“Nothing is stronger than nature. With nature in front of us we can do everything well.” (Joaquin Sorolla) Despite living far from the ocean, Spanish realist Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (known colloquially as “Sorolla,” which is [...]
From radioactive threat to saintly halo to honeybee fur, yellow shines, the most luminous of the primaries. Whether strident, dazzling, or molten, yellow is light, intense and uncontainable, symbolic of joy, youth, strength, and divine [...]
Great sky paintings lift us with a sense of the vastness and space that daily moves above our heads. A strong sky in a landscape painting, oil, watercolor, or acrylic, expresses airy light, motion, and [...]
Though known for his masterful handling of oil paint and his virtuosity in rendering light and texture, John Singer Sargent created striking, original compositions that did not rely on previous models or inherited rules of [...]
"Light is the fundamental building block of observational art, as well as the key to controlling composition and storytelling. It is one of the most important aspects of visual art." — Richard Yot Light has to [...]
One of artist Paula Holzclaw’s quotes-to-live-by comes from one of Vincent Van Gogh’s dearest friends, the French novelist Emile Zola: "The Artist is nothing without the gift,” he said, “but the gift is nothing without work.” [...]
“Art is probably one of the only true things left which exist for its own sake and nothing else…..It has alchemy with those that take part in looking at it, at the gaze of it.” [...]
It’s almost New Year’s, so it’s time to take a step back and adjust that attitude of yours! How you think about painting, and what you think about before, during, and after. So here are [...]
Forget trying to find yourself as an artist. Embrace your inner dunce. If you are worried that you don’t have a style, can’t find your voice – don’t worry. If you keep on painting, you [...]
I recently took in an exhibition of classical Dutch art at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass. At the beginning of the exhibition, titled “Saints and Sinners,” I encountered a painting of the patron [...]
