Picasso?s Piano by Brad Woodard
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
"Please take this suggestion: Pretend we?re dead."
?Please take this suggestion: Pretend we?re dead.?
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With kind respects to students who contact freelancers about doing interviews (always around this time of year I?ve noticed), I shall be redirecting you to this post by�Marian Bantjes�from now on.�
I?ve always felt these ?interview assignments? bordered on the lazy (on both the teacher?s part as well as the student), if not the utterly pointless. Oh sure, it?s nice to be asked (unless, like one student said, you bulk-emailed dozens of artists knowing at least one would be polite enough to get back to you; if that?s you, you are a discredit to us all), but it really seems like a case of the dog licking its own balls: Just because you can, doesn?t mean you have to. It?s not remotely difficult to get in touch with anyone anymore. In fact, it?s so damn easy it?s usually annoying.�
To those who are teaching, I implore you to come up with better assignments. I?m sure you have a big workload, and I really respect you for doing this work. But when I was a student, I?d have considered such an assignment to be pointless busy-work. You?re a creative person, you can surely be more creative than that.
(via luclatulippe)
Painting Darks That Are Too Dark to See
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| Nicole at Mille Fleurs 3, acrylic painting on canvas, 48 x 30, 2010. | In the Afternoon Light, acrylic painting on canvas, 48 x 30, 2011. | ||
Contrast is the difference between light and dark values. The human eye is able to see clearly across a contrast ratio of about 15,000 to 1 (the brightest area 15,000 times brighter than the darkest area). Paintings, by contrast, have a maximum contrast ratio said to be at most 100 to 1.
This presents a problem for painters—how to achieve the impression of natural contrasts without being able to show them directly. This problem is most urgent for painters who depict scenes lit by direct sunlight, where the brightest highlights and the darkest shadows share a composition. There is no perfect solution to this problem, but painters who invest in contrast expend a great deal of thought and effort in understanding visual cues that are interpreted unconsciously as contrast.
Victoria Selbach, a New York painter, makes lush paintings of nudes lit by sunlight. To present convincing contrasts in her acrylic paintings, she uses two related painting techniques.
In Nicole at Mille Fleurs 3, most of the figure is in direct sunlight. Selbach paints a full range of values in the lit areas, and lets the cast shadows drop to black. The eye would naturally be able to see detail in the cast shadows, but by painting them black, Victoria subliminally tells the brain, "this region is too dark to see." The brain then identifies these shadows as about 15,000 times darker than the highlights, heightening the implied contrast with the lit areas, which are nowhere near 15,000 times brighter than the blacks.
In her painting In the Afternoon Light, Ms. Selbach uses her other contrast-enhancing technique. Most of the figure is in shadow. So if Selbach had followed her "shadows = black" rule, the composition wouldn't have worked. Instead, she renders a large range of values in the shadows, and lets the lights go to white. Again, she gives the brain a strong cue for a full 15,000 to 1 contrast ratio, helping to work around the contrast limits of acrylic paint.
Notice that in the first painting, the technique gives a sense of warm, rich light and burnt shadow. In the second painting, there is a sense of cool, glowing shadows and diffuse, washing fields of light.
Selbach focuses on techniques for conveying extremely high contrast, because sunlight and shadows shown in natural light are her inspirations. She has mastered the contrast techniques described here, but many others exist. The key to discovering your personal preferences is to think about how you see what you see. Feel free to share your own tips and observations in the comments.
--Daniel
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Lamorna Cove
Between Mousehole and Land's End another lovely Cornish cove beloved by artists.
Source: http://julieoakley.blogspot.com/2011/09/lamorna-cove.html
sketching paper learning to sketch sketch portrait sketches of hearts
Food Rules!
When TLC Book Tours contacted me to see if I'd be interested in participating
in the blog tour of Michael Pollan's fascinating new book
"Food Rules: An Eaters Manual"
illustrated by the brilliant Maira Kalman I immediately said yes :-)
I've been a huge fan of Ms. Kalman's work for years now and I thought
it would be nice to share some of my favorite images from her books
& a few of my favorite food rules from the book with you:
Rule No.2: Don't Eat Anything Your Great Grandmother
Wouldn't Recognize As Food.
Rule No.24: When You Eat Real Food
You Don't Need Rules.
Rule No.56: Eat When You Are Hungry,
Not When You Are Bored.
Rule No.76: Place A Bouquet Of Flowers On The Table
And Everything Will Taste Twice As Good.
Rule No.78: Eat With Other People
Whenever You Can
"Food Rules: An Eaters Manual" is not only inspiring to look at
but it's also good for you ?
Source: http://blogdelanine.blogspot.com/2011/11/food-rules.html
jesus sketches sketch of rose drawing sketching sketch of girl
Monday, December 19, 2011
Rohmans
Got a little done at the weekend but not too much on account that we are training for the marathon and ran 21 miles on Saturday, very little left in the tanks on Sunday but had a go, plat spot the difference.
Source: http://sketchoftheday.blogspot.com/2011/10/rohmans.html
drawing websites how to make cartoons drawing cartoons drawings of roses
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