Category: Uncategorized
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A personal note: I’m still here because…
I am able to be here writing this because, as of yesterday, September 1, 2025, I have had my kidney transplant for 33 years! We were having a Labor Day barbecue with friends, when my wife called me into the house to take a phone call. It was Jefferson Hospital. I had been in to…
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Eye Candy for today: Virgil Finlay illustration for Lovecraft
\ Illustration for H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, Virgil Finlay. The image is sourced from the MonsterBrains blog. It’s part of an extensive article with many more images. Though not currently being updated, MonsterBrains is a treasure trove for lovers of fantasy, science fiction, horror and related illustration and artwork. American illustrator Virgil…
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Where in the World is Charley?
My apologies for the extended and unannounced hiatus. I’ve been dealing with personal issues that have kept me unable to attend to the blog. I’m fine, just overwhelmed. Hopefully, I’m back and will be able to pick up speed as I go. Thanks for your patience. -Charley (Image above: detail crop from Vermeer’s Officer and…
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Adolphe Appian
19th century French printmaker and painter Adolphe Appian trained at a small specialized art school in his home town of Lyon, and worked for a time as a graphic designer. In Paris, he met and became friends with Camille Corot and Charles-François Daubigny, both of whom were to have a significant influence on his work.…
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A few paintings from the forest of Fontainebleau
Wikimedia Commons, with its wonderful, clunky mishmash of art images — superb high quality high resolution images from the best sources next to low resolution low quality and off color images from questionable sources — has some equally eccentric systems of categorization, which results in the delightful ability to browse through a category like “Paintings…
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French (Box) Easels, Field Easels and Other Plein Air Painting Systems
This post is an adjunct to my extensive article on pochade boxes. In it, I will showcase some alternative outdoor painting systems and portable easels. While plein air painting goes back further among individuals, it was with the invention of tin paint tubes and the portable “Box Easel” in the 19th century that painting en…