the reading yet, but I have watched the dvd and it is a great resource for those interested in drawing. She makes a great point in it by saying that ANYONE can learn to draw. Like writing or playing an instrument, it's just a skill that takes a lot of work as opposed to a gift that only certain people are born with.

I will be the first to admit that sometimes my drawings and paintings truly suck (I'm not that particularly fond of the two paintings I posted above). The problem is that I, like other artists, have typically waited for inspiration to hit me before I start to work on a drawing or a painting. But if inspiration is even that important, then it needs to be sought out by the artist. If we simply wait for it to come to us, then we won't ever get anywhere. Art is not meant to ever be a passive task in any way whatsoever. The best way to be inspired is to simply work. The best way to become a master at drawing and painting is to consistently keep drawing and painting. So if you are an artist that depends on inspiration in order to work, allow me to share with you my greatest artistic revelation this year: Forget about inspiration. Just gather your materials together and get to work. The act of creating will itself become all the inspiration you need.

Paintings, updates, and thoughts for 2012

2011-12-12T13:12:00.000-08:00

I just hate that feeling of having left something behind, and making people wonder, "Whatever happened to... ?" Well, rest assured I have not given up on painting things, even though it has been a while since you've seen any from me. As we speak there are new things drying... one of which I will show you now, and the other you'll see after Christmas. The one you see here is the latest of my Holy Land-inspired works. This one is from Egypt again. It is a canopy located in the gardens at Montazah Palace in Alexandria, Egypt. A very beautiful place it most certainly was.

Canopy at Montazah Palace

oil on canvas

16x20 inches

2011

$300

And of course, the other project I've been working on will be revealed after Christmas. At this point, since that particular project is finished, I am happy to have the pressure off for a little bit to move on to some other projects. I still have some Holy Land ideas in mind, and those will certainly come after the new year. I've given some thought to the Lenten season as well. This year's 40 Days of Artists seemed to be a pretty good hit for a number of folks. I really enjoyed it, and was happy to give my two cents on the greatest masters in art's history. It was a challenge, and I hope that next year's Lenten season presents something equally challenging for me (if not more), and will be just as interesting (if not more). I'll be announcing my idea for Lent in a later post. I'm just hoping the idea I have in mind will be feasible! Other than that, I'm looking forward to 2012 being a very productive year.

Yeah, that's pretty much right.

2011-10-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

Andy Rooney's take on postmodern art. Say what you want about the guy. He's right on this.

Preview of Lessons in Classical Drawing - Juliette Aristides

2011-08-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I posted a small blurb on the new book by Juliette Aristides coming out in November - Lessons in Classical Drawing. Well, I just found this little video preview of the DVD that is included with the book, and I am more excited than ever. Classical art lovers, and fans of Aristides... check this out!

Still Life progression

2011-08-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

This is something I've been wanting to do for a while... it's just taken me, well, a while. I was more than a little reluctant to even finish this painting, let alone document its progression. But now that it is finally done, here is a pictorial step-by-step-ish progression of this still life. Enjoy!

Preliminary underpainting.

Underpainting, 2nd layer.

Base colors and revisions.

2nd color layers and glazing.

Final painting.

Still Life with Water Jug

oil on canvas

16x20 inches

2011

Fail

2011-08-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I.O. Metro finally picked their contest winners, and mine unfortunately was a reject.

So, if anyone would like to purchase this painting, please send me a message at ryandelgadoart@gmail.com and I will be happy to hook you up!

Stack of Literature

acrylic on canvas

16x20 inches

2011

$275

Currently reading...

2011-08-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

So in addition to painting projects, here are some of the books I'm currently/will soon be reading. I'm planning to read these at the same time actually so that one may supplement the other.

The first is actually a huge steal from my local Borders, which as we all know is closing. It is a $150 value that I grabbed for just over $40. It's an incredible 2-volume set called The Great Painters of the Italian Renaissance (2008), by Eberhard Konig (ed.) and is a combined 20lb, 1304-page comprehensive Renaissance art history monster. And yes, I plan to read it all, cover to cover. Good luck, right?

Anyway, the other book I'm reading is, of course, an abridged version of Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, or Lives of the Artists for short. Or, Lives, for even shorter. Many of the major figures of the Lives are featured in Konig's texts. That made me really excited to see that many of them have their own chapters. Here is the version of the Lives that I am reading:

So without further ado, I'm going to go ahead and get off of this computer and start reading. Until next time...

I.O. Metro Contest

2011-07-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, here it is. Been working on this for the past two days, and just finished and submitted it today to I.O. Metro's facebook. It's acrylic, so it's already dry and varnished. This is actually a reproduction of a previous painting I did, and I thought it would be a great image for the contest. Hope you all like it! And most importantly, I hope I.O. Metro will like it. We shall see.

Stack of Literature

acrylic on canvas

16x20 inches

2011

Hi everyone! Remember me?

2011-07-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a freakishly long time since I've updated... I feel ashamed of that :(

Sadly I've been in a bit of an artist's slump lately.. We've all had them. But hopefully I can get slapped with some motivation. And I think I just may have today. There is apparently a contest for artists at IO Metro stores. All you have to do is submit a picture of your 16x20 painting to their facebook, and they'll be selecting their favorite ones to have reproduced and featured in all of their stores.
Pretty cool!
So why not... I'm going to get some acrylics and throw something together here in the next week, and hopefully have a good painting to show them by their deadline on July 31st. And if mine is selected, awesome. But if not, I'll just have something nice to put on Ebay. Either way, this should be fun, right? I already have an idea of what I'm going to do, so stay tuned, and hopefully I'll have it posted here early next week.
See ya!
Oh yes, gotta give a shoutout to Tammie for telling me about the contest!

Figure drawing with Robert Liberace

2011-06-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled today to get a new dvd featuring artist Robert Liberace. It's an instructional figure drawing demonstration called "Figure in Motion," in which Liberace does two drawings, side by side, of the same figure in a slightly different pose. The idea is to create a drawing that is done from a pose, but appears as a figure in motion caught in a moment in time (if that makes sense).

I highly recommend Liberace's dvd's for the serious art student or anyone wanting to improve their drawing skills and understanding of the anatomy of the figure. Although, beware, it is not a cheap dvd and for many it can be considered a bit outrageous that Liberace charges $85 + shipping for his dvds from his website. I was fortunate enough to find my copy of this particular dvd on Ebay for only $25. If they are ever available by that means, then I would obviously recommend that rather than the full $85 retail. However, they did seem pretty popular. The ebay seller had about 5 of these dvds starting at $25, and after quite a bidding frenzy on a couple of them, they sold for $58-$65. The seller sold all of them, and made quite a killing.
But the instruction and demonstration that Liberace gives is great, and the full drawing demonstration is filmed almost completely without editing, down to every tedious detail. This is by no means a short, 30-minute Bob Ross program. Here is a short clip from this particular demonstration:

Happy drawing and painting, and I will be back soon with an update on what I've been working on.

Updates 5/22/11

2011-05-21T22:58:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to take a minute to fill everyone in with a few updates to the blog, and to my little world of art in general.

1. First I want to thank my pastor, Jim Preisig, for featuring me on his blog site. Here is the link to his gracious plug of my work and my current Lattéland exhibition: Art Inspired By the Holy Land

2. I have started work on a new still life painting. I am planning to show a series of images of its progress as a way of giving everyone a little "step-by-step" look at how I compose a painting. Eventually I would like to create some videos of me at work that might help give a clearer look at the process. Eventually.

3. **Important Blog Update** If you would, just glance over to your right and you will see a couple of new features in the side column of my blog. The first that I'd like to point out is that I have provided my official Ryan Delgado Art email link so that you all may easily contact me.

The second new feature that I have added is a Donation button, which you can see underneath the text "Support Ryan Delgado Art." From this point on, I will be accepting your generous free-will donations that will go strictly towards my materials budget for my artwork (i.e., paints, brushes, canvas, framing, etc.) Please note that I will be accepting all donations through PayPal, however it is not necessary that you have a PayPal account in order to donate. You may donate by credit card, and there is no need to set up your own PayPal account if you do not already have one.
As I said, all donations are by your generosity, and you may donate any amount. Rest assured your donation is sincerely appreciated, and I will personally acknowledge my appreciation for it.

More to come soon!

Frightened Bathsheba

2011-05-20T14:26:00.000-07:00

Finally, I have this painting done. I had another version of this that I scrapped altogether. So I started completely over with a new composition and pose and everything. That's why it's taken so long to get anything new posted.

Frightened Bathsheba

oil on canvas

24x18 inches

2011

In other news, the Lattéland exhibition is still going with two more weeks to go. Other than that, now that Bathsheba is complete, time to work on something new. I've been wanting to get a decent still life set up. The trick to that is how to make it visually interesting. We'll see how it goes. More to come later...

Art and Coffee... so good together.

2011-05-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

Today is the opening day for my painting exhibition at Lattéland at the Plaza in Kansas City, MO. I have 10 paintings hanging up, and of course all of them are for sale. Anyone in the Kansas City area is invited to go check them out between now and June 2.
There are two Lattélands at the Plaza, so be sure to go to the Jefferson St. one. The exact address is 4771 Jefferson, and there is a parking garage about a block or so away right across the street for those worried about finding a place to park in the craziness of the Plaza. Here are a few shots of my paintings hanging up, but they look so much more inspiring in person!

Anatomical Studies 5/11/11

2011-05-11T17:47:00.000-07:00

Just been busy at work today working on some more figure studies. Just two more days until Lattéland!

Figure Studies 5/10/11

2011-05-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been inspired by the figure drawings of Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, a 19th century painter and draughtsman. Now, as it was the 19th century, many artists had abandoned the classical way of drawing upon completion of their education, or altogether regardless of their education. Many of the impressionists quit their respected academies because they were too classical and traditional. But Prud'hon was among those that embraced it, and held onto it throughout his career.
Anyway, here are a few figure drawings of mine from the past week.

Prud'hon copy

Lattéland Exhibition, May 13-June 2

2011-05-07T15:27:00.000-07:00

For those of you in the Kansas City area, allow me to extend an invitation for you to check out my art exhibition at Lattéland, located on Jefferson St. at the Country Club Plaza.

RYAN DELGADO ART

May 13 - June 2, 2011

Lattéland

4771 Jefferson St.

Kansas City, MO

For your consideration, all paintings displayed will be for sale, and I'm hoping to have 10 paintings total. These will be some of my latest, including paintings from my Holy Land trip, including my recent award winner from the Blue Springs Fine Art Show, Camel in Giza. In addition, I will have two master copy portraits in honor of my favorite art hero - Diego Velázquez.

And here they are now, anxiously awaiting their first official public showing:

They will look so much better hanging up in the cafe, I'm sure. So please stop by at your convenience anytime from May 13 - June 2 for a wonderfully delicious cup of coffee and some pretty okay-looking paintings!

Figure Studies 4/30/11

2011-04-29T23:39:00.000-07:00

Just a few figure studies that I've done this week. All are done with just a basic pencil that I always use for sketching. The first two are from my trip to the Nelson this week.

Lessons in Classical Drawing - New book by Aristides!

2011-04-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

Some people go nuts over royal weddings. Some people go nuts over new Harry Potter movies.

As for me, nothing makes me more giddy with excitement than new books by Juliette Aristides. It doesn't release until November this year... which is going to make this a very long 6 months for me. However, for those of you like me who are excited about this book's release, and would like to secure your copy right now, it is available right now for pre-order on Amazon.

The book is Lessons in Classical Drawing. The subtitle is "Essential Techniques from Inside the Atelier," and the book also comes with a companion dvd. So I would assume that this book is going to contain lessons in drawing that Aristides actually teaches in her own atelier at Gage Academy. Or at least lessons in basic form from her atelier, as well as she can put into writing form. Which is probably why she has included a dvd. There's only so much one can learn about drawing from a book, and as excited as I am about this book, I am also excited that I may actually get a visual lesson from Aristides herself on the dvd. At least I hope that's what it will be.

Here's the link to Amazon in case anyone wants to gift this book to me!
Lessons in Classical Drawing - Juliette Aristides

Study for Bathsheba

2011-04-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

A quick little painting study for Startled Bathsheba. Just a sketch to practice flesh tone and brushwork techniques. More to come later...

New Projects and Updates 4/25/11

2011-04-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

The newest projects in the works:

1. I'm currently working on a painting study for a larger painting to come of Startled Bathsheba. Many versions of the Biblical figure Bathsheba are, let's be honest, figure paintings of a female nude. I'll be going in a slightly different direction by painting more of an expressive portrait of her that brings the focal point to her face. It actually won't be a nude figure at all, as you may be able to tell from the underpainting of the study above. I will be showing its progression later on.

2. My upcoming exhibition at the Plaza Latte Land is just around the corner, so I am in the process of getting paintings framed and ready for hanging. I have 10 paintings that I would like to show, provided there is room to hang them all. Several of which will be Holy Land paintings, in addition to a couple of other recent pieces including my copy of Velázquez's Infanta Margarita. The exhibition runs from May 13 - June 2 at Latte Land located on Jefferson St. at the Plaza in Kansas City.

3. Pretty soon I hope to add a "Donate" button to my blog that will appear to the side with the other links. All donations will be via PayPal, and any that I get will go strictly towards my art budget for supplies. I also hope to create a "store" of sorts if I can figure out how to do such a thing. I'm hoping it will be an easy way for everyone to see paintings I currently have for sale, and in keeping with the 21st century, help potential buyers to simply buy my "non-Ebay" work online. We'll see how it goes. One little project at a time!

4. By the way, just a refresher on ways to contact me.
Email: ryandelgadoart@gmail.com
Ebay: See my "Links and Resources."
And of course, you may certainly comment on any of my blog posts. But I will delete any spammy messages that have nothing to do with anything related to art. Particularly my art. :)

40 Days of Artists: Velázquez

2011-04-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

He was born in Seville, Spain and apprenticed at the age of 11 to the painter Francisco Pacheco, and by the time he was 18, he was already considered a master. He started out painting solid, technically mastered portraits and religious subjects under the advice of his master Pacheco. One of these was his Immaculate Conception, in which he is thought to have used Pacheco's daughter as the model for Mary. He later married her in 1618. He was already well established as a painter, and sought his inspiration in markets and taverns. He had an interest in painting common, everyday people in candid scenes known as bodegones. His paintings freeze time like a snapshot, and combine the technically academic figure with the expressive, painterly quality of work that Frans Hals was known for. And he managed to master both methods, which brought him to his greatest career, where he would remain for the rest of his life. His name was Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez.
In 1622, Velázquez made a trip to Madrid to paint a portrait of Luis de Gongora, which would officially give him exposure right inside the capital city, and later he was called back to paint a portrait of the King Philip IV. Philip IV was so impressed by the portrait that he declared that he wanted no other painter but Velázquez to paint his portrait. So at the age of 24, Velázquez was appointed as court painter for Philip IV, and remained there as the king's favored painter for the rest of his life.
From that point on, Velázquez quit painting bodegones and began primarily painting portraits as well as mythological, religious, and historical scenes. But each painting carried with it the candid, common folk influence of his bodegones. Even some the portraits of the king and other royal and important figures were not always typical royal, "iconic" portraits. They seemed to depict them as regular people, as one portrait of the king depicts him as a hunter with his dog. In addition, Velázquez would paint other figures around the royal court that had nothing to do with royalty at all. He would paint the dwarfs, jesters, and other entertainers of the king, but with the same dignity and pathos as he would the king himself. Velázquez even did a portrait of his own painting slave and assistant Juan de Pareja as a study, which has since come to be one of Velázquez's greatest and well-recognized portraits.
When he was 30, Velázquez visited Italy for some time, and had become friends with Peter Paul Rubens, and had become influenced by his style as well as the style of older Venetian masters like Titian. While in Italy, he traveled to Genoa, Venice and Naples and primarily Rome. He painted two of his greatest multiple portrait paintings - Joseph's Coat and Forge of Vulcan, each demonstrating more loose and scumbled brushwork under the influence of the Venetian masters.
With two travels to Italy, and immensely productive years in the court painting various royal portraits, Velázquez was practically living the dream life that would make any artist - past, present, and future - envious of the lifestyle and the career. His relationship with Philip IV was the most remarkable between any king and servant in all of history. They were more brothers than anything else. The king himself was an avid art enthusiast, and was even known to do a little painting himself. Velázquez remained the king's favorite painter, and by the time Velázquez was in his 30s and well established as the senior court painter, he could pretty much do whatever he wanted artistically.
In fact, Velázquez was commissioned to paint his astonishing portrait of the notoriously ill-tempered Pope Innocent X, and right around the same time he also painted The Rokeby Venus, his only nude. To paint a nude in 17th century Spain was unthinkable, as it was during the heart of the Inquisition, and anything considered indecent as a nude painting would have been destroyed, and the painter subsequently punished. But due to his status in the royal court, Velázquez was practically immune to such treatment.
One painting, however, would officially establish Velázquez with the reputation of being "Painter of painters." Painted in 1656, it was Las Meninas. It is easily the greatest painting of the Spanish Baroque, and for some it is considered the greatest painting in the world. It is said that the average person in an art museum looks at a particular work for about 8 seconds before moving on. 8 seconds would not even give due justice to the frame for Las Meninas. The painting shows the Infanta Margarita being tended to by the meninas, or ladies in waiting, and Velázquez himself on the left side working on a large canvas. The figures are staring directly outward, and the faint image of the king and queen are shown in the mirror in the background. Who is everyone looking at? Are the Infanta and ladies in the midst of a painting session of the king and queen, or are the king and queen walking in on a typical scene of everyday royal life for the young Margarita? One thing is certain - the viewer is getting a glimpse of everything happening, regardless of what is actually happening. Suddenly it is us as the viewers who become the subject of the painting, as the main figures are looking directly at us looking back at them. All riddles aside, the technical execution of the painting is by far the best that Velázquez ever painted.
Velázquez was knighted with the Order of Santiago in 1659, the climactic honor of his life. He only lived until the following year, as he was stricken ill with a fever, and died on August 6, 1660. One of the main mysteries of Las Meninas is the appearance of the red cross of the Order painted on Velázquez's chest in the painting. Since the painting was done in 1656, and he was knighted in 1659, the red cross would not have originally been there. It has been suggested that Philip IV painted the red cross himself as sort of a posthumous honor to his greatest servant and friend. Luca Giordano referred to Las Meninas as the "theology of painting," because "just as theology is superior to all other branches of knowledge, so Las Meninas is the greatest example of painting." I couldn't have said it better myself.

Diego Velázquez

Las Meninas

oil on canvas

318 x 276 cm

1656

Figure Studies

2011-04-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

These are a few of my latest attempts at figure drawing. The first is a basic nude, and as you look at it you can probably make out the block-in steps that I took . The second is from a sketch today at the Nelson-Atkins museum, from a painting by Joachim Wtewael.

I've recently been taking tips from the blog http://scottssketchbook.blogspot.com/ by Scott Waddell. This is a great blog with a few youtube videos of simple lessons on figure drawing and anatomy.

More paintings to come soon! I've been experimenting a lot with paint lately, and have been having an interesting balance of problems and solutions along the way. I'm hoping to do a few more painting studies, and perhaps a larger scale painting using some of the more sketchy, spontaneous scumble techniques I used in my Velázquez copy of Infanta Margarita. We'll see how it goes.

40 Days of Artists: Aristides

2011-04-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

With only two days left in my Lenten 40 days of artists, I wanted to end with two major artistic influences to me - One is a contemporary of mine, and the other is my very favorite artist of all time.
Recently, I read two books that were written by a contemporary classical realist painter, and she's honestly become one of my newest heroes in art. Her name is Juliette Aristides.
Her two books are Classical Drawing Atelier and Classical Painting Atelier, and as I understand she is coming out with another handbook later this year that I will certainly be reading as well. Both of her atelier books were written within the past 5 years and have been instrumental in helping me to learn and re-learn drawing and painting techniques and methods of the old masters of traditional, classical art.
Aristides had her start in 1988 working under artist Myron Barnstone, and later on at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, studying drawing and painting. Afterwards, she spent some time studying and working in the studio of Jacob Collins before becoming a founding member of the Water Street Studio in Brooklyn.
Today, Aristides has her own atelier program with Gage Academy of Fine Art in Seattle. The atelier (meaning studio) is a program that trains artists in the classical, academic method in the same manner that the old masters trained. A small group of students is trained in cast drawing and painting, figure drawing and painting, and in still life compositions over the course of a year under Aristides in her studio. Her books give a glimpse of the process and also provide small lessons in cast and figure drawing, and making master copies of old works.
Juliette Aristides certainly is not the only contemporary master to provide this atelier style of art education. One of the most rigorous academic art programs is located at Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. As if the art capital location of Florence is not daunting enough, the program itself is easily one of the toughest, but most rewarding in the world. The video below gives a small glimpse of the program at Angel, that is a similar glimpse to the kinds of exercises and the disciplines in the atelier program that Aristides provides in Seattle.

In my own work, Aristides has certainly become my most recent influence in learning this classical style, and her books are more than simply "how-to" books on drawing and painting. They are both instructional and inspiring, and provide information on the history and the rationale behind the classical methods of drawing and painting. Her own work is also a great testament to the passion she has put in her craft.

"I have a simple belief that the goal of learning to draw and paint is attainable by anyone who is willing to pursue it. It is as accessible as learning to write or play a musical instrument. There is more than one path a person can follow to be a well-trained artist. What is necessary, however, is a passion for excellence, discipline, and an unflinching desire to pursue truth.
Traditional skills are necessary for developing a foundational base for the artist to work from. It is craftsmanship that opens the door to effective self-expression. I am excited about teaching the methods from our artistic inheritance. I know that once this knowledge becomes commonplace again, it can only enrich our cultural life." ~Juliette Aristides

http://aristidesarts.com/
http://www.aristidesatelier.com/

Juliette Aristides

Image

oil on panel

28x26 inches

2005

New Paintings 4/22/11

2011-04-21T23:17:00.000-07:00

Here are my two latest paintings I've been working on. I am thankfully finished and ready to move on to new projects.

Portrait of a Woman

oil on canvas

20x16 inches

2011

St. Sebastian

After Guido Reni's St. Sebastian

oil on canvas

20x16 inches

2011

40 Days of Artists: Dalí

2011-04-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, a young art student at the Academy of Fine Art in Madrid had to give an oral exam to a panel of examiners. He did not think to highly of the competence level of these professors to begin with, and did not want to do this exam. He drew the name "Raphael," and upon doing so, said, "Gentlemen, with all due respect, it is impossible for me to talk about this in front of these three professors, because I know more about Raphael than all of them put together."
The young art student was expelled from the school. His name - Salvador Dalí.
It is also impossible for me to write a "brief" commentary on the life of Dalí as I have typically done for the 40 days of artists. But I will do my best.
Born in Figueres in 1904, he was already living a strange life by the age of 5. His mother allegedly told him that he was his own brother reincarnated (who had passed away 9 months before Salvador's birth). In the early 1920s, Dalí enrolled in the Fine Arts Academy in Madrid, from where he was subsequently expelled twice for his behavior. But while enrolled, he experimented with different painting styles. His first paintings were impressionistic in style, and he also tried his hand at cubism, which particularly got him the most attention from his fellow students. Later on his style changed once again as he became more influenced by the old masters such as Raphael, Vermeer, and Velázquez. His paintings often combined the modern avante garde with the classically academic techniques. His influence from Velázquez inspired Dalí to grow his (in)famously flamboyant mustache.
In the late 20s, Dalí collaborated with the surrealist filmmaker Luis Buñuel for the film Un Chien Andalou. He helped write the script, but also had a small role in the film. Around the same time in 1929, Dalí met the woman who would later become his wife after the death of her husband then, another surrealist artist Paul Éluard. Her name was Gala. She would also eventually fall in love with Dalí while she was still married to Éluard. After Éluard's death, Dalí and Gala were married in a civil ceremony in 1934. Gala was the greatest of all of Dalí's obsessions throughout his entire life.
A few years earlier, in 1931, Dalí, who had already been greatly influenced by the surrealists and had become part of the group, painted his most widely recognized work The Persistence of Memory. When he asked Gala if in a few years she would have forgotten the image, she replied that no one could ever forget it once they've seen it.
Several actions of Dalí landed him in trouble with the Surrealist group, particularly because he would make no definitive statement on his political views, while the surrealists were mostly associating themselves with leftist politics. Dalí was mostly apolitical, and noted that surrealism did not need a political context. Later in 1934, Dalí was formally expelled from the surrealist group, to which he replied, "I myself am surrealism."
In 1940, at the heart of the second World War, Dalí and Gala moved to the United States, and in this period Dalí would become a practicing Catholic. In addtion to painting, Dalí was also an active writer and filmmaker. He was also interested in science and mathematics, and linked the logarithmic spiral growth of rhinoceros horns with a sort of "divine geometry," and would frenquently include the rhino horn motif in his paintings.
By 1960, Dalí was back in his hometown of Figueres building his own museum and theater - which became a work of art in and of itself with various murals on the walls, and rooms designed to look like his paintings. The museum took about 15 years to complete, with Dalí still making additions to it in the early 1980s. Meanwhile during that time, Dalí would become even more rich and famous, and the lifestyle began to take over him. Rather than focus his time on painting, he would literally commercialize himself by appearing on various game shows and talk shows, endorsing a number of products in television commercials, and creating mass products of his own, including his own signature perfume and jewelry.
By 1980, Dalí's health began to significantly decline, and his wife Gala died in 1982. After the death of his beloved Gala, Dalí himself lost the will to live and was suspected to have performed a few suicide attempts. By the late 80s, Dalí was badly burned in a fire in his bedroom, and this coupled with his rapidly declining health and Parkinson's-like symptoms took a great toll on his artistic abilities. Dalí died on January 23, 1989 at the age of 84 and was buried in the crypt of his own museum in Figueres.
The thing about Dalí is that every biography or commentary written about him always includes details that I never knew about his life. The hardest part is distinguishing which parts are true, only slightly true, or not true at all. With Dalí, who could really ever know?

Salvador Dalí

The Persistence of Memory

oil on canvas

24 x 33 cm.

1931

40 Days of Artists: Magritte

2011-04-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

In the late 19th century, critics thought the Impressionists were an odd group of painters. Little did they know, art was about to become even more odd. In the early 20th century, with the start of the first World War, there emerged a group of anti-war propagandists known as the Dadaists. The movement's leading figure was Marcel Duchamp, who was influenced and had worked out of post-impressionism and early cubism. The Dada artists weren't concerned with making art in the traditional sense, but more with making symbolic statements on culture, politics, and what they felt to be the overall frivolity of the modern world. For them it was not art at all, it was anti-art.
Out of dadaism came another movement based on the automatism of the mind - where the uncensored thoughts of the mind provided the inspiration for writings and art. It came to be known as Surrealism. One of the great masters to join this movement was the Belgian artist Rene Magritte.
Magritte began his career as a teenager doing impressionistic paintings, and he was also inspired by the cubist and futurist movements in the early 1920s. In 1926, Magritte created his first surrealist work, but the critics were underwhelmed by it and by the exhibition in which it was featured. He moved to Paris after the failed exhibition and met Andre Breton, the initial founder of the surrealist movement. Though he never had much more success in Paris, Magritte's friendship with Breton helped to establish himself in the surrealist movement.
Magritte's work was more symbolic and representational than dreamlike and automatic. He is known for juxtaposing objects and creating paradoxical settings and compositions. For instance, Magritte's Empire of Lights shows a view of a home at night with an outdoor light illuminated, but with a daytime sky above the dark silhouette of the trees.
Magritte died in 1967 from pancreatic cancer. His use of everyday objects in juxtaposed situations had a great influence in later pop artists, though Magritte never acknowledged having a connection to pop art himself. Still many scholars, critics, and artists today frequently examine Magritte's influence and connection to contemporary art. Though I am of the attitude that contemporary and pop art is far too straight-forward to have much connection with the deeper and often inexplicable representations seen in the work of Magritte.

Rene Magritte

The Son of Man

oil on canvas

116 x 89 cm.

1964

40 Days of Artists: Monet

2011-04-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

In 1872, Claude Monet painted a landscape of Le Havre port called Impression, Sunrise. One art critic Louis Leroy reviewed it, and poking fun at the title, called the manner of painting "impressionism." Much like John Wesley did with "methodism," Monet and a small group of other painters took the light insult and appropriated it for themselves. From that point on, they were known as the impressionists.
Monet was born in 1840 in Paris, and entered Le Havre secondary school of the arts when he was only 10 years old. But he would still manage to sell some of his charcoal drawings for a small price. When he was a teenager, Monet met Eugene Boudin, who undertook Monet as a student and taught him en plein aire oil painting. Later on, Monet tried his hand at art school, but much like we saw with Pissarro, the traditional academic style taught in these schools simply did not work for him. So Monet went on to become a student of Charles Gleyre in Paris. There, Monet came into contact with other painters like Renoir and Sisley, and they each shared a certain enthusiasm for plein air painting, and the quick approach of alla prima (completing a painting in one sitting). Of course, this manner would later on be known as Impressionism. Monet's Impression, Sunrise in 1872 would go on to hang in the very first Impressionist exhibition in 1874.
Monet married his wife Camille in 1870, and with her had two sons. But Camille had fallen ill around the time they conceived of their second son Michel, and she died in 1879. From this, Monet painted his most heart-wrenching painting of Camille Monet on Her Deathbed. It was painted in very limited and muted color, and clearly shows the pain and lack of energy and motivation of Monet's hand with every brush stroke.
In the early 1880s, Monet moved his two sons to Paris from their previous home in Vetheuil, and later on in around 1883, Monet made his home near Giverny where he had his large garden that became the subject and setting for many of his greatest paintings such as his Water Lilies. At this point, Monet also traveled around the Mediterranean to places in Italy, and further north in London, and painted several plein air scenes from his travels such as his Houses of Parliament and The Grand Canal in Venice.
Monet developed cataracts in his eyes around the 1920s, and had operations to remove them in 1923, which had a considerable effect on how he saw color. Before his operation, many of his paintings had a warm reddish tone, and afterwards his paintings became much more blue in tone. Monet died from lung cancer in 1926 and was buried in his last home town of Giverny. Monet's home and garden in Giverny still exist today and are open to the public.

Claude Monet

Impression, Sunrise

oil on canvas

48 x 63 cm.

1872

40 Days of Artists: Pissarro

2011-04-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

Camille Pissarro was one of the great figures in 19th century Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Though he was of Portuguese-Jewish descent, he moved to France as a teenager to attend secondary school. During his studies there, Pissarro gained an appreciation for the arts, and was inspired by the French realists Corot and Courbet. Upon his return to his native St. Thomas Islands, Pissarro's father had him working for the family business, but the 17 year old Camille would manage to work on drawings during his free time.
At the age of 21, Pissarro left the family business to pursue a full time career in painting. He left St. Thomas with his friend and teacher Fritz Melbye to live in Venezuela drawing and painting landscapes. A few years later, he would move back to Paris to work alongside Fritz's brother Anton Melbye. He studied the paintings of some of the best French masters of the time - Courbet, Millet, and Corot among others. Pissarro also enrolled in a few classes at a couple of different schools including the École des Beaux-Arts. The strict academic method taught in these classes did not work out very well for him, so he would eventually seek out instruction from Corot himself.
In 1859, Pissarro exhibited for the first time at the Paris Salon after having been instructed and tutored by Corot. Pissarro was inspired by Corot to paint en plein aire, on the spot landscapes. He became inspired to the point of leaving the city to live near rural areas so he could have better access to these landscapes. He simply painted what he saw, and painted how his eye could best interpret, and often in one sitting.
Perhaps Pissarro's greatest period were his impressionist and post-impressionist paintings, in which Pissarro would paint with pure, unmixed color in such a way that when viewed at a distance, the eye would visually mix the colors and make sense of the painting. This was his predominate style during the 1880s after he had met other post-impressionists such as Signac and Seurat, who also painted in a similar manner known as pointillism. Pissarro had befriended other painters who embraced the impressionist style such as Renoir, Monet, and Degas. Together with this group of artists, Pissarro exhibited in an alternative show to the Paris Salon, and the critics did not know what to think, except that there was not much positive to say. Critics were so much more used to religious, mythological scenes, and the impressionists were showing crudely painted rural scenes of everyday peasant life.
Pissarro's last years had him painting outdoor scenes from elevated hotel rooms due to an eye infection. He died in 1903 in Paris. Pissarro is widely considered one of the first great impressionists, and is one of the only artists to paint within two different movements during his lifetime - Impressionist and Post-Impressionist.

Camille Pissarro

Two Women Chatting By the Sea

oil on canvas

28 x 41 cm.

1856

40 Days of Artists: Church

2011-04-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

Today for our 40 days of artists, I wanted to cover the first of two American artists (the latter of which will come later this week). Frederic Edwin Church is also a shift not only because he is American, but because he is the only exclusive landscape artist that I'm covering during the 40 days.
Church was born in 1825 in Hartford, Connecticut. He was one of the main figures in what is known as the Hudson River school of artists. It's chief figure was Thomas Cole, and these were a group of American landscape artists that were influenced by the Romanticism in art of the day. Their objective was to paint landscapes in the same romanticized and dramatic beauty as the portrait artists did during the time, such as Bouguereau. Church became a student of Thomas Cole when he was 18 years old.
By the late 1840s, Church had become a well-established landscape painter, settling in New York and taking his first student, William James Stillman. Church loved to travel all over the world, and his paintings document his travels, and the beautiful scenery became the object of his success. One of the first places he traveled to was South America, where he stayed for four years and immersed himself in the landscape. After returning to the U.S., Church painted Heart of the Andes, and unveiled it to a crowd in New York in 1859. This large painting, approximately 5x10 ft., was Church's first major success, and he managed to sell it for $10,000. The painting now resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Later on in the 1860s, Church married and started a family. It was then that they began to travel to other places together, including places in Europe and the Middle East. He would go on to paint more large-scale works inspired from his travels in these places. One in particular that stands out especially for myself can be seen at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City. Not only because it is located in my hometown, but because it is a painting that depicts a place I have actually been blessed to see for myself. The painting is Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. Standing before this large painting, one can easily point out specific details of buildings that are in the painting such as the Dome of the Rock and the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Church was very careful to include these details in his painting, and it really is as if you are standing on the Mount of Olives and seeing the panorama of the city of Jerusalem.
In the 1870s, Church was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis, and eventually had to paint left-handed as a result. Church died in 1900, but has certainly earned his reputation of not only one of the greatest landscape painters, but as one of the greatest American painters of all time.

Frederic Church

Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

oil on canvas

137 x 213 cm.

1870

40 Days of Artists: Bouguereau

2011-04-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

William-Adolfe Bouguereau was born in La Rochelle, France in 1825. His family were harvesters and merchants of olive oil and wine, but it was his uncle, a Catholic priest, who first introduced him to classical and Biblical subjects. He showed promising artistic talent at an early age, and by 1846, he was enrolled in the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and won the Prix de Rome in 1850.
During his stay in Rome for the Prix de Rome scholarship, Bouguereau painted very classical, Renaissance-type nudes, religious subjects and portraits - each with an uncanny, almost photographic nature. He painted in this traditional academic style for his entire career, and would regularly exhibit his work at the Paris Salon.
Bouguereau's classical approach to composition and his ability to paint his female sitters with such charm and beauty heightened his reputation. His painting of skin tones and features such as hands and feet were some of the most admirable qualities in his paintings. In the 1850s, Bouguereau came into contact with a few wealthy art dealers, and through their connections, he met a number of others who would help him in his rise and success. He received a number of commissions to decorate private homes, churches, and other buildings.
In his own time, Bouguereau was highly regarded as a successful painter, and his work was in high demand by private and public institutions as well as wealthy private patrons and dealers. He was well known in a number of countries including Spain, Belgium, and the United States. A great number of his works are still privately owned. Altogether, Bouguereau painted over 800 paintings in his career, and he was certainly one of the most consistent painters as he was hardly ever known to have changed his style unless he was commissioned to do so.
Bouguereau died in 1905, and his reputation deteriorated from that point. However, with the rise of new classical realist painters of today, in response to what I would consider the frivolity and lack of discipline associated with postmodern art, Bouguereau's academic style is rising back into popularity, and he is perhaps the highest regarded artist of the Art Renewal Center, one of the most extensive online reference sites dedicated to furthering the discipline of traditional academic art (see my links).

William-Adolfe Bouguereau

The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ

oil on canvas

212 x 309 cm

1880

40 Days of Artists: Courbet

2011-04-15T12:48:00.000-07:00

Gustave Courbet was another French realist, and learned under a minor painter and in various ateliers. Though later on, he claimed to be self-taught. He gradually evolved his style into a classically realistic manner. Courbet painted everything - still life, landscapes, portraits, and nudes. He incorporated much of the classical style in his figures, as well as some influence of Caravaggio in his chiaroscuro.
At times, the light/dark contrast was overly emphasized to the point of looking unnatural. This can be seen in a seemingly daylight scene with two Wrestlers, whose figures are shown with dramatic shadows, but with no cast shadows on the ground, and really no reason for such shadows to begin with. Courbet clearly painted the figures in a studio, separate from the landscape setting. Courbet most likely did this with a lot of other paintings as well where the lighting does not match up.
Courbet was also quite outspoken on matters of philosophy, education, politics and the Church. In a letter to a group of students, Courbet basically stated that art cannot be taught, and that the only way to learn it is by doing it. Though he learned through an atelier, he held the attitude that he was self taught. He was also outspokenly anti-Imperialist and anti-clerical. One painting in particular mocked Catholic priests, and has since been destroyed.
But probably Courbet's most notorious paintings were his nudes. Some of them were simply nothing more than elegant, classical depictions of bathers and such. But two in particular caused quite an outrage of being grossly indecent - Sleep and Origin of the World. Origin was painted in 1866, but was hardly ever publicly displayed in a gallery until 1995 when the Musée d'Orsay acquired it. The model for the painting is thought to be the lover of another painter James Whistler. Courbet and Whistler had been close friends, but Origin is the most likely reason for their eventual brutal estrangement and separation.
Courbet's reputation and outspoken cynicism and vanity were about as notorious as some of these paintings, though his attitude and philosophy of realism and beauty in art were demonstrated through his work. Courbet died in France on December 31, 1877.

Gustave Courbet

Self Portrait (Man with Pipe)

oil on canvas

45 x 37 cm.

1848-49

40 Days of Artists: Corot

2011-04-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot began his early training as a landscape painter under a couple of other minor landscape artists Michallon and Bertin. By 1825, Corot was in Italy, staying mainly in Rome where he began painting en plein aire (in open air) while also painting religious and classical works for exhibition.
A few years later, Corot went back to his native France, but would occasionally return to Rome for a few months at a time. For everywhere he went, Corot would create small, on-the-spot sketches of the landscapes and the scenery.
By the 1850s, Corot's style had changed a bit from the directness of his observational paintings on the spot. Many of his landscapes had a certain fuzzy looseness in the brushwork. Corot was a realist, but many of his landscapes had captured more of an impression of the scenery. This was particularly evident in the trees and foliage. The treatment of these landscapes eventually became quite popular, and could be considered as the early beginnings of a new movement of open air landscape painting that emphasized color and light, and emphasized this manner of brushwork that allowed the eye to optically put the painting into focus. The movement, of course, was French impressionism.
But Corot never went that far to become the first "impressionist" to intentionally make this manner of painting is official style. Later on in his career, Corot did a few figure studies and portraits that were completely free of this fuzzy approach, but were much more controlled and representative of his realistic style.
Corot was a diligent and efficient painter up until his death, and created a large number of works throughout his life. Almost every art museum today all over the world features at least one work by Corot. There are still several works in the process of attribution, as well as some that have been de-attributed to Corot. One in particular at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City is still in the process of re-attribution after discovering the signature of Corot was a forgery. An incident such as this is certainly not uncommon, as Corot is estimated to have created over 3000 paintings in his lifetime.

Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot

The Woman with the Pearl

oil on canvas

70 x 55 cm.

c. 1869

40 Days of Artists: Ingres

2011-04-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was a student of David's studio before he went on to become another of the greatest Neoclassical masters in the 19th century. Ingres won the coveted Prix de Rome in 1801, but did not get to travel to Rome until 1807. In this six-year period, Ingres painted his first portraits of himself and some acquaintances. Even his early portraits featured some of his trademark qualities of smooth contours and color-handling.
When he finally made it to Rome, Ingres began painting his series of nude portraits, in addition to a few other minor portraits. The first of his nudes continues to be one of his most well known, and perhaps one of his greatest paintings of all. It was simply called The Bather, and was painted in 1808. The natural light and naturalistic texture of the bather's skin makes it Ingres' most striking nude. Ingres actually incorporated a copy of the figure in a much later painting called The Turkish Bath in 1862. It was painted with the same warmly saturated color as in The Bather, which makes the figure stand out even more from the rest of the figures, which are painted with a much more muted tone.
Ingres remained in Rome even after his Prix de Rome scholarship ran out, and lived off of a few major commissions, including two for the Palace of Napoleon in Rome. Ingres moved to Florence in 1820 where he received some influence by Raphael and other Italian Renaissance masters. Here, he painted his Vow of Louis XIII, in which the influence of these masters comes through. By the mid 1820s, Ingres was living back in Paris where he worked on two major commissions for the Louvre and the Cathedral of Autun.
Ingres made one more trip to Rome where he stayed for another 7 years until moving permanently back to France. In the later years of his life, Ingres' wife passed away, but he remarried a few years later. The Turkish Bath was painted when he was in his early 80s, and is one of his last great paintings. Ingres died in 1867, and left a large portion of his work to his home town of Montauban, and remain there today in the Musée Ingres.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

The Bather

oil on canvas

146 x 97 cm.

1808

40 Days of Artists: David

2011-04-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

We're jumping ahead about 100 years from the Baroque period to one of the leading figures in Neoclassical painting. Jacques-Louis David was born in Paris in 1748, and studied under Joseph-Marie Vien in Rome, and in the process was awarded the Prix de Rome. During his stay in Rome, David became influenced by the classical style, and had met some of the initial figures of the new classical movement. In 1780, David returned to Paris with his passion and influence of the new classical art as a response to the very odd and frivolous Rococo movement (This is why I have skipped about 100 years from the Baroque, as I consider the Rococo to be like the "disco era" of art history).
One particular painting brought David back to Rome in 1784 - The Oath of the Horatii. David worked in a very methodical, academic manner on the painting. Working from live models and doing several preliminary drawings for the figures, it was certainly a classically executed work. Upon its completion, it became David's rise to fame, and even the pope desired to view it. The painting's austere and patriotic depiction made it a powerful expression of the new classical style of painting in the 18th century.
David followed up on the Horatti with two more classical themes - Brutus and His Dead Sons and Death of Socrates. They were both highly acclaimed by critics and hailed as perfectly classical in every sense.
As an active supporter of the French Revolution, David was inspired to paint a series of three "martyrs" of the Revolution, and one of them became perhaps his greatest masterpiece. It was The Death of Marat, painted in 1793. Marat was assassinated by a knife to his chest by Charlotte Corday. Of the three paintings, this particular one stands out as David's most sympathetic and reverent towards a figure of the Revolution, as Marat had been a close friend of David's. Marat was known to have a skin disease, but David's depiction of him makes no reference to it. On the contrary, Marat's body is quite idealized, and even shown to have some color left in his flesh as it is depicted in the moment of his last breath. The painting is quite often compared to Michelangelo's Pieta, especially in the modeling of the lifeless arm hanging over, and the tilt of his head resting on his shoulder.
David also became a major supporter of Napoleon. Another of his greatest works, and one of the largest paintings in the world on canvas is Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of the Empress Josephine, which currently covers an entire wall in a large room at the Louvre in Paris. It is considered one of the last of David's most revered works.

Jacques-Louis David

The Death of Marat

oil on canvas

162 x 128 cm.

1793

40 Days of Artists: Zurbarán

2011-04-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

Francisco de Zurbarán was perhaps the greatest painter and interpreter of the Monastic life because he represented, with paint, the extreme piety of this life. That is, his paintings were so simple in terms of their color and many had the Caravaggesque, tenebrist contrast of dark and light. And particularly for the Spanish Geronomite Monastic order that commissioned him in the late 1630s, it represents perfectly what life was all about - black and white. One is either in God's light or in the shadows.
Zurbarán was a painter of saints and clergy, and was particularly known for his monastic portraits like St. Francis. He used a very sharp contrast of dark and light that seemed to heighten the mystical, spiritual nature of the scenes. This mysticism coupled with the realistic modeling of his figures made Zurbarán a quintessential figure in Spanish art of the 17th century.
Zurbarán was born in 1598, and worked under a minor Spanish artist as an apprentice. One of his earliest influences was Michelangelo, and later on in his career he gained some influence from Ribera and Murillo. So Murillo and Zurbarán were seemingly influenced by each other as Murillo would mimic the tenebrist, monastic portraits. Zurbarán in turn would paint versions of the Immaculate Conception, very similar to Murillo's famous images of this theme.
He lived in Seville for most of his career with the exception of a couple years spent as a court painter in Madrid for Philip IV. Zurbarán died in 1664. Some of his greatest pieces are the eight paintings commissioned by the Geronomite friars in 1637 that still hang in the space in which they were originally designed for. They are the dark portraits of members of the Spanish Geronomite order that are typical to Zurbarán's mysterious and haunting style.

Francisco de Zurbarán

St. Francis

oil on canvas

65 x 53 cm.

c. 1660

Infanta Margarita

2011-04-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

This is a painting I have been wanting to pursue for a long time... a copy of the Infanta Margarita portrait from Velázquez's Las Meninas. I have been intrigued by this portrait for quite some time, not only for the portrait itself, but for the extraordinary way that Velázquez handled the paint. I can really look at his paintings for hours at a time and imagine in my mind the swift moves of his brush across the canvas. They are so effortless, and almost appear to be a chaotic mess when you look at them up close. And yet, though they may be spontaneous, each dab of paint is intentional. This is what made this copy so challenging. I tried as much as I could to imitate each scumbled brush stroke, but also at the same time to be as spontaneous as he was. I can only hope I created a positive note on this master's legacy.

Infanta Margarita

Master copy after Velázquez

oil on canvas

20x16 inches

2011

Detail of Infanta Margarita

40 Days of Artists: Murillo

2011-04-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

If you have ever seen a painting of the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception, where she is draped in blue, standing on a cloud with several putti flying around her, then chances are it was painted by or inspired by Esteban Bartolomé Murillo.
The Immaculate Conception was without question Murillo's favorite theme, as he did countless paintings of it, and many of them look very similar to the others. They are pretty much as described above. She is a shy, humble young girl dressed in white and draped with a blue cloth with little putti (or Charmin babies, as one of my college art professors called them) fluttering around and fading into the background. Murillo painted over thirty versions of the Immaculate Conception, each one similar but with subtle differences every time.
Most of Murillo's work was religious in theme, and quite often featured details specific to the Catholic tradition such as the Virgin Mary. One of Murillo's influences for his early paintings was Zurburán (tomorrow's featured artist). This can be seen as Murillo painted a series of tenebrist portraits of the Franciscan saints, particularly that of St. Francis of Assisi being his best known. Other themes that Murillo was well known for included a series of beggar children. These were portraits of young children portrayed with a certain innocence and charm. Murillo was perhaps the only Baroque painter to portray poverty with this kind of care and empathy, and at times a light-hearted humor as seen in his paintings Boys Eating Grapes and Melon and The Toilette.
Murillo worked mainly in Seville throughout his life, and co-founded an academy of painting in the city with two other artists, and served as the academy's first president. He died in 1682, but his influence and style were carried on by his students and assistants, and for future generations in Seville all the way into the 19th century.

Esteban Bartolomé Murillo

Immaculate Conception

oil on canvas

206 x 144 cm.

1665-70

40 Days of Artists: Ribera

2011-04-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

For the past few days, we've looked at some of the great masters of the northern, Flemish Baroque. For the next three artists, we will go to perhaps my favorite area and period - the Spanish Baroque. And one great example to start off with is Jusepe de Ribera.
Much of the art of Spain can be summed up with two words: Catholicism and death. Though to be fair, there is certainly much more to it than that. Jusepe de Ribera brought both of these aspects into his work, but he managed to do so with such raw emotion. We've seen before artists from Giotto to Frans Hals who had a knack for painting emotion and expression into their works. Ribera did so in such a way that the pain of his subjects actually grips the viewer, and brings the viewer into their suffering.
Ribera's focus for many of his paintings was the martyrdom of saints. But these weren't featureless portraits of martyrs going to their own death willingly. Ribera painted the pain in their faces as they suffered horrendous tortures. One of Ribera's most famous martyrdom scenes is the Martyrdom of St. Philip. Here we see the Saint during the moment of his crucifixion. But the scene is not of him hanging on the cross or being tied down to it. Rather it shows him as he is being pulled up by the cross beam, with the expression of agony and fear on his face.
Ribera was practically obsessed with the theme of martyrdoms, and each one that he painted depicted the horror and the darkness, and the brutally honest pain of the deaths that they are sometimes difficult to look at. Ribera painted a couple of versions of the Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew, who was executed by being skinned alive. Ribera's graphic detail of Bartholomew's skin being ripped from his body, and exposing the muscle underneath while Bartholomew watches in agony is perhaps the most disturbing depiction of the saint.
Ribera also managed to deviate from the traditional Spanish paintings of fervent Catholocism and paint a few mythological subjects. Much of Ribera's work was done in Naples, and he was known there as "Lo Spagnoletto," or the little Spaniard. His later work seemed to have a bit of influence from the Venetian school as seen in artists such as Titian, as they were very rich in color and soft in modeling. This can be seen in his paintings of the Holy Family, which were much more tender and light, in contrast to his dark, Caravaggesque scenes of martyrdom. In any case, Ribera's work was a prime example of the powerful imagery and brilliant compositions that made the Spanish Baroque stand out from other movements in art history.

Jusepe de Ribera

The Martyrdom of St. Philip

oil on canvas

234 x 234 cm.

1639

Latte Land Exhibition: May 13 - June 2, 2011

2011-04-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

For those of you in the Kansas City area, I hope you will check out my exhibition taking place at Latte Land on Jefferson St. located on the Plaza, from May 13 - June 2. I will be displaying paintings from my Holy Land series, including my recent award winner - Camel in Giza. All of these paintings will be for sale, so I hope you will come by and check them out and consider a purchase. If nothing else, just come by and see them while enjoying a nice cup o' joe! Here are a few that you'll see:

Camel in Giza

oil on canvas

16x20 in.

The Bread Seller

oil on canvas

20x16 in.

Cafe in Taormina

oil on canvas

16x20 in.

View of Galilee

oil on canvas

16x20 in.

40 Days of Artists: Vermeer

2011-04-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

Second to Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer is the most renown of northern masters in 17th century painting. He was also one of the slowest paced painters to have ever lived. Vermeer clearly had a lot of patience and methodical discipline when it came to painting. Only about 40 paintings by Vermeer exist today.
This is understandable, knowing how he worked. Each painting would be worked up in layers that he would allow to dry before putting on the next layer. The majority of the modeling for many of his portraits was likely done with a mannequin, since certainly no model would be able to pose in the time that it took Vermeer to complete a work. Though his pace was slow, the results were some of the greatest pieces of Flemish Baroque painting.
With only a brief visit to the Hague in the 1670s, Vermeer remained in his native Delft throughout his career. The setting for many of his paintings was right in his studio, showing the famous natural light shining through the windows and the checkered floor pattern seen in a number of works. Some of his greatest works that are featured in this room are The Milkmaid and Woman with a Water Jug. But many consider his landscape View of Delft to be his masterpiece. The majority of this painting consists of a cloudy sky with a hint of blue peeking through the clouds. It presents a very idealized view of his hometown
But it really is Vermeer's portraits of typical, day-in-the-life scenes of his domestic servants that seem to be the most intriguing. Perhaps one of Vermeer's most mysterious paintings is the portrait Girl with a Pearl Earring. It is believed that there is a religious significance associated with the large pearl earring - that it represents the "oriental pearls of the gospel" according to Francis de Sales' Devout Life. The pearls in this case being "chaste words." The portrait is also thought to have probably been painted on the occasion of the sitter's marriage.
There are no known drawings from Vermeer, and it is pretty well certain he did not do any underdrawing for any of his paintings. It is almost certain, however, that Vermeer used optics to capture the exquisite details of his paintings, specifically with use of a camera obscura. This device was basically a projector in the 17th century that used natural light and a lens to project a full color image onto his canvas. Many artists, even before Vermeer, are thought to have used optics similar to this to capture accuracy of detail - particularly the northern Renaissance master Jan Van Eyck.

Johannes Vermeer

Girl with a Pearl Earring

oil on canvas

47 x 40 cm.

c. 1665

40 Days of Artists: Rembrandt

2011-04-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

Rembrandt van Rijn was born on July 15, 1606 in Leiden. He joined the University of Leiden at the age of 14, but left the school to pursue studies in art. It makes one wonder Rembrandt was studying before, and what he would have become had he not left to study art. Thankfully, we will never know.
Rembrandt was studying under a couple of artists, and by the age of 22, he had mastered his craft and was already taking pupils of his own. He moved to Amsterdam in 1631 and later married in 1634. His wife was a lady named Saskia van Uylenburgh and was the cousin of a wealthy art dealer, so Rembrandt's career was set to take off on a successful path as well. Through his connections with other wealthy individuals, he received a number of commissions for portraits. He also received commissions for a number of mythological and religous scenes. Long story short, the 1630s were very successful years for Rembrandt, as his work was in great demand by a number of wealthy patrons.
In addition to his success as an artist, Rembrandt also had great success as a teacher in this period. His studio was filled to capacity with pupils wanting to learn from him, including artists who were already pretty well trained and established. Rembrandt had so many students, that to this day identifying and attributing pieces by Rembrandt is its own academic discipline. One particular self-portrait that had been attributed to Rembrandt has recently been discovered as a copy by one of his students.
While Rembrandt's career was successful and the envy of many other artists, his personal life was marked with great misfortune and tragedy. His wife gave birth to four children, but only one survived. Her own death came shortly after in 1642. Rembrandt was shattered, and went into a period of self-destructive behavior. Specifically, since all he had was money, he would do a lot of impulse buying of random objects that he suggested were props for still lifes and other paintings. But it eventually became a case of hoarding, and by 1656 Rembrandt had declared bankruptcy.
In spite of his personal tragedy, Rembrandt's success as an artist managed to continue, though his financial problems also remained. However, he executed some of his best pieces in his later years. Each one, particularly his self portraits, indicated in its style and expression the hardships he was facing in his personal life. The rugged brushwork of his self portraits described perfectly his level of sorrow and his aged appearance. Each painting was a symbolic testimony to how Rembrandt felt about his life. Rembrandt fell in love with his housekeeper Hendrickje Stoffels, and featured her in a few paintings as well. But she also passed away in 1663, as did Rembrandt's only surviving son Titus in 1668 at the age of 27. By this time, Rembrandt was crippled with deep sorrow, and less than a year after his son's death, Rembrandt died in Amsterdam.
If anything, Rembrandt's work is a statement to his legacy - he was a survivor. And to this day, his work not only survives, but is revered more than ever.

Rembrandt van Rijn

Self Portrait

oil on canvas

114 x 91 cm.

1661

Copying a Master II - Infanta Margarita

2011-04-05T15:15:00.000-07:00

This is my second attempt to copy a Velázquez. This time I am attempting the Infanta Margarita portrait from his masterpiece Las Meninas. I have found along the way that I have quite a few problems to solve, especially as I progress. I honestly can't be sure how Velázquez went about painting this. I can only guess that I'm handling it differently, and somewhat impatiently. The difficult part about copying his style is that he was so quick and spontaneous with his brushwork, and when trying to mimic his technique, I can't help but try too hard. So we shall see where this goes. It is a total trial-and-error project. But I get the feeling that Velázquez may have been somewhat of a trial-and-error painter himself.

Diego Velázquez

Detail of Las Meninas

oil on canvas

1656

40 Days of Artists: Frans Hals

2011-04-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

They always say that artists are way ahead of their time. Frans Hals is a perfect example of that, especially when it comes to his painting style. The portraits he created are delights to look at because Hals gave true expression to the faces, and his paint handling was certainly ahead of its time - about 200 years ahead of its time.
Hals was a Dutch painter and spent most of his life in Haarlem. Little is known about his early life and career, but the first indication of his artistic interest was in 1610 when he joined the Guild of St. Luke in Haarlem - a society dedicated to advancing artists. Hals began his career with portraits, both individual and groups of local guilds and military. Later on in the 1620s, Hals began painting different subjects for his portraits, which became the start of his well-known trademark of painting expression in a series of character portraits.
Frans Hals took portraiture to a new level. These were not the stiff, rigid portraits of noble, royal, or religious figures. They were portraits of common folk that Hals painted full of life and with every detail in tact - warts and all, so to speak. They had big smiles, rosy cheeks, and ragged clothing. The personality of the sitter shines through each painting, and much of how our perspective realizes these personalities is through the way in which Hals painted. The academic way of painting would have been to plan out each portrait with preliminary drawings, and carefully paced layering of the paint and glazes. On the contrary, Hals was quite spontaneous and loose with his painting. Looking at many of his later portraits, if we didn't know any better, we would think it was a painting from 19th century impressionism. The brush strokes are handled with what I would refer to as intentional randomness. They are quick and spontaneous, but are somehow in the right place with just the right amount of color and pressure applied to the canvas. Only one other artist in the 17th century painted with this beautiful spontaneity, and I would argue he also mastered it to perfection. We'll get to that artist later on in our 40 days. As for Frans Hals, there is no doubt that the Impressionists and Expressionists of the 19th century own him a debt of gratitude for introducing a style of painting that would develop into the most important art movement in the 19th century.

Frans Hals

The Laughing Cavalier

oil on canvas

83 x 67 cm.

1624

40 Days of Artists: Artemisia

2011-04-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

One of the great contemporaries of Caravaggio was Artemisia Gentileschi, whose paintings demonstrated some of the same skillful techniques used by Caravaggio, such as the intense tenebrism - the dramatic contrast of the light and shadow in the figures. What set Artemisia apart from Caravaggio, and every other painter of the time for that matter, was that she was a woman.
Artemisia was born in 1593, and was the daughter of another respected painter, Orazio Gentileschi. She was born in Rome and worked there and in Florence before she finally settled in Naples in the 1630s. She was certainly a rare talent with a rare personality to match, as she lived a life of independence that was unthinkable for a woman in the 17th century.
In 1610, around the age of 17, Artemisia completed one of her earliest signed works Susanna and the Elders, which was most likely a response to Rubens' painting of the same subject, which was painted a couple years before. Later in 1612, Agostino Tassi, a teacher of Artemisia and collaborator with Orazio, was accused and tried for raping Artemisia. Tassi was eventually convicted and imprisoned for the rape. Later that year, Artemisia married and left Rome.
Around the age of 23 in 1616, Artemisia became the first woman to join the Accademia del Disegno. Though described as a portraitist, few examples of her works survive from this period. The dating of her paintings is very hazy and only a few of her earliest works have a clear date assigned to them. From 1620 onward, there are only a few surviving paintings whose dates span over the years. One of the earliest paintings from Naples that she signed and dated was The Annunciation. Later on in the 1630s, she had started completing fewer works, and had traveled to England for a while to care for her elderly father until his death in 1639. Artemisia lived out the rest of her life in Naples, and though we only have a few of her works in existence today, she certainly built up a strong reputation in Europe as one of the great masters of the Caravaggesque Baroque, and perhaps the greatest, if not the only female name in 17th century painting.

Artemisia Gentileschi

Self Portrait as the Allegory of Painting

oil on canvas

97 x 74 cm

1630s

40 Days of Artists: Rubens

2011-04-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish master who combined the great painting traditions of Flemish realism with Italian Renaissance, and the result was nothing short of outstanding. Rubens is renown for his painting of the human figure, particularly that of women. He was known for choosing the most voluptuous and curvy-figured women for his models because they were the ideal figure in the Baroque period. To this day, women with such figures are known as beautifully "Rubenesque."
He was known to be quite a methodical painter, and was fueled by learning from the great masters of and before his time. Some of his influences were Raphael and Titian, as well as those contemporary to his time such as Van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens. In terms of Italian masters, he tended to focus his attention to the Roman and Venetian masters, but he still felt a strong influence of the classical method, and he is best remembered for his religious and mythological themes.
Rubens began his training in Antwerp at the age of 10. He spent some years in Rome as well, learning and gaining influence from the works of Titian and Tintoretto, as well as the Carracci brothers. After his period in Rome, he returned to Antwerp, where he created some of the greatest pieces of his career. One in particular was an altarpiece for the cathedral of St. Walburga's called The Raising of the Cross. Being as methodical as he was, Rubens was able to create many works in an efficient amount of time and probably had a very well organized studio and group of apprentices, so demand for his work was high. He also collaborated with some of his contemporaries like Van Dyck.
Rubens certainly had one of the greatest reputations of any western master. His influence spread throughout Europe beyond his humble beginning in Antwerp from Italy to Spain and France - probably because he received commissions from all of these places and from some of the highest sources, and his work continued to play a crucial role in the influence of contemporary to future masters in these areas.

Peter Paul Rubens

The Raising of the Cross

oil on panel

460 x 340 cm.

1610

40 Days of Artists: Poussin

2011-04-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

Today we are taking a trip out of Italy and going to France, at least in terms of an artist's nationality. Nicolas Poussin was born in France, though he spent most of his painting career in Rome as one of the leading figures in classical Baroque painting.
Poussin was about 18 years old when he first began his interest in painting, and he had a very raw beginning in his career in France. He was not very experienced and did not know where or how to find a suitable master to study under, so he started out studying under several different painters. As it turns out, he was not very successful and had become ill, so he ended up returning home to recover. Later on, he would bounce back on his feet with a new plan.
The following year, Poussin returned to his studies, and had decided to pursue study in Rome, where he knew he would find adequate work as a painter. As it turns out, the court poet for Marie de Medicis, Giambattista Marino, discovered Poussin and commissioned him for a series of drawings. Poussin managed to have a commission from St. Peter's for an altarpiece, though it could not compete with the Italian masters of the day. Poussin's stay in Rome would influence him in themes of classical antiquity and mythology, and he would paint several mythological paintings under the influence of Titian, with a poetic Venetian feel to them in terms of color and painting handling.
By the 1630s, Poussin turned back to his classical influence from Raphael, and painted several religious scenes that he felt had deep moral significance. Several of which were Old Testament scenes, though he also painted traditional Catholic themes - particularly that of his Seven Sacraments series.
Poussin returned to Paris in 1640 reluctantly, as he was sought out by the court of Louis XIII for some commissions for the Louvre palace. The pieces he completed did not receive the greatest praise that Poussin had expected. This was either because they did not match the style that the court was expecting, or because Poussin just simply did not want to be there. Whatever the reason, Poussin returned to Rome in 1642 where he remained until his death in 1665. Though French in origin, Poussin was certainly destined to be a major figure in Italian classical Baroque. It was only later in the 17th century after his death that his style would be appreciated and glorified in his native land by the French Academy.

Nicolas Poussin

The Holy Family with St. Elizabeth and John the Baptist
oil on canvas
172 x 134 cm.
c. 1655

40 Days of Artists: Bernini

2011-03-31T11:29:00.000-07:00

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was perhaps the greatest name in Italian sculpture in the 17th century, since Michelangelo a century earlier. Like Michelangelo, Bernini was also skilled in other disciplines like painting and architecture, but it was his hand in sculpture that gave him such a great reputation. He learned under his father, Pietro Bernino, a Florentine sculptor in his own right. But it was Gian Lorenzo who made the name Bernini a great name in 17th century art.
Bernini was influenced by Michelangelo, but took his art of sculpture in a different direction, as he created the Baroque style of sculpture that involved more emotion and movement. Unlike Michelangelo's still figures, Bernini captured moments of suspended animation in his sculptures that was characteristic of the Baroque style of painting. For instance, we can see Michelangelo's David as a great work of classical sculpture that focuses on the figure itself. However, Bernini also did a sculpture of David that is much different. Rather than being a figure standing still and practically posing, Bernini depicts the Biblical hero as he is about to throw the stone at Goliath. My personal favorite part of this sculpture is David's facial expression, which depicts the concentration, strength, and determination to take out his adversary in a single, swift move.
Perhaps Bernini's great masterpiece is his sculpture The Ecstacy of St. Teresa, for Cappella Cornaro in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. It is an altarpiece depicting St. Teresa of Avila in her vision as she is being pierced through the heart by an angel's arrow, representing the divine love. Bernini sculpted everything based on St. Teresa's own descripton of her vision. It is one of the most unique altarpieces, as it is more than a 2-dimensional painting, but rather a 3-dimensional scene illuminated by natural light that emerges from the space and into the worship setting, as well as bringing the worshipper into the experience of the scene.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

The Ecstacy of St. Teresa
marble
350 cm
c. 1647-52

Tribute to a forgotten Master

2011-03-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

This is my latest work, and it is my personal tribute to an artist that deserves recognition in this generation. It is a copy of a portrait featured in Jacopo Pontormo's painting Visitation, painted around 1515 (Not to be confused with another more famous piece of his also called Visitation from 1528). It was a fresco, and one of his earliest works, and certainly one of his most beautiful paintings. I chose to copy a work from Pontormo because he is a recent discovery for me, and I was instantly intrigued by his work the minute I saw it. And thinking how he is a nearly forgotten master of the Italian Renaissance, I thought I would do a small part in revealing to others his mastery, and perhaps breathe a small breath of life back into his legacy.

Visitation

Copy after Pontormo

oil on canvas

16x20 inches

2011

Jacopo Pontormo

Visitation

fresco

392x337 cm

c. 1515

40 Days of Artists: Guido Reni

2011-03-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

Guido Reni began studying painting at around the age of nine, so it is safe to say he was destined to become one of the great masters of the 17th century. He was born in Bologna and by the age of 20 he had joined the Carracci Academy - a school of classical art that would greatly influence his style throughout his career. He was also admired Raphael, which also strengthened his adherence to the classical method of painting. This can be seen in some of Reni's works from Rome like Aurora, a piece that coupled the classical form and dramatic posing and scenery of the Baroque movement.
The combination of the dramatic Baroque style and the classical was only natural as Reni had lived most of his career traveling between Bologna and Rome. Caravaggio was probably Reni's greatest rival in Rome. One of Reni's greatest works in Bologna was The Massacre of the Innocents, which marks his mastery of depicting dramatic movement, color, and lighting with classical design and form in the figures and overall composition.
Guido Reni was without question among the greatest classical, academic artists of the 17th century Baroque movement in Italy. Throughout the centuries since his time, Reni's work has gone from being loved to being loathed, due to the changes of style and taste in art. 19th century art critics did not have a positive word to say about him, but hopefully in today's art culture and with the new rise of classical and technical skill in art that is slowly emerging, Reni's work will once again earn its well deserved reputation of being some of the greatest pieces of classical craftsmanship.

Guido Reni
St. Sebastian
oil on canvas
170 x 133 cm.
c. 1618

40 Days of Artists: Guercino

2011-03-29T11:27:00.001-07:00

Il Guercino, otherwise known as Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, was a self taught painter of the Bolognese school. This was a traditionally classical mode of painting in the 16th and 17th centuries. Guercino's early influences included the Carracci family of painters, particularly that of Lodovico Carraci, and his classical figures. Guercino's style saw some changes from his early paintings to the later works, particularly in terms of color. Later on in his career, we can see a more vibrant use of color, but still with the classical influence, as though he combined the Florentine and Venetian schools of painting together. In a few of his paintings, we can see a fantastic use of blues and its compliment of the bright red-oranges. This is one of the influences that Carracci had, as we can see similar use of color in his paintings, as well as the classical drawing of the figures. Another painter of the Bolognese school, Guido Reni, was probably one of the great names in this art. Upon Reni's death, Guercino moved back to Bologna from Emilia where he had lived for nearly 20 years. He lived there until his death in 1666, and had taken up the reputation as the leading figure in Bolognese art of the time.

Il Guercino

St. Luke Displaying a Painting of the Virgin
oil on canvas
1652-53

40 Days of Artists: Caravaggio

2011-03-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

There are so many reasons to despise Michelangelo Merisi. He was a connoisseur of controversy and rebellious, deviant behavior. He would often have affairs with his models - both male and female, and may have even done so with his much younger male models as well. When he wasn't painting, he would often spend time in jail for various crimes - sometimes for inflicting bodily harm to others. Later on in his life, he even had to flee Rome because he was wanted by authorities for the murder of another man, supposedly over an argument of a disputed score of a tennis match.
So why would I pay tribute to him? Well, let's face it, he was an extraordinary painter. Merisi, most widely and famously known as Caravaggio took late Renaissance and Mannerism to a new movement known as Baroque. Caravaggio took the contrasting light/dark technique of chiaroscuro to the extreme with a technique called tenebrism, in which the figures seemed to emerge from the darkness into bright and dramatic light. Tintoretto was another notable artist known for having very similar dark paintings with areas of intense light. Caravaggio also abandoned the traditional, idealized interpretation of the "pious" looking religious figures, and would typically pick his models right off the street to give these figures a more "human" appearance. These were models that were more likely to act and pose, and just look like normal human beings. Many were prostitutes, or perhaps maybe drunkards from his favorite tavern.
As if it was not controversial enough to use prostitutes as models for the Virgin Mary, Caravaggio would also use young adolescent boys for some of his figures, and would often have them pose nude for the paintings. Paintings that today may be considered masterpieces would have certainly been considered grossly indecent at the time.
After being accused of the murder, Caravaggio fled Rome and eventually made it to Naples. There he completed another of his great masterpieces, The Seven Works of Mercy. It marked a new motif for Caravaggio, in which he began feeling this overwhelming sense of condemnation for his own actions. This guilt began to show in his paintings. He was after this mercy for himself, as there was a bounty on him in Rome. In a symbolic gesture, he painted David, in which the young David holds the head of Goliath. In this painting, Caravaggio does a self-portrait, but it is a far cry from his arrogant, somewhat narcissistic nature throughout his life, as he painted himself as the head of Goliath. It is thought that this was Caravaggio's way of offering his own head for the wages of his sin of murder. Caravaggio's influence as a painter can be seen throughout the Baroque age of painting in masters like Artemisia and Ribera, and even up in northern Baroque artists like Rembrandt. Though he had many crimes and controversies throughout his life, Caravaggio's work as a painter has managed to redeem the negative points of his reputation since his death 400 years ago.

Caravaggio
St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness
oil on canvas
173 x 154 cm.
c. 1605

40 Days of Artists: Titian

2011-03-25T11:07:00.001-07:00

Of all the artists I have and will be covering over Lent, I would imagine that Titian is the artist that had the most fun with paint above all others. Titian never had one set-in-stone style of painting throughout his life. Even near the end of his life, he was changing the way he painted. He was always experimenting and trying new ways of applying his medium. In other words, he was the quintessential Venetian painter.
The two main schools of art in Italy during the Renaissance were the Florentine and the Venetian. The Florentine artists focused heavily on the discipline of drawing with accurate proportion, and the Venetian artists tended to shift their focus on the medium - how to achieve great effects using color and application. Titian was a master at this. The critics of his time certainly noticed that drawing was not his strongest talent. Seems odd, because I am personally of the opinion that Titian had drawing down pretty well, even though he focused more on the painting part. Vasari is noted for saying that had Titian applied the art of drawing to his mastery of color, he would have been an even greater artist.
Titian's manner of painting is so widely discussed, and there are even stories of paintings of his being scraped down layer by layer to determine how he achieved his colors. X-rays of his paintings show how fluid he was in his style. He would often change his mind and work experimentally until he had his figures just right. Titian certainly embraced a trial and error manner of painting.
One of the things that Titian would have certainly made other artists jealous over was his palette of colors. Titian used some of the most rare and expensive pigments that an artist could use. Particularly colors like ultramarine blue, a pigment ground from a stone called lapis lazuli found in Afghanistan were among the most expensive at the time. Though ultramarine is most commonly manufactured chemically today, the lapis lazuli is still used today by some artists, and is one of the most precious pigments in the world. A prime example of Titian's that uses these most beautiful and purest pigments is Bacchus and Ariadne, painted in the 1520s. It is almost an attempt by Titian to show off all the colors he had on one painting.
By the end of his career, Titian once again changed his style, and it is believed he quite often abandoned his brush altogether for some paintings, and simply applied and manipulated the paint with his fingers. He would also quite often scumble the paint, using only a few quick and spontaneous brush strokes - a technique that greatly influenced perhaps the greatest painter of the next generation in Spain - Diego Velázquez.

Titian

Bacchus and Ariadne

oil on canvas

175 x 190 cm

1520-22

40 Days of Artists: El Greco

2011-03-24T11:12:00.001-07:00

Domenikos Theotokopoulos was a native of Crete was first trained in the post-Byzantine style of painting, so his earliest pieces have a traditional iconic appearance, though few of them survive today. He settled in Spain where he became known by his nickname, El Greco.
Before arriving in Spain, he lived in Rome. El Greco's work during his Italian residence appears to mimic many of the typical Italian Renaissance pieces, and hint toward works by Raphael and Michelangelo. This is most evident in his Purification of the Temple.
In 1577, El Greco arrived in Toledo. Here he mastered his technique that is characteristic of his typical works, where the figures appear elongated in form and the colors - even the reds and yellows - appear strangely cool. His first major commission in Toledo was an altarpiece for the church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, with the Assumption of the Virgin as the main panel. The Church was certainly pleased with this composition and El Greco was sought after for other altarpieces. Two of his most notable are El Espolio and The Burial of Count Orgaz. El Greco was confronted for his El Espolio, as it deviated from the Church's strict regulations to make art bibically accurate, and theologically traditional. The main issue was that Christ's head was not the highest in the composition, and the rationale was that nothing and no one should separate Christ from the heavens. El Greco's defense of the piece was that Christ, in relation to the proportion of all other figures, was the grandest figure of all.
El Greco's style was incredibly liberal for the time. Even in his commissions that were closely monitored and advised by the Church, he made every effort to make it his own painting. It is a wonder how he managed to dodge authorities of the Inquisition. He intentionally wanted to paint scenes from Christ's life that were imagined scenes from his heart, as opposed to make an effort to make every detail perfectly accurate and traditional to Scripture. His works bring heaven and earth closer together (as seen in The Burial of Count Orgaz), and the odd, elongated figures seem to more closely represent our spiritual bodies rather than our physical ones. This is certainly most evident in his later works.

El Greco

The Burial of Count Orgaz

oil on canvas

480 x 360 cm.

1586-88

40 Days of Artists: Bosch

2011-03-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

The Italian Renaissance is honestly one of my favorite art movements, second to Spanish Baroque. But the northern part of Europe also has its great figures - particularly Van Eyck, Vermeer, and Rembrandt. But perhaps one of the most oddly fascinating artists to come out of the Northern Renaissance was Hieronymus Bosch. The first time I saw pictures of Bosch's work, I was a young kid and really into horror movies. So his work was right up my alley. I was both fascinated and freaked out by his paintings.
Bosch was an orthodox Catholic, however his work deviates so far from his religious affiliation that he was thought to be a heretic. It would seem that Bosch must have had some network of acquaintances, or perhaps a faithful following willing to commission him, because there is no way the Church would have been interested in commissioning him for an altarpiece. Though he did many triptych panels, none of them appear to depict religious piety or faithful devotion to God. They appear to be quite the opposite.
His Garden of Earthly Delights is perhaps his most well known piece to depict this very bizarre and nightmarish fantasy. It is one of the most hellish paintings ever created, not because it depicts a feeling of guilt, shame, or torment for sin - That is only one panel of the triptych. Rather, it depicts the epic story of sin from its origin in the Garden of Eden on the left panel, to the wages of sin on the right panel. But it is the main panel in the center that makes the painting so terrifying. It is a world engaged in sin, and depicts how pleasing sin feels, with no fear of damnation. There is no shame in it.
I would argue that Bosch is no heretic, but in fact has perfectly captured the nature of fallen humanity that makes a world of sin appear as a heavenly place. A world where the pleasure of sin is the pleasure of heaven, and earthly delights are both harmless to the body as well as the soul. His bizarre, haunting image of sin is indeed as relevant today as it was in 1500.

Hieronymus Bosch

The Garden of Earthly Delights

oil on panel

center panel 220 x 195 cm; wings 220 x 97 cm.

c. 1500

40 Days of Artists: Van Eyck

2011-03-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

In the 1400s as Italian Renaissance painters were perfecting their art, up north it seemed that one particular Flemish painter had already perfected the art of oil painting. Painting like this had never been seen from any other artist of the time. At the time, his secret to oil painting had been a mystery. Today we know Jan van Eyck must have used optics to capture such intricate details, but in many ways it is still a mystery as to how he painted them so exquisitely and perfectly.
Van Eyck's date of birth is uncertain, but was probably around 1390. He is often traditionally credited with the invention of oil painting, but we know this is incorrect as there is documentation from Theophilus Presbyter on oil painting in his On Divers Arts written in the 12th century. Though many of the human figures in Van Eyck's paintings are conceptualized in form, he still no doubt perfected the art of oil painting in ways that no other painter of the time came close to. His work is notoriously known for almost microscopic details of jewels and gold painted to perfection.
Van Eyck's greatest masterpiece to depict such details is the Ghent Altarpiece. Though it is one of Van Eyck's earliest works and the figures are conceptualized, there is an astonishing realism, and almost photographic quality that practically no Italian Renaissance artist of the time ever captured. The altarpiece is a among the first paintings to incorporate a technique known as trompe l'oeil, where the figures seem to have such a natural 3-dimensionality and life-likeness that one would expect them to walk right off the panel and into our reality. This can be seen particularly in Van Eyck's painting of Adam and Eve on the altarpiece.
Another of Van Eyck's mysterious masterpieces is his Arnolfini Wedding, currently displayed at the National Gallery in London. Van Eyck only has a few masterpieces that we can admire today, but each one no doubt played a crucial role in influencing many of the great northern European painters, and certainly still influence painters of oil to this day.

Jan Van Eyck
Detail from Ghent Altarpiece
oil on wood
1432

40 Days of Artists: Raphael

2011-03-21T12:31:00.000-07:00

He was Michelangelo's most worthy rival in the early 1500s. What Michelangelo was to sculpture, Raphael was to painting. He was renown for his paintings of the Madonna and Christ child, and his large scale compositions for the Vatican.
Raphael was born Raffaello Sanzi in 1483 in Urbino. By age 11, he was orphaned, and is believed to have moved to Perugia around that time, where he eventually be came an apprentice under the master Perugino. Between 1501 and 1503 he had received some major commissions, particularly that of the Coronation of the Virgin for the Oddi Chapel. Another of Raphael's early works inspired by Perugino's careful detail of perspective was the Marriage of the Virgin in 1504. This work was one of the first of many to come that demonstrated Raphael's narrative approach to painting, in addtion to the influence of Da Vinci with the use of the sfumato technique that gives the figures a soft focus in the light and shadow, enhancing their realism.
By 1504, Raphael had arrived in the art capital of Italy - Florence. It was here where Raphael accomplished many of his great series of Madonna portraits, and where Leonardo's influence became much more evident.
He spent the last decade of his life in Rome, where he completed his greatest works for the Vatican, including a series of large-scale frescos for the papal residence. The two greatest of these frescos are the School of Athens and the Disputa. School of Athens is his great work of homage to the academic disciplines of theology, philosophy, literature and the arts. Raphael even incorporates portraits resembling Da Vinci as the philosopher Plato, his rival Michelangelo, and even a self-portrait.
Raphael was also commissioned later on by Pope Leo X to create tapestries that would hang in the Sistine Chapel. Before doing the tapestries, Raphael painted full-size cartoon paintings that would resemble the tapestries. But it is the cartoon paintings that seem to have a more dramatic, powerful impact, as the represent Raphael at his best as a painter.
Raphael died at the age of 37 on his birthday, and was greatly celebrated at his funeral by the Vatican. He was buried at the Pantheon in Rome.

School of Athens

fresco

base width 770 cm

1509

40 Days of Artists: Masaccio

2011-03-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

If artists like Giotto and Fra Angelico were the early beginnings of the Renaissance, I would say it is Masaccio who brought it to full fruition.

Masaccio was born Tomasso Cassai in 1401 in San Giovanni Valdarno near Florence. It took only two influences combined for Masaccio to perfect his style - Brunelleschi's knowledge of mathematical and scientific accuracy in perspective, and Donatello's knowledge of the classical, naturalistic modeling of anatomy and proportion. Masaccio completely abandoned the old Gothic style of painting seen in Byzantine icons and embraced the naturalistic appearance, complete with perspective that gave his paintings a true sense of depth.

All of Masaccio's works were church altarpieces and frescos. Even his early works show the influence from the classical method by depicting the figures with natural, rounded and fleshy appearances, and a 3-dimensional use of shadow. His Trinity fresco, painted in 1425, was the one of the first paintings to use accurate one-point perspective in Western art.

Many of Masaccio's paintings have a noticeable difference in lighting than other paintings of its time. They appear to have a single light source, or an almost theatrical lighting that illuminates the figures and gives an obvious contrast between light and dark, adding to the realism and 3-dimensionality of the painting. Masaccio is one of the first artists to apply this principle known as chiaroscuro - a method used in many other later Renaissance artists, and even more so into the Baroque period. His fresco scenes for the Brancacci Chapel are considered his greatest masterpieces, particularly that of the Tribute Money and Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, where every detail is carefully thought out including the cast shadows from the figures.

Masaccio

Expulsion from the Garden of Eden

fresco

208 x 88 cm

1426-27

40 Days of Artists: Fra Angelico

2011-03-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

In 1982, the artist Fra Angelico was beautified by Pope John Paul II, and was declared a patron saint of artists. So, as one might suspect, Angelico must have been an important person.

He was born in 1395, and around the age of 23 he entered a Dominican convent in his hometown of Fiesole and became a friar and illuminator of religious texts. He also began painting altarpieces for the church. He was renown for his painting of religious subjects, and was referred to in his lifetime and after as "Il Beato Angelico," or "the Blessed Angelico." Angelico was his nickname over the years, as he was born Guido di Pietro, and later on became known as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole, or "Brother John from Fiesole."

Later on in 1436, Angelico painted for the convent of San Marco in Florence, where some of his greatest work was accomplished. His style had matured greatly, and his use of shadow gave the figures in his paintings a life-like appearance, particularly in his painting of the Transfiguration, and in figures of the Altarpiece for San Marco. For the time, paintings like these were just beginning to emerge, and Angelico was among few other artists such as Giotto and Masaccio to take part in this new movement of painting referred to by Vasari as the Renaissance. These paintings combined the style of the Byzantine icons with a new way of depicting realism in painting with use of shadow and 3-dimensionality that made the picture come to life.

Angelico died in Rome in 1455, and his tomb still exists at the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. In addition to his expert handling of paint, he lived a life of piety, and lived his life according to the Gospel, and according to his Dominican order to love the poor. He considered his works as divinely inspired. In looking at the reverent manner in which he painted his figures, it is safe to say that they were indeed.

Fra Angelico

Annunciation (Convento di San Marco, Florence)

fresco

230 x 321 cm.

1442-43

40 Days of Artists: Cennini

2011-03-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

Cennino Cennini was a 14th-15th century painter, but very little is known about any of his paintings. It's not his paintings that gave him a great name, but much like Vasari, it was a book that he wrote. Except this was not a book on the masters of art. It was a literal "how to" of art creation.

The book, Il Libro dell' Arte, can almost be described as a magician's handbook - giving some of the greatest secrets and techniques of its time on how to do drawings and paintings. Cennini went into everything - how to draw on panels, ink drawing, ink wash, how to make tracing paper, making gesso, making pigments, making paints, and how to paint with the paints you make. This is only a sampling of the items found in Cennini's handbook.

Some of the most fascinating bits of information found in his book are in the nature of pigments, and the making of these pigments. Today, making pigments according to these recipes has become a near-lost art in and of itself. However there are a few manufacturers of pigments that still work according to Cennini's instructions. Who would think that the making of paint would be such a fascinating art? See for yourself:

Cennino Cennini
Diptych Altarpiece
14th-15th century

40 Days of Artists: Botticelli

2011-03-16T13:31:00.001-07:00

When you think of paintings in the Sistine Chapel, who immediately comes to mind? Probably not Botticelli. But what is interesting is that he had frescos in the Sistine Chapel well before Michelangelo did. Almost 30 years before Michelangelo did, in fact.
Sandro Botticelli was born in 1445 and died in 1510 - two years before Michelangelo finished his work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Frescos by Botticelli can be seen on the left wall of the Chapel as you enter.
Though his frescos in the Chapel did not have the impact that Michelangelo's had, Botticelli's greatest work was perhaps in his mythological, allegorical paintings such as the Primavera, Birth of Venus, and Mars and Venus. These paintings were done in the 1470s and 80s, and have a unique ambiguity in their theme. Particularly with Primavera and Birth of Venus, one might venture to guess that they have a Christian religous theme associated with them. Especially given the central figures of the paintings, which appear as Madonna or Eve-like in their attitude. Botticelli's Venus, though a nude figure, still seems to portray a certain modesty and innocence in her stance.
This isn't particularly surprising, as Botticelli seemed to shift into strictly Christian religious-based motifs in his later work. He always seemed to have this theme in his mind, especially since there was a large demand for work that had a religious theme. Some of his greatest religious works include the Bardi Altarpiece, and his beautifully colorful Cestello Annunciation, which seems to mimic Fra Angelico's Annunciation altarpiece.

Sandro Botticelli

Birth of Venus

tempera on canvas

172.5 x 278.5 cm

c. 1485

40 Days of Artists: Pontormo

2011-03-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

I would describe Jacopo da Pontormo as perhaps the greatest Renaissance painter that no one knows about. Many of his paintings have been damaged, and very few surviving paintings are as beautifully preserved as that of his surviving masterpiece, The Deposition. It is the altarpiece for the Cappella Capponi in Florence.
Pontormo's style of painting is classified as mannerist, a style of the late Renaissance that seemed to begin the transition into Baroque. There was an artificial feel to the compositions, and had a much more dramatic and theatrical style of lighting and posing. This is clear as we look at Pontormo's altarpiece. The figures seem to float in space, and almost melt into each other like a jigsaw puzzle.
What also stands out in Pontormo's painting style is his use of color. He uses so many odd and intensely vibrant pastels that are simply not seen in any other painting of the time. That coupled with the gazes and facial features of his figures draw the viewer in. At first glance, it looks like just another Italian Renaissance painting, but once one gets beyond the glance and begins to truly look at the painting, it sucks the viewer in and does not let go. It becomes an almost surrealistic, dreamlike image. It is as if Pontormo has painted spiritualism into the painting.
Giorgio Vasari featured Pontormo in his Lives, and is one of the most bittersweet biographies featured because Vasari gives vast descriptions of paintings that no longer exist by Pontormo. He is among the many tragically neglected painters in all of art history. Thankfully for Pontormo's case, though many of his paintings are lost, it only takes one surviving masterpiece to gain great respect and appreciation for this forgotten master.

Jacopo da Pontormo

The Deposition

oil on wood panel

313x192 cm

c. 1528

40 Days of Artists: Michelangelo Buonarroti

2011-03-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

In 1508, the Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo Buonarroti to do a little painting for his chapel.
"Your commission is to decorate the ceiling." And of course, Michelangelo's response was, "What are you, kidding me? I'm not a painter!"

The original commission was to paint the 12 apostles, but Michelangelo turned it down because his craft was sculpture, not painting. But with a little compromise, he would ultimately do it with a few changes to the composition. Instead of the 12 figures, there would be over 300, and they would be from stories in the Old and New Testaments. From 1508-1512, Michelangelo stood on scaffolding painting the frescos - from the Creation of Adam to the Flood, and other stories from the Bible. Upon seeing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and the Last Judgment painting on the wall behind the altar, one almost forgets to look at the other frescos along the side walls painted by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Perugino, and Roselli.

Another of Michelangelo's greatest masterpieces was carved out of an old abandoned block of marble. His statue of David prooved there was no block of stone that Michelangelo could not carve into a masterpiece. The sculpture stands about 17 feet, and is located at the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence. The statue originally stood outside the Pallazzo della Signoria, and today a replica stands in its place.

Other masterpieces of Michelangelo include the Pieta statue in St. Peter's Basillica in Vatican City, and the architecture of St. Peter's dome, originally designed by Michelangelo. Though the artist did not live to see its completion in 1590, it remains a powerful symbol of the Vatican, and also a powerful symbol of the hand of Michelangelo.

"Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish." ~Michelangelo

Michelangelo Buonarroti

detail of The Creation of Adam, Sistine Chapel

fresco

1508-1512

40 Days of Artists: Giorgio Vasari

2011-03-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

I've already quoted him and referred to his critique and praise of certain artists, so now I will feature him in my 40 Days. Giorgio Vasari did a few paintings and frescos, but perhaps his greatest contribution to art was his survey of the greatest Renaissance artists - The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. Or simply, Lives of the Artists. It was first published in 1550, and is still considered today to be the quintessential document of art historical criticism and scholarship.
Vasari's Lives gives some of the most finely laid out details of works by the masters of the Italian Renaissance - Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Giotto, Titian, Pontormo, Brunelleschi, and others. One of the striking, and almost bittersweet details of the Lives is detail that Vasari gives of works that have been lost or no longer exist. It leaves the reader longing to see what these works actually looked like. He also maps out bits of the historical Italy in his descriptions of the artists' lives and where they lived, grew up, and studied. The details are wonderfully recorded, so that art students and art appreciators of today can witness these works and places for themselves, and see with their own eyes what Vasari was talking about 460 years ago.
The main point of writing about different artists for 40 days of Lent is to give a glimpse of 40 of God's greatest creations - who were themselves creators. I believe God also used Vasari as a prophet of sorts for the world of fine arts. His Lives is basically a testament to art history - a written witness for the discipline of classical painting and sculpting, and one of the main reasons that we still appreciate this timeless manner of creating in the 21st century.

Giorgio Vasari

Self Portrait

oil on canvas

101x80 cm

c. 1550-67

40 Days of Artists: Leonardo Da Vinci

2011-03-11T12:42:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder how Da Vinci had time to live, or if he had a social life of any kind after all his work drawing, painting, sculpting, studying anatomy, studying mathematics, inventing things, designing architecture, and maybe eating and sleeping every once in a while.

Another master of the Italian renaissance, Da Vinci was one of the great multitaskers to have ever lived. He did everything as scientifically as possible. There seemed to be a formula for everything, and especially in his studies of anatomy he would demonstrate the schematics of how proportions of the human body worked. There are some doctors today that refer to his drawings and can identify information that Da Vinci recorded that is still relevant to modern medicine. Certain parts have informed surgeons in their procedures.

He is widely considered one of the greatest painters of his time, if not the greatest. His Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre behind bulletproof glass, on its own wall, inside a room named after the painting. It is perhaps the most famous painting in the world. What makes it so famous and compelling is not only the mysterious smirk on her face, but the manner in which Da Vinci painted it. Using a technique called sfumato, the brush strokes seem to disappear in her portrait as the light and shadow appear to blend into each other to create a soft focus. Giorgio Vasari described this handling of the paint, saying that it would make even "the most confident master... despair and lose heart."

Leonardo Da Vinci

La Scapigliata

oil on panel

27x21 cm

c. 1508

40 Days of Artists: Giotto di Bondone

2011-03-10T10:06:00.000-08:00

"He made a decisive break with the crude traditional Byzantine style, and brought to life the great art of painting as we know it today, introducing the technique of drawing accurately from life, which had been neglected for more than two hundred years." -Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists

Vasari, states the most compelling quality of Giotto's painting in his biography of the artist - that he brought his paintings to life. His painting of the Lamentation shown below resides in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Veneto, Italy. Giotto presents a revolutionary new way of painting figures. They are no longer the rigid, Byzantine-style icons that appear almost emotionless and flat. Giotto incorporates a 3-dimensional illusion with shading, and depth that is not seen in other paintings of his time. Not only that, but the faces portray emotion. As Vasari would say, he makes the painting shed tears.

Giotto was the first great name in this style of painting. It was the birth of a style that would continue, and evolve into something greater than even Giotto probably could have ever imagined. Vasari was the first to use the term in his Lives, and described it as "a triumph of our time." The word was rinacita, or Renaissance.

Giotto di Bondone
Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ)
fresco
1304-06

40 Days of Artists: St. Luke

2011-03-09T10:35:00.001-08:00

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season... those glorious 40 days before Easter (46 if you count the Sabbaths). So this year I thought I would share with you 40 of the greatest figures in the history of art. These are just some of the greatest creations of God - His creators.

The first artist I thought would be fitting to share is St. Luke. Tradition suggests he was the first painter of icons. Nothing that is certainly attributed to St. Luke exists today, though there are a few pieces that traditionally point to him. For instance, a painting known as the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, resides in Poland.
Also, the Black Madonna of Guadalupe statue in the Santa Maria de Guadalupe monastery in the Province of Cáceres, Spain was believed to have been carved by St. Luke. The story is that in the 14th century, the Virgin Mary appeared before a shepherd and told him to ask priests to dig at the location of her appearance. Upon excavation, the statue was discovered.
Much of St. Luke's identity as an artist is legend at this point, though he is revered by the Roman Catholic Church as the first patron saint of artists.

St. Luke Displaying a Painting of the Virgin

Il Guercino

oil on canvas

1652-53

6 Reasons To Draw

2011-03-07T15:07:00.000-08:00

Here's a little something from Juliette Aristides: 6 reasons to draw.

1. Drawing forces you to slow down and become a more careful and powerful observer of the world around you.
2. In our culture it is easy to be passively entertained. By unplugging the computer, i-pod, cell phone etc and drawing you become an active, creative participant in the world.
3. Drawing impacts many careers from the design professions to carpentry. Studying drawing makes you more sensitive to what works visually and why.
4. You will have a greatly increased appreciation and understanding of art.
5. For the cost of a pencil and paper you get to unlock a whole world.
6. You will never be bored again.

Copy after Velazquez's Study for the Head of Apollo
red conté and charcoal
2011

Copying a Master

2011-03-01T21:57:00.000-08:00

As if doing a copy of an old master's painting wasn't daunting enough, I choose my favorite of all time, the painter of painters, Diego Velázquez. This portrait is pretty special for so many reasons. The original was actually just recently re-attributed to him after years of discrepancies and debates over whether he actually did it, or if it was simply a workshop portrait... or someone of the artist's studio.

What brought about these discrepancies was the numerous restorations that the painting endured. The painting was recently restored for the final time in 2009. Upon its restoration, restorers and scholars of Velázquez were utterly amazed at what they saw. Layers of varnish and re-painted areas were masking the true nature of the painting. These layers were added over a number of years to make the original sketchy study of a man look like a fully finished portrait. The original painting is a thinly coated, sketchy study for what would become a portrait seen in Velázquez's The Surrender of Breda.
The one intriguing dispute is on the identity of the sitter. It's not certain that this is a self-portrait, but given the likeness of other self-portraits of the artist, I can't possibly see how it could be anyone else.

Portrait of a Man (Copy after Velázquez)

oil on canvas

11x14 inches

2011

Diego Velázquez

Portrait of a Man

oil on canvas

27x21.5 inches

c. 1630-35

St. Catherine of Bologna

2011-02-28T19:16:00.000-08:00

This is my tribute to the patron saint of artists, St. Catherine of Bologna. She was born Catherine de'Vigri in 1413, and became a Franciscan Tertiary at the age of fourteen. In 1431, she founded a Monestery of the Order of the Poor Clares. She is attributed with having visions of God and Satan, and are recorded in some of her writings. Some of her writings and artwork still survive to this day. St. Catherine died in 1463 at the age of 48, and her body was exhumed 18 days after her death after reports of graveside miracles. As it turns out, her body was found to be incorrupt. Her body was relocated, and now can be seen on display at the chapel of the Poor Clares in Bologna.

St. Catherine of Bologna

oil on canvas

18x24 inches

2011

On Abstract Art...

2011-02-23T00:13:00.000-08:00

"Abstract art: A product of the untalented sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered." ~Al Capp

Female Torso

Cast drawing

red conté

2011

Studies

2011-02-17T23:43:00.000-08:00

Figure Study

After Titian's St. Sebastian

graphite

2011

Torso of Satyr

Cast drawing

graphite

2011

Figure with Phrygian Cap

Cast drawing

graphite

2011

On Artists...

2011-02-14T22:41:00.000-08:00

"Artists help us see the surprising beauty that breaks into our daily lives by celebrating that which might otherwise pass by unnoticed. Artists are in a unique position to have an intimate record of human life, as they give us the opportunity to see not only through their eyes but also through their thoughts and emotions. One could say that the greater the art, the more clearly we experience this communion of souls. Artists remind us that despite the pain and ugliness in the world, something deeper exists - a beauty that peeks through the drudgery of life, whispering that there is more just beneath the surface." -Juliette Aristides, from Classical Painting Atelier

Portrait of a Woman (After Da Vinci's La Scapigliata)

oil on canvas panel

16x20 inches

2011

More from Egypt

2011-01-25T20:59:00.000-08:00

By far the best part of Egypt was going to the Sahara in Giza to see the pyramids and the Sphinx... mostly because it was the one place where there was no clutter of tourists. We were actually able to move around and walk. And in doing so, I captured this camel taking a break from his workday of giving tourists rides for $5. This scene basically captures the spirit of Giza and the Sahara... a sunny, hot, and dry place with lots of sand and camels. And above all else, it was very fun and very beautiful.

Camel In Giza

oil on canvas

16x20 inches

2011

Finally... something to post.

2011-01-22T14:46:00.001-08:00

Okay, my hiatus is done... I finally have something new to put here. Most of January has been spent cleaning and reorganizing the studio, complete with a brand new easel that I've been wanting to get for a while now. And also doing some reading on the classical art method, which will hopefully help me to be better at what I do. And doing this painting, called "The Bread Seller." This is the latest in my Holy Land series. This is just a very quick candid moment from Egypt as we were riding around on the bus in Alexandria. We passed this gentleman on the side of the road, and I somehow managed to process this scene in my mind as an excellent painting subject and snapped a picture of it... all within a fraction of a second as we rode along. Pretty good, eh?
In other news, I will soon be re-entering the Blue Springs Fine Art Show, which is set for March 26-27. I entered last year, and it was a great experience. Although, we got hit by snow last year on that weekend, so from what I heard, attendance was apparently not what it typically should have been. Hopefully this year will be nicer in terms of weather.

The Bread Seller
oil on canvas
16x20 inches
2011

My goal for 2011...

2011-01-04T21:16:00.000-08:00

Commission me for a painting this year, and my promise is to exceed your expectations.

God's Garden Must Be Beautiful
oil on canvas
14x18 inches
2011

Wrapping up 2010

2010-12-16T23:01:00.000-08:00

It's getting to be the end of the year, and I am still busy with new paintings and new ideas for future paintings. I still have a couple of new commissions left to complete, hopefully before the year is done. I am really excited and anxious to get back to the Holy Land series... I have so many more left to do... I have 3 Egypt ideas and at least 2 more Israel ideas to paint.

So I suppose my New Year's goal for 2011 is to be a better artist. I want more than anything to get my work some more exposure in any way possible. Hopefully, if I can get some of these paintings sold and acquire some money, that will be possible.

Fishing Boat
oil on canvas
11x14

Rejected
acrylic on canvas
11x14

Something different...

2010-12-03T13:59:00.000-08:00

With a couple of new commissions in the works, the Holy Land paintings will be going on a brief hiatus until January, if not before then. I hope I can return to them by the end of December. This one's not a commission, it's just one that I did for fun, to put on Ebay at some point. Simple, happy, flowery still life. I've been gathering materials and ideas together for some new paintings (in addition to more of the Holy Land series) for 2011. I'm hoping they turn out to be good pieces. We shall see...

Vase of Flowers
oil on canvas
12x16 inches

Olive Branch

2010-12-01T12:17:00.001-08:00

I thought I'd do something a little different for the next Holy Land piece... and do a close up still life of some of one of the olive branches from one of the trees at the orchard we visited in Sorrento, Italy. This is the place where we sampled some of the olive oil and the most delicious mozzarella cheese on the planet. Still to come... I will have more of my experience in Israel, Egypt, and Italy.

Olive Branch
oil on canvas
16x20 inches

More Sicily

2010-11-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

Pretty self-explanatory...

Lovely Taormina
oil on canvas
16x20 inches

Epic battle... But I won.

2010-11-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

So on Wednesday the 17th, I was trying to choose between two pictures to make a painting out of... one a landscape, and the other a cafe scene... both from the trip in Sicily. And I chose the cafe scene because, for some reason, it looked easier. It turned out to be an insane battle and test of my patience and my ability as an artist. Over the course of two days, the total time spent on this painting was about 12 hours, 30 minutes. Don't ask me what I was thinking... this was not the easier choice between the two.

Cafe In Taormina
oil on canvas
16x20 inches

Gethsemane

2010-11-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

This is one of a few images from the Garden of Gethsemane that I'm planning to paint. The olive trees in this garden are haunting, and full of movement and unusual lines and shapes. The roots are 2000 year-old witnesses of Christ. This was certainly a holy place.

Gethsemane
oil on canvas
16x20 inches

View of Galilee

2010-11-12T13:47:00.000-08:00

Here is the third in my Holy Land series. After such a huge challenge like the Roman Colosseum, I thought I'd do an easy one. So this is a view of Galilee, as seen from the Mount of the Beatitudes. Some nice landscape with a little hint of the beautiful Sea of Galilee. There will be more of the Sea to come. Plus, the Parthenon, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Sicily, and more.

View of Galilee
oil on canvas
16x20 inches

My Name Is Gladiator...

2010-11-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

Here is the second of my Holy Land series. As you may guess, this is the Roman Colosseum (Amphitheatrum Flavium). It was a pretty excruciating job.. about 10 total hours of work. But the results are well worth the tired neck and the headache I endured.

Colosseum
oil on canvas
16x20 inches

The Holy Land Paintings...

2010-10-29T16:16:00.001-07:00

... have begun.

The Acropolis
oil on canvas
16x20 inches

New Painting 9/27/10

2010-09-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a new painting that I just did today, also to be listed on Ebay in late October. It took about an hour and a half, alla prima. But I was kind enough to condense the video down to under 5 minutes for the sake of the impatient... like me.

This is called "Just Roaming Again."

Coming Soon

2010-09-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more paintings to be listed on Ebay later in October. For the complete listing of my current Ebay paintings, click here: http://shop.ebay.com/ryandart/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25

More to come later!

Just Roaming
oil on canvas
11x14

Beach Canopy
oil on panel
16x20

Art For Sale

2010-09-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

All of the following paintings can be found on my Ebay page: http://shop.ebay.com/ryandart/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25

Auctions end on September 28 and 29, 2010. Those that do not sell will be relisted later in October, so please keep your eye out. Or, if you would like to purchase from me directly, just shoot me an email at ryandelgadoart@gmail.com

More to come!!