Art Articles

Article by Slater Smith

The Renaissance was one of the greatest periods in art history. Man lost the teachings of the Ancients during the Middles Ages, but was able to not only renew, but to improve upon them. We think of Raphael’s monumental frescoes, Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, and Michelangelo’s awe-inducing sculptures. They must have been gifted. They must have been talented from birth. They must have had divine motivation or inspiration to reach such heights. Or so we think. The artist was not much during the Renaissance. In fact, “artist” was a word nearly floating into obscurity. They were simple craftsmen trying to make a living, just like a normal man. Not as moving of a purpose as the modern world would expect…

Article by Slater Smith

Very recently, I got into a discussion on which careers are beneficial to society and which are not. At some point, an individual said that art has absolutely no purpose to the world, giving no explanation as to why. I was immediately startled. How could anyone not know the value of fine art? After a day or two of thinking, I realized that very little painters, sculptors, and other craftsmen are ever referred to outside of an art history or appreciation course and how many students even take the time to participate in such classes? I does not make sense to study the French Revolution with without studying Jacques-Louis David, nor is it logical to speak of religion without the Sistine Chapel being mentioned. In this article, I would like to explain the various ways artists have shaped today’s world…

Article by T. Stonefield

I think one of the hardest things for new painters to do with confidence is to execute their dark values with conviction and make them dark enough. Over and over, I have told my beginning students to make their darks darker. There always seems to be so much resistance.

“Really? Darker than this?!!” they ask perplexed…

Article by Slater Smith

Throughout art history, there are very few accomplished female painters. This was caused by numerous factors, most relating women being too “delicate” for work. Despite societal standing, a small portion of determined souls were able to learn the art. One of the first and most successful female painters was Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the Great Masters from the Baroque period, famous for her depictions of Judith. Her works were skillfully rendered, full of a feminist’s spirit, and rival that of her male contemporaries.

Artemisia was born on July 8th, 1593, in Rome. She exhibited extraordinary artistic talent in her youth. Her father, Orazio Gentileschi, was able to recognize this and decided to train her, as women were not allowed to attend art academies in the 17th century. Orazio was no stranger in the field of painting. He was a Caravaggisti, or a follower of Caravaggio. His works incorporated the chiaroscuro technique, creating incredible tonal contrast and drama within a scene. Artemisia became influenced by the same technique and, for some time, critics could not tell whether she or her father had made a particular piece. From further training and expanding her view on life in general, Artemisia began to develop her own sense of style. Her first known work is titled “Susanna and the Elders”…

Article by T. Stonefield

It was 1998. My husband was gone. My mother had died of leukemia that June.and I was trying to get my live back together.

I had been back in the States for already two years. I had found work, a place to live, and even bought a used car. At first, I thought I wouldn’t need one and just use mass transit as I had done in Japan. However, by November, the temperature was hovering around freezing and I realized that there was no way I was going to be walking the 20 minutes and waiting for buses that were never on schedule or never even came. So I gave in…

The things you need to know to make your paintings sing

Article from T. Stonefield

1. Focal point – What do you want your views to look at first?

The main goal of a artist is to direct the viewer’s eye through the painting and lead them toward what you think is important. Very much like a director for the stage, you use supporting actors and background to highlight the main character or focal point of your painting. Although there isn’t only one way to do this, there are tried and true strategies you can use to draw a viewer’s eye to a point of interest, as well as to create the illusion of objects, people, and places being set in space…

Article by Slater Smith

When we think of Greek sculpture, we tend to have beautiful white statues made of marble run through our heads. The figures are realistic, full of movement, and idealized. The Venus de Milo, one of the most popular Greek sculptures, comes to mind. Limbs are missing, clothing falls in a dreamlike motion, all on the nude figure. What most people do not realize is that sculpture in Greece was not how we view it today and we are left with but only a faint shadow of the true experience…

Article from Chris Crombé

From hunters/gatherers to farmers/shepherds

In the history of prehistoric times one makes distinction between the old and the new Stone Age. Both in the Paleolithic and the Neolithic age people made use of stone tools, hence Stone Age. The big difference between the two is that during the Paleolithic, people mostly were hunter-gatherers whereas in the Neolithic age agriculture arose. This evolution has everything to do with the climatic changes by the end of the great ice age. As a result of the more fertile land, it became possible to stay longer at the same place.

During the Old Stone Age, plants and crops were the business of women. It were probably women, who in the proximity of their settlement, took the first steps towards agriculture. And they just kept doing this in the new Stone Age…

Article from Chris Crombé

When did the history of art start? The simplest answer is: the moment people started to create art.

It has been assumed for a long time that the earliest form of art is only 45.000 years old and dated from the time of the Homo sapiens. These modern men came from Africa and were able to express themselves in images and symbols, witness the many figurative and abstract art forms from the late paleolithicum (40.000-10.000 BC)

Due to the traditional view that art should be a representation of nature and could only be created by modern man, we overlooked for a long time the art of older mankind…

Article from Slater Smith

Tempera painting was once the primary way of applying pigment on canvas, its only rival being fresco painting. Every Old Master made tempera from scratch in their workshop, along with the apprentices that gathered to learn what it took to be an artist. Mixing tempera was a very delicate procedure, admitting much room for error. Despite this, tempera reigned during the early Renaissance and for centuries prior, dating back into Egyptian times. With the advent of oil painting, the beautiful medium slowly died out.

Artists had to mix tempera themselves, as needed. The pigments, also ground from raw material, were combined with the binder, egg yolk, and distilled water. It was essential to get the proportions accurate, which slightly varies depending on the pigment. It dried quickly, sometimes on the brush itself, much like common-day acrylics. Too much paint would leave leftovers that could not be stored; only discarded. On the opposite end of the spectrum, not making enough tempera paint, would like lead to color inconsistency, as a second batch rarely matched the first…