Art: Loving Vincent

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Loving Vincent is a most pleasing combination of painting and film produced by Polish studio BreakThru Films and Trademark Films. Its visual style evokes that of Van Gogh and it flows from scene to scene effortlessly. Here's a trailer--

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According to The Reel --

Vincent Van Gogh’s obsession with his art might have caused him tremendous personal agony, but his output was tremendous – almost 900 paintings, many of which are counted among the greatest works of all time. In a new tribute to Van Gogh, the makers of an animated documentary will feature 120 of his most famous paintings.

Breakthru Films (still working on their online presence) won several awards for another film, Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" (2006), a stop-motion animation. It was released in the U.S. as an adaptation by Suzie Templeton and won an Academy Award. Here's a taste:

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This concept trailer for Loving Vincent, published by Solar Pictures, has some interesting points to make. Needless to say perhaps, but there is a theory that Van Gogh didn't commit suicide, but was shot. My apologies if this is a spoiler for you.

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-- Marge

DIY: framing canvas panels

Canvas (and other) panels, Life of a Daily Painter

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Usually I paint on canvas stretched over a wooden frame. But the materials can be expensive and the frames don't always come out true, that is square and flat (a good topic for another post by the way). Because I'm branching out into faux encaustic, recently I purchased several small 8 by 10 and 11 by 14 inch canvas panels for experimentation.

With artwork, even experiments can turn out good--and then you have to figure out how to present them. Present mostly means hanging the piece on a wall in a fairly attractive manner. Jon Peters talks about presentation in this video.

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The problem with Jon Peters' method is that he uses power tools. My use of power tools includes a drill, a sander, and a small router. So if you want to make a frame and don't have circular saw or don't want to use one (I tend to be somewhat accident-prone, which could spell disaster); try using a hand miter box for the frame corners. Here's an article on how to properly use a miter hand saw.

My original idea for mounting the panel was to route a straight channel for the panel to fit in. Jon uses a routed rabbet in the demonstration above, another solution. Or, you could use a 1 by 1 furring strip glued inside the outer frame for the panel to rest on.

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Router bit types and associated cuts, PMC

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This floating panel idea by Jon Peters really appeals to me, although half-inch plywood seems a little thick. Note that you still have to make the frame with a ledge for the panel with backing to sit on. Also note how the inside of the frame is finished matte black.

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Here's a step-by-step article on custom framing using no power tools by A Beautiful Mess. And here's another article about making float frames that shows different clamps used for artwork frames. The Grizzly clamp looks particularly useful.

-- Marge

Art: murals old and new

Since the time we lived in caves, we've been drawing on the walls. Sometimes Mom gets mad, sometimes the drawings are works of art. The first cave drawings were likely made using charcoal from the fire or stone tools harder than the cave wall. As humans progressed drawing became painting on the walls.

From the Minoans to Renaissance Italians to the present, frescoes have been the preferred method. In frescoes the pigment is laid down on fresh or wet plaster. As a side note, oil paintings on cave walls have been discovered in Afghanistan that date to the  mid-7th century CE (Common Era, also Current Era or Christian Era).

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Bamiyan Oil Painting, CAIS

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In more recent times Diego Rivera held the spotlight for murals, as well as a dispute with one patron that resulted in the destruction of his work "Man at the Crossroads." Here's one of his works still available for viewing.

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Rivera Mural in the National Palace, Mexico

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Often murals are considered decorative art, as stated in the article Reassessing Artworks of Ancient Rome. Pictured in the article is the fresco below. It may have been merely decorative (or commemorative) at the time, but has with the passing of time taken on more meaning.

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The Aldobrandini Marriage, NY Times

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Murals can be political statements, certainly in artist Rivera's case. In my view, street art often qualifies as murals, although they generally are more transitory. Here's a photo essay of The 50 Most Stunning Wall Murals From Around The World. Note that some of Rivera's pieces are included. The image below appears to me to be a statement some might call political.

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Berlin art at Oberbaumbrucke Bridge, The Scenic Sidewalk

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-- Marge

Picasso and the tyranny of realism

The other day my attention was caught by this Picasso quote:

It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child. (Brainy Quotes)

It's so true, but more about this later.

To acquaint yourself with Picasso's paintings, take a look at Wikiart, where the Picasso entry shows all of his works (at least that what the site says). Picasso's works number in the ten thousands.  "8 Things You May Not Know About Picasso" gives some interesting facts about him.  Ironically, I like this painting from his early period, where he painted more realistically.

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Picasso, Portrait of the artist's mother (1896), Wikiart

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To paint like a child is, to me, painting from inside.  What we see when we open our eyes is a world rendered in full 3D.  It's a beautiful world, granted.  But overwhelmingly so.  And it has been painted over and over without touching what's going on in the mind and emotions of the painter.  Often the works most technically true to life are the most lifeless.

As an example, compare Bouguereau's work with that of Toni Shulajkovski, a frequent poster on Google+.

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William Adolphe Bouguereau, Work Interrupted(1891, bougereau.org

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Toni Shulajkovski, The Resonance, Google+

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Toni definitely doesn't paint like a child--there's a lot of technique in his paintings (and of course there's technique in Picasso's more childlike works).  But he does paint what he feels.  Here's one he did that's more thought-provoking.
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Toni Shulajkovski, Mirage 2011, Google+

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Even painting in the abstract genre doesn't touch what I'm trying to say. (Warning: sermonizing imminent.) What I'm trying to say is be present with your work: artwork, coding, writing, whatever.  Let the work evolve on its own, not just follow someone's convention or even what your eyes see in the 'real' world. And if the juices stop flowing, step away and come back later. If the work has merit, a break from it will help--a lot.

Here's another quote from Picasso:

Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.

-- Marge

Art: The licked finish, the wild beasts, and the cubists in room 41

In 1901 French artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau finished this painting:

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William Adolphe Bouguereau, "Rêve-de-printemps" Wikimedia Commons

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Bouguereau was a well-respected, successful artist, and lifetime member of L'Académie française. Quoting from Wikipedia --

 ...To many, he epitomized taste and refinement, and a respect for tradition. To others, he was a competent technician stuck in the past. Degas and his associates used the term "Bouguereauté" in a derogatory manner to describe any artistic style reliant on "slick and artificial surfaces", also known as a licked finish. In an 1872 letter, Degas wrote that he strove to emulate Bouguereau’s ordered and productive working style, although with Degas' famous trenchant wit, and the aesthetic tendencies of the Impressionists, it is possible the statement was meant to be ironic.

Also in 1901, 71 paintings by Vincent Van Gogh were shown at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris.  According to History.com, "In his lifetime, he had sold only one painting."  That painting was "The Red Vineyard."

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Van Gogh, The Red Vineyards," Wikimedia Commons

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By 1904, beginning with les Fauves (the wild beasts), representational art began to lose its hold on the art world.  Les Fauves were

a loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong color over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism. While Fauvism as a style began around 1900 and continued beyond 1910, the movement as such lasted only a few years, 1904–1908, and had three exhibitions. The leaders of the movement were Henri Matisse and André Derain.

In 1907 a "Cézanne retrospective at the Salon d'Automne greatly affected the avant-garde artists of Paris, resulting in the advent of Cubism" (Wikipedia). This style by Cezanne was of particular interest of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.

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Paul Cezanne, "Bibemus Quarry, Wikimedia Commons

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In room 41 of the Autumn Salon of 1911, Picasso and Braque introduced cubism and the break from representational art was made.

[Cubism] abandoned perspective, which artists had used to order space since the Renaissance. And it turned away from the realistic modeling of figures and towards a system of representing bodies in space that employed small, tilted planes, set in a shallow space (The Art Story)."

Here is a familiar work of Picasso's showing analytic cubism and painted about the same time:

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Pablo Picasso, "Woman Playing Guitar," Wikimedia Commons

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For good information on art and art movements, take a look at The Art Story.

-- Marge