Eye Candy for Today: Romà Ribera’s De soirée

De soiree, Roma Ribera
De soirée (“Evening”), Romà Ribera

Link is to zoomable version on the Google Art Project; downloadable file on Wikimedia Commons, original is in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya – MNAC, Barcelona.

Beautifully economical and richly painterly, Ribera’s portrayal of a young woman engaged in simple activity is a quiet captured moment.

It’s interesting to compare his handling of the face, hair and figure in this work to the softer handling in his painting, Woman in Evening Gown, which I featured in a previous Eye Candy post.

 
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Forms in Nature

Forms in Nature, animation
Forms in Nature is an animated short film (2 minutes) in which natural and man-made forms are compared and contrasted within a carefully constrained and artfully orchestrated set of design parameters.

Largely focused on a central circle, the most basic of geometric forms, the images follow one another, often in shared screen transitions, in a way that encourages thoughtful and pleasurable re-viewing.

The vector art is beautifully realized and the entire animation is a visual and intellectual delight.

Intended as part of what I hope is a larger series, the production is credited to “Chromosphere“, a collaborative effort by Kevin Dart, Stéphane Coëdel, David Kamp, and Nelson Boles.

You can see more of their work here.

There is an extensive page devoted to the making of Forms in Nature on Motionographer.

[Via Cartoon Brew]

 
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Michael Workman

Michael Workman
Utah based artist Michael Workman uses soft edges, rough shapes and muted value contrasts to cast his depictions of the plains, mountains and farmland of his home state in a quiet, poetic naturalism.

His compositions, which sometimes walk the line between abstraction and representation, are often strongly geometric, perhaps owing in part to his early role as an architectural illustrator.

I particularly enjoy those works in which his subjects alternately dissolve into the background and resolve into more definite shapes, allowing your eye to fill in more detail than is actually present.

 
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The Resurrection by Cecco del Caravaggio (Francesco Buoneri)

The Resurrection by Cecco del Caragaggio (Francesco Buoneri)
The Resurrection, Cecco del Caragaggio (Francesco Buoneri)

Link is to zoomable version on Google Art Project; downloadable version on Wikimedia Commons; original is in the Art Institute of Chicago.

One of Caravaggio’s most important assistants and pupils was known as Cecco del Caragaggio, more recently identified as Francesco Buoneri.

Though a number of works are attributed to him, this striking painting of the Resurrection is the only one assigned to his hand with certainty.

Buoneri evidently learned much from his master, from his command of the human form in foreshortening, to the dramatic chiaroscuro with which he pulls his figures from the background. He also mastered the depiction of armor and drapery, as well as the textures of clothing, fur and feathers.

Though the composition seems a bit oddly “stacked”, the individual figures are immensely strong. The faces of the angel and the soldiers guarding the tomb are marvels of expression.

 
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Eye Candy for Today: Frederico Zuccaro ink and wash drawing

Taddeo Copying Raphael's Frescoes in the Loggia of the Villa Farnesina, Where He is Also Represented Asleep, Frederico Zuccaro
Taddeo Copying Raphael’s Frescoes in the Loggia of the Villa Farnesina, Where He is Also Represented Asleep, Frederico Zuccaro

Pen and brown ink with brown wash; roughly 17×8″ (42×17 cm). Link is to zoomable version on Google Art Project; downloadable file on Wikimedia Commons; original is in the Getty Museum which also has a much larger (21mb) downloadable file. The latter, as well as some of the other drawings on the Google Art Project, is of a different tone in representing the color of the ink. I’ve chosen the warmer color, but I have not seen any of these originals. I’ve seen master drawings in both tones.

This is another in a wonderful series of drawings in which 16th century Italian artist Frederico Zuccaro depicts the life of his older brother, Taddeo. This piece is almost a direct companion to a drawing I featured earlier, right down to the quickly noted crescent moon.

You can see other drawings from the series on the Google Art Project and the Getty Museum website.

 
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Karen Hollingsworth at Principle Gallery, Charleston


Karen Hollingsworth, who I have written about previously for Lines and Colors, will have her latest series of paintings on display in a solo show at the Principle Gallery, Charleston, from April 1st – 30th, 2016.

Hollingsworth continues to explore several of her favored themes: sunlit rooms, their volume defined by both light and air; still life arrangements of simple objects like paper bags, set in dramatic chiaroscuro against apparently flat black backgrounds and accompanied by the inclusion of small birds; and more directly fantastical figurative subjects with suggestions of what might be mythic narrative.

For more, see my previous posts on Karen Hollingsworth, linked below.

 
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