Lines and Colors art blog
  • Fragonard’s Coresus Sacrificing Himself to Save Callirhoe

    The High Priest Coresus Sacrificing Himself to Save Callirhoe, Jean-Honore Fragonard
    The High Priest Coresus Sacrificing Himself to Save Callirhoe, Jean-Honoré Fragonard

    Image on the Web Gallery of Art; original is in the Louvre.

    Uncharacteristic of the frivolity of the work for which he is best known, Fragonard has here tackled a history painting. The work was originally meant as a guide for a tapestry that was never created.

    Everything about this is theatrical, from the stage-like setting, to the dramatic lighting, to the expressions and posture of the subjects, to the fact that the act is essentially being witnessed by an audience.

    I posted yesterday about Fragonard’s preliminary wash drawing for this piece. I also came across a painted study, that is in the collection of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, with a high-resolution zoomable image on the Google Art Project (images above, bottom three).

    Unfortunately, I can’t find a larger image of the finished painting, and the color on both looks off to me — images of the final seem too warm and monochromatic, and the GAP image of the oil sketch seems too yellow.

    I’ve taken the liberty of color correcting both as best I can, but this is just my best guess, and I make no claims of accuracy, as I’ve never seen either work in person. You can see my adjusted full image of the final painting here.



    Categories:


  • Fragonard’s drawing for The Sacrifice of Coresus

    The Sacrifice of Coresus, Jean-Honore Fragonard, brush and brown wash over chalk
    The Sacrifice of Coresus, Jean-Honoré Fragonard

    Brush and brown wash, over chalk, roughly 14 x 18 inches (35 x 46 cm). In the Morgan Library and Museum. Use Zoom tab or download link.

    Not only has Fragonard worked out his composition, dramatic lighting and value relationships in this beautifully gestural preparatory drawing, he’s captured the faces and emotion of his subjects with a few deft strokes.


    The Sacrifice of Coresus, Morgan Library

    Categories:
    ,


  • Paul Scott Canavan

    Paul Scott Canavan, concept art and illustration
    Paul Scott Canavan is lead artist for the Scottish gaming company Blazing Griffin, and also does freelance illustration and concept art.

    Canavan paints digitally in a way that carries a feeling of traditional painting media. His landscapes, in particular, are textural and painterly. He also does digital plein air painting (such as the two castles along coasts, shown above).

    In addition to his online portfolio, his website has links to available prints, and a Gumroad shop where you can purchase a tutorial video with accompanying files, and also access an earlier, more limited, free tutorial video and files (of the image above, bottom).



    Categories:


  • Eye Candy for Today: Jan Davidsz de Heem still life

    Mesa (Table), Jan Davidsz de Heem
    Mesa (Table), Jan Davidsz de Heem

    Link is to page on Wikimedia Commons, from which you can access the high-resolution file.

    Original is in the Prado, Madrid, but I don’t think they have an image on their website.

    The intricate surface of the decorative metal is of course the star here, but I also love the reflections in the glassware, in addition to his handling of the other objects.


    Mesa Wikimedia Commons

    Categories:
    ,


  • William Hays

    William Hays, reduction linocut prints
    Though he also works in oil, Vermont artist William Hays found an initial diversion into reduction linocut prints to be so compelling that it is now the focus of his artistic endeavors.

    Reduction printing is a color printmaking technique in which a single block, in this case linoleum, is carved, printed in a color, and then carved and printed again and again, each time cutting away the areas that will not be printed in the current color. This is opposed to the multi-block method of milti-color block printing.

    It has advantages, in that the registration is to a single block and not several, but the planning and execution of the method is painstaking, and since the block is essentially being destroyed by stages, the initial print run is the only print run.

    Multi-color block prints have their own unique visual charm, often with characteristics of both painting and linear rendering. Hays’s subjects of leafy forests, snowy hills and quiet glens use the medium to advantage.

    I’ve limited my examples of Hays’ work to his prints, just to avoid any confusion about the process. You can find examples of his oils here.

    Hays’ site has a listing of galleries that carry his work, and also has archived newsletters, many of which have information about his process, as in this one and this one.



    Categories:
    ,


  • Dinotopia: The Fantastical Art of James Gurney at Stamford Museum

    Dinotopia: The Fantastical Art of James Gurney at Stamford Museum
    James Gurney has become widely known for his instructional books and videos as well as his role as a plein air painter, lecturer and popular blogger, but it was his series of fantastic Dinotopia adventure picture books that originally attracted the most notice — in the art community, the paleo art community and among the dedicated readers who came to love the books.

    In the Dinotopia series, Gurney brings to bear his study of classical artists and techniques — and in particular, late 19th century academic art — to create a world in which dinosaurs and humans co-exist amid architectural and natural splendor.

    Dinotopia: The Fantastical Art of James Gurney is an exhibit of over 50 original paintings from the series, along with maquettes, models and related material, currently on display at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center in Stamford, CT.

    You can read a post from Gurney’s blog about the exhibit, which runs until May 25, 2015.

    Gurney points out that this exhibit is completely different from the one that was at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in CT a few years ago, but I think it is similar in scope and contents to the Dinotopia exhibits at the New Hampshire Institute of Art in 2013, and the one I had the pleasure of seeing at the Delaware Art Museum in 2010. If so, I can vouch for it as a terrific show, one of broader interest than you might think. Gurney’s influences and technique transcend the genres of paleo and fantasy art, and encompass classical art in many ways.

    As far as I know, there isn’t a gallery of works specifically from the exhibition, but you can see Dinotopia art in general on the Dinotopia website, James Gurney’s website, and his blog, Gurney Journey.



    Categories:
    , ,


Vasari Handcraftes artist's oil colors

Charley’s Picks
Bookshop.org

(Bookshop.org affilliate links; sales benefit independent bookshop owners; I get a small percentage to help support my work on Lines and Colors)

John Singer Sargent: Watercolors
John Singer Sargent: Watercolors

Sorolla the masterworks
Sorolla: the masterworks

The Art Spirit
The Art Spirit

Rendering in Pen and Ink
Rendering in Pen and Ink

Urban Sketching: Understanding Perspective
Urban Sketching: Understanding Perspective

World of Urban Sketching
World of Urban Sketching

Daily Painting
Daily Painting

Drawing on the right side of the brain
Drawing on the right side of the brain

Understanding Comics
Understanding Comics

Charley’s Picks
Amazon

(Amazon.com affiliate links; sales go to a larger yacht for Jeff Bezos; but I get a small percentage to help support my work on Lines and Colors)

John Singer Sargent: Watercolors
John Singer Sargent: Watercolors

Sorolla the masterworks
Sorolla: the masterworks

The Art Spirit
The Art Spirit

Rendering in Pen and Ink
Rendering in Pen and Ink

Urban Sketching: Understanding Perspective
Urban Sketching: Understanding Perspective

World of Urban Sketching
World of Urban Sketching

Daily Painting
Daily Painting

Drawing on the right side of the brain
Drawing on the right side of the brain

Understanding Comics
Understanding Comics