Category Archives for The Masters
The Art of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Carot
“Corot” by Madeleine Hours
The Art of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Carot
“Corot” by Madeleine Hours
Fundamentals of Painting
After years of taking and teaching workshops, I’ve come to understand that the fundamentals are important in painting, but are just a means to get you where you want to be with your artwork. As John Carlson says in his book, John Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting, “Art is a thing so much of the imagination, of the soul, that it is difficult to descend to the fundamentals of technique and yet make it plain to the student that these are but the means, and not an end in themselves. The underlying principles, or fundamentals, should be so hidden anyway by the beauty that they are eventually to support, that it would require much digging to disclose them.” In other words, Continue Reading
Appreciating Edward Seago
Edward Seago was a 20th century British landscape painter. Known in the US primarily for his plein air work in oil and watercolor. It’s hard to find books on his work but I have found some show catalogs of his plein air work. One book that can be found is
Wilson Hurley
Wilson Hurley passed away this year. I didn’t know Wilson very well, but I was able to visit his studio twice where he was kind enough to critique my work and spend time talking about painting and things that influenced him. Wilson had a varied and full life, he attended West Point, became a pilot and served in Vietnam. He attended law school and practiced in New Mexico. During all this time he painted when he could. He eventually started painting fulltime and used all his experiences in life to teach himself to paint and was encouraged by Robert Lougheed, also an artist in New Mexico.
Wilson’s work can be found in many museums including the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, and the Albuquerque Museum of Art. The pieces that have had the most effect on me Continue Reading
Taking Note of Oscar Beringhaus
My Great Uncle, Joseph Brooks lived on the farm that my dad was raised on near Kansas City, MO. He tended the chickens and had his own room off the kitchen where he would show me drawings and small watercolors that he would do around the farm. When I was older and serious about art I found out that he had gone to art school at Washington University in St. Louis after World War I. He became a commercial artist in St. Louis doing newspaper ads, labels and brochures mostly in ink and gauche. I inherited a lot of the work he did during those years. One that sticks out is the Clabber Girl Baking Soda label that is still being used today. Sometime in the thirties he moved back to the farm because of family demands. He had always talked about his Life Drawing teacher in art school, Oscar Berninghaus and told lots of stories of Berninghaus living with and painting Indians in Continue Reading
Did the Great Masters Cheat?
Sometime back I read an article by Gregg Kruetz. He was refuting two books that proclaimed that many of the great masters from the Renaissance and beyond used optical aids to achieve the advances in perspective and drawing.Continue Reading
Did the Great Masters Cheat?
Sometime back I read an article by Gregg Kruetz. He was refuting two books that proclaimed that many of the great masters from the Renaissance and beyond used optical aids to achieve the advances in perspective and drawing.Continue Reading