Lines and Colors art blog
  • Trailers for Mr. Turner

    Mr. Turner, JMW Turner biopic
    Mr. Turner is an upcoming film — recently debuted at Cannes, and set for release in the fall of 2014 — based on the last 25 years in the life of the renowned British “painter of light”, JMW Turner.

    The film is directed by Mike Leigh, who has apparently wanted to do a film on Turner for some time, and stars Timothy Spall as the eccentric (and not necessarily likable) artist.

    Rather than a historical novelization, or a story spun off from characters in a painting, this appears to be a genuine biopic — and by initial accounts, a very good one at that.

    There is an official trailer, as well as a clip from a sequence in which Turner visits the preparations for the Royal Academy exhibition. The latter, I think, is even more interesting than the official trailer. I love the recreation of the Exhibition Room at Somerset House (of which you can see Thomas Rowlandson’s drawing here).

    The screen captures above are from both the trailer and the clip. The painting to which Turner applies a daring touch of red at the last minute (as you can read here) is Helvoetsluys; – the City of Utrecht, 64, Going to Sea, currently in the collection of the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. (I’ve added an image of the painting from the Tate page at the bottom; it’s not a frame from the film.)

    Evidentially, the director has attempted to recreate several of the scenes that inspired some of Turner’s famous paintings, including The Fighting Temeraire (above, frames two and three).

    Looking forward to this one.

    [Via The Guardian]



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  • Eye Candy for Today: Turner’s Rotterdam Ferry-Boat

    Rotterdam Ferry-Boat, Joseph Mallord William Turner
    Rotterdam Ferry-Boat, Joseph Mallord William Turner

    In the collection of the National Gallery of Art, DC

    A great example of Turner’s textural paint handling and dramatic command of light and atmosphere.



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  • The Gold Sparrow

    The Gold Sparrow
    With an imaginative use of color, artful rotoscoping and beautiful production design, The Gold Sparrow (Vimeo link) is a visually appealing animated short that has garnered numerous awards.

    The 12 minute film was directed by Daniel Stessen, with director of animation Michael Garza and music by The Brothers Lit.

    There is a website for the film, with a trailer, images and credits, which provides this description:

    “In a black-and-white futuristic metropolis the Gold Sparrow and her nefarious side kick steal the color from anyone daring enough to create art. Our three heroes perform in the streets as they are hunted, battling for their souls.”

    [Via Digg]



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  • Patrick Woodroffe, 1940-2014

    Patrick Woodroffe
    English artist Patrick Woodroffe began his career as a fantasy and science fiction illustrator, as well as contributing to a number of album covers. He eventually developed into a wonderfully idiosyncratic gallery artist, taking influences from medieval art, Bosch, Bruegel, Van Eyck and others.

    Patrick Woodroffe died last Saturday, May 10, 2014 at the age of 74.

    Largely self-taught, Woodroffe experimented with unorthodox techniques, varied his approach and explored different styles. His work could be extraordinarily detailed, loaded with meaningful details.

    His official website has a fair bit of information, and two main gallery sections, here and here (as well as other parts of the site if you poke around), but the images are unfortunately small.

    Some of the previous unofficial sources for larger images of his work are no longer online. There is a reasonably extensive unofficial gallery on Fantasy Art (RU). I’ve listed what other resources I could pull together below.

    There is a recent book, Benign Icons, and an older collection, Mythopoeikon that is out of print, but available used. There are other titles as well, including a number of books for which he did the cover art.

    For more, see my previous posts on Patrick Woodroffe, and here.

    [Via Spectrum Fantastic]



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  • Eye Candy for Today: Edmund Leighton’s neighbor

    My Next-Door Neighbor, Edmund Blair Leighton
    My Next-Door Neighbor, Edmund Blair Leighton

    On Wikimedia Commons. Original is in a private collection.

    I love the feeling of implied narrative here — left open for the viewer to fill out the story. A passing glance? The beginnings of pursuit? An established connection? A past flame? Infidelity? Envy? A fondness for dogs?


    My Next-Door Neighbor, Wikimedia Commmons

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  • My article in the Spring 2014 issue of Drawing Magazine

    Spring 2014 issue of Drawing Magazine
    I’ve written another article for Drawing magazine. This one appears in the new Spring 2014 issue, that is now in bookstores and newsstands.

    In the article, titled “Fresh Ink”, I profile seven contemporary artists working in ink, in a variety of approaches and styles. This even includes “digital ink”, in the drawings of Marcos Mateu-Mestre, who has adapted his traditional ink and wash style to digital media.

    Other approaches include scratchboard, represented by Nicolas Delort’s powerful illustrations, fine marker in the mysterious underground spaces of Matthew Borrett, traditional brown ink and wash from urban sketcher Fred Lynch, stipple portraits at the hands of Noli Novak, dense hatching on the part of Yu-tang Yang and fountain pen and watercolor from the sketchbooks of Mattias Adolfsson.

    The magazine’s site has the table of contents of the rest of the issue, which includes an article on the wonderful ink and wash drawings of Paul Madonna, as well as the action oriented drawings of Patricia Hannaway, drawing anatomical differences between men and women, results of the second annual Rhapsody in Gray competition and more.

    There are previews of material from some of the articles. Although my article doesn’t have a preview, there is a video preview of the issue in which it is included.

    If you can’t find the new issue of Drawing at your magazine seller, after insisting they carry it in future (grin), you can order it directly from the North Light Shop.

    [Images above: Patricia Hannaway (cover), Marcos Mateu-Mestre (page spread), Nicolas Delort, Matthew Borrett, Fred Lynch, Noli Novak, Yu-tang Yang, Mattias Adolfsson]



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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