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Edo Views
'100 famous views of Edo'
(Meisho Edo Hyakkei)
Ukiyo-e woodblock print series
by Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando), 1850s
Fukagawa Susaki and J?mantsubo
"This view looking northwest from Fukagawa Susaki, a spit of land along Edo Bay, toward J?mantsubo,...Show More Summary
Ray Kinstler at the Portrait Society
If John Singer Sargent is the patron saint of the Portrait Society, Everett Raymond Kinstler is its elder statesman.
“There are three things that are important to art,” he says, “passion, imagination, and the means to communicate.”
Portrait Society co-founder Edward Jonas remarks, “Everything Mr. Show More Summary
Talking Portrait: 17th Street Locos
In 1981 I drew a portrait of two guys on the Santa Monica pier, then asked them to describe themselves into a tape recorder.
(Video link) For the first time, their faces and voices are brought together in a talking portrait.
Worldbuilding Maps
Concept artist Lorin Wood has launched a new blog called "Nuthin' but Worlds," about concept art and worldbuilding, an offshoot of his successful "Nuthin' but Mech" blog and books. Below is my contribution to post #3:
For me, making a map is the best stimulant for building worlds and telling stories.
But there are many kinds of maps. Show More Summary
Kevin Sloan
Kevin Sloan’s paintings reflect his interest in natural history, narrative painting, allegory, magic realism and the often underrated painting approach of John James Audubon, as well as Audubon’s subject matter. In carefully composed...Show More Summary
Quang Ho Portrait Demo
The Portrait Society’s annual convention saved one of the best for the last, as Vietnamese-born, Colorado resident Quang Ho treated an audience of over 500 attendees to a dazzling two-hour head study.
(Photo by Susan Voss)
I sat off to the side with my sketchbook on my knee. Show More Summary
Eye Candy for Today: Gibson’s jurors
Studies In Expression. When Women Are Jurors, Charles Dana Gibson Beautifully confident pen and ink by a master. This large version of the image is on a Russian site called Artscroll, which features a list of additional Gibson image...
Documentary on Wooden Boats
Shaped on all Six Sides from New Canada on Vimeo. Kat Gardner directed this short documentary about building and maintaining wooden boats.
Demos, Demos
Quick post to show you the fun everyone is having with demos at the Portrait Society convention here in Atlanta earlier today.
Here is a watercolor sketch I did of Face-Off champion Jeffrey Hein painting Kate Stone on the main stage.
Four...Show More Summary
Portrait Society Convention
I'm in Atlanta, Georgia as a guest of the 15th annual convention of the Portrait Society of America.
The gathering started off yesterday with the dramatic "Face-off" event, where 15 leading alla-prima portrait painters broke into five groupings of three artists. Show More Summary
Casein Experiment
I did this little painting a couple days ago on location in Rhinecliff, New York. The setting sun turned the Hudson River into a path of golden light.
The painting is 4 x 7 inches on watercolor paper, painted almost entirely with a half inch flat brush.
The medium is casein. Show More Summary
Thomas Millie Dow
Scottish artist Thomas Millie Dow, active in the late 19th and early 20th centirues, traveled and painted subjects in The US, Franc, Morocco and Italy, as well as in the UK. I came across his painting Trees, above, top, and was fascinated by it. Unfortunately, I can’t find many examples of his work on the [...]
Tactile Drawing
(Video link) There are ten days left in a crowdfunded campaign to provide Lensen drawing kits to sight impaired kids. Lensens are simple wooden drawing tools that makes drawing lines a tactile experience. The pen unspools wool yarn onto a Velcro surface, which grips the yarn. Show More Summary
Loading Dock
Yesterday my wife and I went to the supermarket. While she did the shopping, I sat out back painting the loading dock.
Gazing at the back of the market for a half hour got me thinking about how we divide our world into frontstage and backstage, parts we're supposed to look at and other parts we're not. Show More Summary
Ming Fan
Ming Fan (or “fanming” as he is sometimes credited) is a Chinese concept artist and illustrator based in Shanghai. He specializes in environments — fantastical imaginary landscapes and cityscapes. He renders them in lavish detail, often creating compositions in which there is a primary focal point along with two or more secondary areas of interest [...]
A Man of Wealth and Taste
"The Antichrist is a Christian concept based on interpretation of passages in the New Testament. [..T]he term "antichrist" occurs five times in 1 John and 2 John, once in plural form and four times in the singular. In traditional Christian belief, Jesus the Messiah appears in his Second Coming to Earth, to face the emergence of the Antichrist figure. Show More Summary
Plein Air Painting Disasters
(YouTube link) A lot can go wrong when you paint outdoors, but wind is the biggest enemy. Artists at the second annual Plein Air Painting convention share their stories of "gamestoppers," unexpected events that bring a painting session to a dramatic halt. A few gamestoppers that have happened to me include: 1. Show More Summary
Eye Candy for Today: Corot’s oaks
Fontainebleau: Oak Trees at Bas-Bréau, Camille Corot In the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Click “Fullscreen” and use zoom controls or download arrow.
Dragon Copter
(Video link) Festo has built a working model ornithopter called a BionicOpter. Like the dragonfly it is based on, it can fly in all directions, hover in mid-air, and glide.
I have always been fascinated by the idea of dragonfly ornithopters. Show More Summary
Draw Mix Paint
Mark Carder, the well regarded painter and portraitist who I profiled in a previous post, at one point participated in and lent his name to a series of instructional painting videos known as “The Carder Method”. These sold for over $100, and were for a time heavily promoted. Carder is no longer associated with the [...]
