Painting as Prophecy
One of the greatest paintings of the 19th century, JMW Turner's The Fighting Temeraire depicts a formerly glorious jewel of the British Royal Navy being towed to "her last berth" for retirement from service and ultimate [...]
From Portrait to Connection
Tony Pro, whose teaching video is Secrets of Expressive Portraits, was born in Northridge, California, in 1973. He grew up in Southern California under the guidance of his father, Julio Pro (1929-2013), a successful Southwest wildlife painter. [...]
Compose Yourself!
You can learn almost everything you need to know about composition by closely studying successful ones. To that end, we recently invited you, our readers, to send us paintings for our “Compose Yourself!” series of [...]
Love Letters to the Earth
Some artists create paintings that are like love letters to the visible world. Maybe it happens like this: The creative imagination receives a gift from nature in the shape of an apple, a bowl, a [...]
When Monet Moved a River
There’s a surprising story behind Monet’s Poplars series. Not that he was some sort of all-powerful art god or something (spoiler: he was), but Claude Monet once diverted a branch of the Epte River. Though [...]
Chasing Beauty in Oils and Pastels
Oil and pastel painter William Schneider credits several sources for his work today. He’s taken workshops with some of the world’s best artists and has devoted hours to copying realist masters like Nicolai Fechin. His epiphany with [...]
When Monet Moved a River
There’s a surprising story behind Monet’s Poplars series. Not that he was some sort of all-powerful art god or something (spoiler: he was), but Claude Monet once diverted a branch of the Epte River. Though [...]
On Art and Magic
We know there’s all kinds of good magic in art. Maybe that’s partly why artists over the centuries have created such richly imagined and beguiling scenes of mythological wizards, witches and magicians doing their magical [...]
The Poetry of Cezanne
On trip to the warmer Mediterranean coast, French painter Paul Cézanne fell in love with the little fishing village of L’Estaque on the bay of the city of Marseilles. It was the color, made brilliant [...]
Dark Trees, Dark Water
Arnold Bocklin’s painting, “The Tombstone,” depicts a hauntingly serene island cemetery surrounded by dark, towering trees and reflected in still waters. A single tombstone stands at the center, evoking a sense of solitude, mystery, and [...]