On 10 Mar, 2018 With
Article by Steve Metcalfe
The first time I saw Sir John Everett Millais’ painting The Order of Release I was thirteen years old and struggling to stay alert in Mister Harvey’s gloomy art class. In the darkened classroom the teacher, a deeply religious man, showed slide after slide of Renaissance masterpieces, each projection accompanied by a long, tedious explanation of its origins, technical merits, and biblical authenticity. Even at that tender age I wondered whether there should be a limit on how many depictions of the Madonna and child, hovering angels, and crucified Christs there were in the world. Little did I know.
When The Order of Release appeared on the screen it was as though a light had been switched on. To my young mind the painting instantly made sense and the story it told unfolded in my imagination as if by osmosis.
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On 1 Mar, 2018 With
Article by Jimena Escoto
No matter where you are, if you have never read one of his plays, you surely have heard about William Shakespeare. I can’t even remember from whom or where did I hear the story of Romeo and Juliet, I just knew it one day. That is how mainstream Shakespeare’s stories have become. It is the greatest writer of English history, and they surely are proud of him. That is why it is not a surprise that it has served as an inspiration for many painters of the time and later.
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On 21 Feb, 2018 With
Article by Jimena Escoto
Humans have always been intrigued by that which is different from themselves. Anytime we encounter something that does not belong to our set of principles, values, style, etc., we tend to see it as exotic. True, it may inspire fear upon a lot of people, but also fascination and will to know more about it. Such was the case of the Romantics of the XIX century.
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On 14 Feb, 2018 With
Article by Jimena Escoto
The Fable of Arachne or The spinners is one of my favorite paintings ever. Why? Well it has many of the elements that I love about art. Firstly, it tells a mythological story: the fable of Arachne; secondly, it is full of characters and elements that surprise us as we discover their meanings. And finally, it’s like having a painting within a painting. Not to mention that is was made by one of the greatest painters: Diego Velázquez.
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On 7 Feb, 2018 With
Article by Jimena Escoto
In this article, I would like to talk about one of my favorite painters: Guido Reni. There’s something about his painting that caught my attention from the first time I saw them. Reni was born in 1575 in Bologna, Italy. Since he was the son of Danieli Reni, a musician, it was expected of him to follow his father’s steps. However, Guido’s passion and talent to paint took him to another path. He started studying art under the guidance of Denys Calvaert. Soon after, he went to continue his artistic education in the Carracci Academy where there was an emphasis in nature. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of examples of this period of his life.
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On 3 Feb, 2018 With
Article by Jimena Escoto
People tend to say that a dog is a man’s best friend, but I beg to differ. Don’t get me wrong, I adore dogs, but I love horses. Ever since the man was able to make art, he have depicted horses, just take a look at the prehistoric paintings of Lascaux and Altamira…
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On 18 Jan, 2018 With
Article by Jimena Escoto
“Women are from Venus and men are from Mars.” Surely, you’ve heard and said this phrase at least once. It is a common way of referring to the widely different views in which women and men see the world. As we see an artwork, we cannot make the assumption that such representation is the only and true one.
Every artist prioritize what he or she thinks it is necessary and interprets the scene from his or her point of view. That is why we find in some artworks that depict similar stories different messages. An example of it is the biblical story of Susanna and the elders…
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On 26 Dec, 2017 With
Article by Priscilla
Ever since I came across the Drawing Academy website and their approach to traditional drawing, I’ve been really interested with the Old Masters. How they can convey such great emotion, force, power, fragileness with only a few strokes? This is what I wanted to know. I did a lot of research on YouTube and various social media but I couldn’t find any great answer.
The Drawing Academy picked my interest in searching ways to learn and improve my art skill. The Drawing Academy helped me understand that art can be really beautiful, and all you need is knowledge and dedication. For days, I searched for that knowledge, reading all the things that the Academy tutors say about anatomy, perspective, human figure and so on. And in my frantic research, I stumble across one name: Ilya Repin, St. Petersburg. Someone mentioned it and said they studied there, since then my interest was picked and I gathered all the information I could about this amazing school.
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On 26 Nov, 2017 With
Article by Tooba Soleymani Movahed
Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring is under a mysterious veil. This mystery has often been attributed to the unknown identity of the model and it seems that the question “who is she?” not only never becomes trite, but also elicits new answers and dimensions as the time passes by…
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On 1 Jul, 2017 With
Article by Tina
On July 15, 1606 a baby boy by the name of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in the city of Leiden, Netherlands. His father was a miller named Gerritsz van Rijn. His mother was a baker’s daughter named Neeltgen Willemsdr van Zuytbrouck. Rembrandt had a total of 7 siblings (2 died during infancy). By 1640, only 4 of his siblings managed to make it to adulthood.
Rembrandt was enrolled in Latin school until age 14. By then he transferred to Leiden University. Bored with his courses, he eventually left the university to pursue something of greater interest: painting. His first art teacher was a man named Jacob van Swanenburgh who lived in Leiden. Rembrandt studied under Jacob for 3 years. Rembrandt then ventured to Amsterdam to learn under another master for 6 months, Pieter Lastman, who was especially gifted in the creation of historical paintings. As well as, Jan Pynas. Under both artists, Rembrandt learned subjects such as history and rhetorical gestures.
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