AMERICAN PAINTING

Much art of the American colonial period consisted of portraits, as settlers sought to establish their identities in a new world. After the new nation achieved its independence, landscapes and scenes of native flora, fauna, and folk customs began to express its unique qualities and illustrate its untapped resources.

Portraiture formed the mainstay of subject matter in colonial and federal American art, as immigrants to the New World attempted to bring a semblance of Old World civilization to their wild or, at best, provincial surroundings. When Benjamin West arrived in Rome in 1760, he was the first American artist to study in Europe. Upon seeing the Vatican's famous classical statue, the Apollo Belvedere, West exclaimed, "My God! How like it is to a young Mohawk warrior!" His astute comparison between a "noble savage" and the "glory that was Greece" won hearty applause from the connoisseurs. West soon emerged as Europe's foremost history painter, dropping the allegorical trappings from classical antiquity that had been the norm and basing his work on historical research.

John Singleton Copley followed West's example in depicting past and present occurrences with believable accessories and settings. Gilbert Stuart, who studied with West in London, revitalized the concept of "Grand Manner" portraiture; his Skater is invigorated with a sense of immediacy and activity.Read more...>

The Elegance of Chinese Painting

The history of Chinese painting can be dated back to the Neolithic age six thousand years ago. It was at this time that Chinese artists began to use brushes in their work. Chinese art and painting have evolved considerable after many years and influences from other cultures, but there are many elements in the painting that still remain a constant today.

Paper or silk used frequently used in Chinese painting producing a beautiful effect. You will see the pictures appear on murals, screens, and fans in the Chinese culture. Chinese pictures can consist of fine brush strokes and intricate detail, or pictures that employ a freehand brush stroke and images that are more abstract.

The primary subjects of Chinese paintings are the flower and birds. Other pictures are frequently seen in Chinese art include, beautiful landscape scenes, and paintings of figures.

Chinese Painting Art that Creates a Poem

Many pieces will include an inscription or seal that will help the audience of the picture understand what the artist was trying to convey through his painting. In order to convey the message of the piece the incorporation of calligraphy and engraving are regularly included into Chinese painting. These elements all work together in a beautiful combination to bring a story and a symbolism to each masterpiece.

Frequently seen in Chinese paintings are Bamboo and plum blossoms. As well, one of the ideas that a Chinese artist wants to convey through his canvas is the poetry that the culture finds in nature and natural scenes. That is why landscapes are so popular in Chinese art.

Chinese Painting Technique Elements and Tools

Chinese painting incorporates a variety of elements to create beautiful and serene natural landscapes. It is a treat to be able to enjoy the art of this particular culture.

The brush techniques used in the art of this culture require a coordination of the painter’s entire arm to create the long straight strokes of the bamboo poles that appear in many Chinese paintings. The motions require some practice to master, but will result in a free-flowing effect.

To this day, much of the Chinese art that you see is done with ink of various intensities to create lightness and dark in various objects. Color in Chinese painting generally consists of the hues that are found in nature. Tools used include ink sticks and writing brushes.

Abstract Painting

Abstract painting should contain subject matter that will hold the attention of the beholder and should evoke an emotional response. Abstract art evokes many different types of reactions in people that include derisive remarks such as even a ten year old could have done that. To this the artist may retort that it requires some degree of mental ability to appreciate abstract paintings.

One needs to comprehend the elements as well as color and textures used in the abstract painting and also understand how all these elements interact with one another. Viewers of abstract paintings should try to figure out what the painting represents or looks like instead of finding something that ought to emerge out of the painting Also worth considering is whether the title is appropriate to what the painting is all about..

The abstract painting artist should worry about making the painting look beautiful as well as making the intentions of the abstract painting convey something special. The abstract painting should also be able to get the beholder to view the abstract painting and extract a meaning from it and also try to get the anticipated interpretation of the painting conform to the title.

It may not be widely known but abstract painting is not an invention of the twentieth century, as one would imagine. Early Jewish as well Islamic religion prohibited depicting human beings. This resulted in Jewish as well as Islamic cultures developing a different standard of decorative arts and calligraphy is one example of this.

Abstract painting artists have been influenced by theosophy that concerns itself with thought forms used to illustrate the psychic forces that are a result of emotions, music and other events.

Abstract painting artists place emphasis on visual sensations in their abstract paintings frequently through included harmonious arrangements of colors.

Abstract painting is a form of art in which the objects in the real world are not depicted and instead use is made of color and form in non-representational ways. Abstract paintings may elucidate real forms in simplified or reduced ways that keep only the illusion of the original subject and are often claimed to set in color something of the immutable and intrinsic aspects of the depicted object.

FRENCH PAINTING OF THE 19TH CENTURY

As the century began, the academic style favored by the official Salon still dictated the success of artists and public taste. But soon that began to change. Realists turned convention on its head to give heroic character to everyday subjects. Manet scandalized the public with his images of modern life. Impressionists tried to capture fleeting effects of light and atmosphere.

Fine Oil Painting in the first half of the nineteenth century was dominated by Ingres and Delacroix, the first continuing in the neoclassical tradition in his emphasis on linear purity and the second championing the expressive, romantic use of color as opposed to line. Both significantly influenced a new generation of painters who sought to communicate their own personal responses to the political upheavals of their time.

For two hundred years, the Academy, the School of Fine Arts, and the Salon, the official exhibition, had fostered the French national artistic tradition. But by the middle of the nineteenth century the academic system had degenerated.

During the 1860s and 1870s, the oil painting artists who later became known as the impressionists concluded that the smoothly idealized presentation of academic art was formulaic and artificial. Their relatively loose, open brushwork underscored their freedom from the meticulously detailed academic manner. They were innovative in their subject matter, too, choosing motifs that did not teach or preach, such as landscape original oil painting or ordinary activities of daily life, which were considered trivial or degenerate by the Academy. Often juries, dominated by academic attitudes, rejected the young artists' paintings altogether.

Watercolor Painting Technique

You can incorporate many different watercolor painting techniques into your works. One of the more basic watercolor painting techniques is called a flat wash, and is used to cover large areas of your oil painting on canvas. It is done by dampening your oil on canvas, and spreading your paint from the top to the bottom using a large brush to move the color quickly and in broad strokes. Another good watercolor painting technique is called the wet in wet, and requires wetting your canvas with a spray bottle before applying your watercolor. watercolor painting technique You can achieve the opposite effect with a dry brush technique that uses a dry surface and a pigment. This watercolor painting technique can actually add texture to your work. For best results, it is a good idea to combine a number of watercolor painting techniques into each work to add focal points and create maximum impact.

If you are thinking that watercolor painting might be a fun hobby for you to try, your next step should be into your local fine art gallery reproduction or craft store to find supplies and perhaps get advice from a professional as to how to get started. There are classes, books and instructional videos that can teach you the basic watercolor painting techniques. Unleash your artistic ability by creating a watercolor masterpiece today!

American Portraits of the Late 1700s and Early 1800s

Descended from the Mathers, a family of famous clergymen in colonial Massachusetts, Mather Brown moved permanently to England in 1781 at the age of twenty. Under the tutelage of Benjamin West, he began oil painting biblical subjects and scenes from Shakespeare. The greater influence on Brown's portraits, though, was the fluid style of Gilbert Stuart. If anything, Brown was even more flamboyant than Stuart in his application of richly colored, thickly textured paint. In William Vans Murray, for instance, Brown outlined the sitter's eyelids in bright red. The hair, cravat, and curtain were rendered with pirouettes of a dancing brush.

Murray studied law in London from 1784 to 1787 before returning to his farm near Cambridge, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay's Eastern Shore. He later served in Congress and as minister to France. In addition to other prominent Americans abroad, such as Thomas Jefferson, Brown's clientele included members of the royal family.

This patronage sparked sarcasm from an exasperated, anonymous English painter: "Mr. West paints for the Court and Mr. Copley for the City. Thus the artists of America are fostered in England, and to complete the wonder, a third American, Mr. Brown of the humblest pretences, is chosen portrait painter to the Duke of York. So much for the Thirteen Stripes—so much for the Duke of York's taste."

Wall Painting Technique-Make Your Room Look New Again

Wall painting is a magnificent way to add rich tone to any room. Depending on the shade you choose, you can lighten, clean up or cozy up your room. You can make tiny rooms appear larger or ample rooms emerge more inviting. Paint is low-cost, easy to apply and can serve as a beautiful background to your space – provided that it is done right. Providentially, there are some simple steps to pursue that will ensure that your interior tinted space will look great and last for several years.

Wall Painting Technique -Selecting the Right Paint

The initial step is to find the finest paint for the wall you need to work with. If you are painting a workplace or dine room, your choice will be very different if you are looking at vinaigrette up a kitchen, lavatory or kids area. For rooms that do not suffer from as much wear or tear, you can have your predilection of a flood of variety and shades.

If you are functioning with a room that sees constant use, you will be better off if you decide a washable paint that is. In rooms that see plenty of wetness, like your lavatory, a paint that will oppose mildew is a good idea. If you have any queries about the finest wall painting for your job, you can check the sticker on the paint can or ask a professional at the home development store were you shop.

Sponge Painting Technique

Sponging is one of the simplest painting techniques to learn. It requires a base coat of one color that is tinted above with another one. The second coat is applied with a sea sponge that is evenly dabbed at random over the entire wall. Depending on the colors that you utilize and the technique you handle your sponge, the effects that you can enjoy from this sponge Painting technique are nearly vast.

There is actually no right or wrong way to sponge paint, but there are a couple of rules of thumb to make your walls most pleasant to the eye. A good sponge painting technique requires you to keep the touch of the sponge fairly light, so your upshot is a subtle one. You also want to sustain an even tone to the walls, with no lighter and darker spots in areas. It is a fine idea to practice on a board or other sample material before taking the sponge to the bulwark of your room.

Faux Wall Painting Technique

If you are looking for a way to jazz up your walls with a little bit of money and a lot of creativity, look no further than the faux wall painting technique available. With a little paint and some know-how from books, websites and home improvement stores, you can create effects on your walls that will add color and texture to your rooms. Many of these faux wall painting techniques are very easy to learn and simple to accomplish if you are willing to take the time to do so. Others will be more successful with the aid of a class that instructs students on proper faux wall painting technique.

Faux Wall Painting Technique the Finishing Touch

You can create a stencil border over your base coat using templates and stencil paint. You can even paint murals and stories across one wall that will serve as a focal point for a room. There are patterns available for murals as well. Decorating is no longer just about applying paint to walls. With the many faux finishes you can achieve through various faux wall painting techniques, you can give any room an artistic flair.

Comb Painting Technique

Another painting technique that requires a little more practice is combing. This technique is done with a squeegee that has teeth like a comb. Just like sponging, combing begins with a base coat of one color that is allowed to dry thoroughly. Next, a second color is applied and the comb is drawn through the paint while it is still wet. The effect is a textured appearance that can look like straight lines, zigzags or waves. The Comb Painting technique is usually very inexpensive, since the tools involved are simply two hues of paint and a squeegee comb.

Creative Comb Painting Technique

If this Comb Painting technique seem too basic for your artistic flair, there are many other comb painting techniques that involve multiple colors and additional tools for application. There are techniques that can give you a faux marble or granite look by using special paints in three or more colors and a sea sponge for blending, and a comb for addition texture.

You can create a stencil border over your base coat using templates and stencil paint, use your squeegee to add a unique texture. You can even paint murals and stories across one wall that will serve as a focal point for a room. This Comb Painting technique works especially well in children’s areas. There are patterns available for murals as well. Decorating is no longer just about applying paint to walls.

Flower Painting Technique

Many types of flowers have meanings that are normally connected with them. You may be familiar with the creative view that the rose of different colors indicates diverse things. For example, red roses tend to symbolize passion, while yellow roses typically mean longstanding friendship. Pink stands for young love and white often mean purity. Other flowers carry similar meanings, so when you consider adding a flower painting technique to your repertoire, think about the meaning that you want to convey through your oil paint.

Flower Painting Technique Stenciling

A number of techniques can be used to add flowers to your Oil painting. One of the easiest methods is through stenciling. Stenciled flowers can be painted on walls as a border, furniture as an accent, or even on articles of clothing using fabric paint. If you can't find a stencil that tickles your fancy, there are also numerous flower stamps available.

Stamping can be used in place of stenciling on just about any surface as well. For those who desire to become a bit more adventurous with their flower painting technique, you can learn many techniques for freehand projects. One of the most popular is One Stroke Oil Painting that offers instructions for creating many different types of flowers. This flower painting technique works extremely well on vases and flower pots, as well as walls and furniture. If you eventually wish to take freehand a step further, try covering a landscape painting with misty watercolor flowers or bright flowers painted with oils.

Face Painting Idea

One should learn to imagine how the finished face painting idea would appear. Not experiment while face painting. One can also use awash bits of cotton wool to create a bumpy nose or big eyebrows and for an extra-ghostly effect, after the face painting idea has been completed, one may apply dusting of flour.

It is also a good idea to use a stencil if one is not good at freehand painting or is short of time. A quicker alternative would be to use temporary tattoos though some people may have skin that reacts badly to them and one may even use glitter to create a quick and dramatic effect, though it does spread too much and is also hard to remove.

One should also have a mirror on hand so that the people that have had their face painting work done can see the results and having a high stool on hand will save the artist (that is, you) from excessive bending for long periods, when painting many faces, and thus prevent back aches.

One should also have a ready stock of tissues on hand as face painting requires a lot of wiping of the hands as well as brushes. Also, face painting is often messy, though fun, and baby wipes work faster and is also useful to clean up any mistakes along the way.

It is always a great satisfaction to see the excited look of a child’s eyes when your face painting idea takes shape and comes to life.

Self Portrait

A Self-portrait is a depiction of an artiste, haggard, tinted, or sculpt by the artist. Even though self-portraits have been made by artist since the earliest period, it is not until the Early resurgence in the mid 1400s that artists can be often identified portraying themselves as either the main issue, or as imperative characters in their art work.

With improved and cheaper mirror, and the advent of the panel portrayal, many painter, sculptors as well as printmakers tried a few self-portraiture. The plausible example by Jan van Eyck of 1433 is the first known panel self-portrait. He tinted a separate picture of his wife, and he belong to the public that had begun to commission portrait, already more general among rich Netherlanders when compared to south of the Alps. The genre is esteemed, but not until the resurgence, with improved wealth and curiosity in the entity as a subject, did it become really popular.

Portrait Painting

Portrait painting is a genus in painting, where the intention is to portray the visual manifestation of the subject, most frequently a person. A well executed picture is anticipated to illustrate the inner essence of the subject not just a physical image.

The phrase 'portrait painting' can also explain a painted portrait. Portraitists make their portraits by commission or are enthused by appreciation or fondness for the subject. If an artiste portrays him or herself, the end result is called a self-portrait.

Portraits can describe the subject 'full body', 'half span' or 'head and shoulder'. Beside human beings, flora and fauna, pets and even lifeless objects can be elected as the subject matter for a portrayal.

Oil sketch or Oil study

An Oil sketch or oil study is an fine art work made chiefly in oil paints, and which is more abbreviated in managing than a completely finished work of art. Initially these were fashioned as introductory study or modelli, particularly so as to gain sanction for the design of a larger custom-built painting. They were also used as design for specialist in other media, such as printmaking or wall-hanging, to follow. Later they were formed as sovereign works, often with no thought of being stretched into a full-size picture.

The common medium for modelli was the sketch, but an oil sketch, even if made in a limited choice of colors, could better recommend the tone of the estimated work. For an artist with excellent technique, the fabrication of an oil sketch may be as fast as that of a drawing, and a lot of practitioners had splendid brush skills. In its speediness of finishing the oil sketch may be used not only to express progress and transient effects of light and color, its gestural nature may even symbolize a mimetic parallel to the act of the subject.

Oil painting Techniques

Traditional oil painting technique often starts with the artist drawing the figure onto the canvas with charcoal which is watery paint. Oil paint can be mix with turpentine or artist rating mineral spirits or other lean vehicle to make thinner, faster aeration paint. Then the artist build the figure in layers. A vital rule of oil paint application is 'fat over lean'. This means that each added layer of paint must be a bit oilier when compared to the layer below, to permit proper drying.

As a picture gets additional layers, the paint must get oilier or the final canvas will break and peel. There are a number of other painting medium that can be used in oil painting, include cold wax, resins, and varnish. These added medium can support the artist in correcting the translucency of the paint, the shine of the paint, the thickness or 'body' of the paint, and the ability of the paint to grip or hide the brushstroke. These variables are strongly connected to the expressive capacity of oil coat.

When we look at original oil paintings, the various character of oil paint allow one to sense the choice the artist made as they apply the paint. For the spectator, the paint is motionless, but for the artist, the oil paint is a fluid or semi-fluid and must be stirred 'onto' the painting surface.

History of Oil Painting

Oil paint was certainly developed for ornamental or useful purpose in the High Middle Ages, although latest study indicates it was famous in the far east centuries earlier. Surfaces like shield - both those used in tournament and those hang as embellishment - were more durable when tinted in oil-based medium than when painted in the customary tempera paints.

Nearly all source, in general Vasari, ascribed northern European watercolorist of the 15th century, and Jan van Eyck in particular, with the "discovery" of painting with oil medium on wood panel, however Theophilus basically give instruction for oil-base painting in his treatise. Early Netherlandish work of art in the 15th century was however the first to create oil the usual painting, pursued by the rest of Northern Europe, and after that Italy. The popularity of oil stretch through Italy as of the North, starting in Venice in the late 15th century. By 1540 the earlier method for painting on board, tempera had become all but vanished, although Italians persistent to use fresco for barrier paintings, which was more harder in Northern climates.

Landscape painting

Landscape painting depicts landscape such as valleys, trees, mountains, rivers, as well as forests. Sky is almost forever included in the sight, and weather typically is an element of the work of art reproductions. In the opening century Roman frescoes of landscapes bedecked rooms that have been potted at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Conventionally, landscapes painting depict the exterior of the earth, other than there are other sort of landscapes, such as moonscapes, for instance.

The word landscape is as of the Dutch, landscape meaning a wad, a patch of cultured ground. The word enters the English vocabulary of the expert in the late 17th century.

Early on in the fifteenth century, landscape painting was recognized as a genus in Europe, as a setting for human action, often articulated in a religious topic, such as the themes of the Journey of the Magi.

The Chinese custom of "pure" landscape, in which the miniature human figure simply give scale and invite the viewer to contribute in the experience, was fine established by the time the oldest existing ink paintings were executed.

Maine artist receives award in France

Damariscotta Artist/ Sculptor Jacques Vesery was selected to participate in "Les tourneurs et leurs Projets" during the "Art and Passion du Bois" festival in Breville (near Cognac) France, August 30-31, 2008. This competition brought together 6 wood art

professionals to create work in a public venue. Three prizes were awarded including one by a jury of professionals and local dignitaries.

The theme; "Him and Her"....The challenge; Complete a piece in two days. Jacques' thoughts on how his work would relate to the theme; Two turned forms representing Male and Female specifically, yet to convey several ideas. Although the forms may relate to non-realistic seaforms or creatures and each single form, being unique with an ability to stand alone..... together represent a combined relationship. As with any relationship between two objects [not necessarily human, but including plants, animals and man-made objects] the intent was to reveal compatibility, similarity, individuality and the importance of unity as well....no matter where one comes from or what side of an ocean.

Jacques received the highest honor, the Professional Juror's Award which is based on the criteria of technique, creativity, relation to the theme and emotional provocation. With this comes the honor of returning to Breville in 2009 as President of the Jury for the next competition. He is the only artist outside of France ever to be accepted to this event.

More images and information is available through the artist and/or Cerise Boisseaux in Breville at cerise.boisseaux@gmail.com

Two first Place Photographs at Oxford County Fair

Tere K. Porter, O.D. has been rewarded for his keen artistic eye with accolades at the Oxford county Fair. Tere was awarded a first place in Landscapes for a scene of Mount Washington with snow and fall foliage at lower altitudes, and first place for a close up photograph of a Blue Flag Iris.

Tere was born in Aroostook County and after receiving a high school graduation gift of a 35mm camera from his parents in 1960, has been taking photographs ever since.

When Tere's children were in junior and senior high school in Oxford Hills, he switched to video taping of all of their music concerts. He continued this after they graduated for the Music, Art Reproduction and Drama Boosters Club to help support the SAD 17 fine art reproduction program until about 2000.

"I like video for action and sound shooting and I have video taped many of our vacations such as, our trip to Alaska," said Tere "but still photographs are and always have been my first love."

Tere is known for his fondness of nature photography as he strives to capture the feel of a flower blossom, a sunset of vivid hues, or the brilliance of fall foliage.

"I have recently converted my office to be an Office/Gallery," Tere says. "I have 40 photographs hanging in the waiting room of my office which is located at 66 Paris Street in Norway."

Visitors are encouraged to call ahead of time at, 743-6271. Anyone interested in Tere's work can view 2600 examples on his website, where images can be purchased. The website address is tereporter.photostockplus.com.