What Do We Actually Know About Art?...
Art today covers so many things. The choices that you have are endless, so there is something to suit everybody’s taste. So much we can learn about it from looking at the Masters. However, you can appreciate art even if you are a beginner to it all.
The Japanese and Chinese seem to know quite a bit about the subject. These orientals are clever enough to write and paint with their brushes. They usually use brushes with a bamboo handle, the brush itself tapering to a fine point. You also find that most of their work is actually only done in black and white.
These brushes go on to encapsulate interesting fine works, fragile silk paintings and yes, of course, calligraphy. Obviously this takes me back to the fantastic paintings of Zen. He often used an ink over a wash. These seem to be painted with a delicacy.
The long fine brushes they use seem to create lovely flowing works of art which appear so true to form and give out the freedom of movement. Naturally this works well on silk. The trees and waters are expressed well like this.
So what do we know about Expressionism? How does one describe this type of work to a beginner? I actually see it as a way of letting your inner emotional state run free. But I stress that this is my interpretation of it.
Let us use the famous painter Van Gogh as an example. To the normal person much of his work appears to be totally distorted. The weird shapes and forms created turned into natural genius!
The painting is often brought together by a series of dots and dashes, which when viewed from a distance can be really appreciated like the artist Monet.
If you go back to about the 19th Century this is about where it started. This style is good for landscapes where the light makes such a difference to the actual scene.
Let us consider Still Life paintings now. Are they easily achievable? I think not. They appear so easy on the eye. Probably because we all recognize the typical types of subjects that are used for this. How often do we stop and think how talented artists are?
Just because we recognize them, doesn’t mean they are easy! Really you do need a good background first to work from to enhance your work. The 17th Century Dutch Masters started something! Grapes in a bowl, with a glass of wine, you get the picture!
Now to the regular night-time scenes found in gay Paris created by the likes of Toulouse-Lautrec. How he loved all this and brought the subjects all to life for us and into our homes as posters etc. showing the bawdy lifestyle of the local artists and burlesque in the dance halls.
Even Monet did some amazing humorous sketches often of his friends yet still created such fantastic luminous colourful scenes. They were always so lovely and bright.
There is so much that could be said about these artists and their foresight and actual talent. These are just a few I have named but I could also add Matisse, Picasso, Constable, and many more.
One of my favourites happens to be Salvador Dali. His work appeared to know no bounds. He surely is one of the greatest painters ever known. Barcelona is fortunate to have so many examples for the general public to savour.
Anna Meenaghan, the author of this article, is a contemporary artist [http://annameenaghanart.com] and knows a fair bit about art. Being a contemporary painter [http://annameenaghanart.com/index.php?p=1_5_contemporary_painter] she has been involved in the arts all her adult life. Her latest project is an online art community where I am an active participant myself. Comment by Michael Bruckner.
The Japanese and Chinese seem to know quite a bit about the subject. These orientals are clever enough to write and paint with their brushes. They usually use brushes with a bamboo handle, the brush itself tapering to a fine point. You also find that most of their work is actually only done in black and white.
These brushes go on to encapsulate interesting fine works, fragile silk paintings and yes, of course, calligraphy. Obviously this takes me back to the fantastic paintings of Zen. He often used an ink over a wash. These seem to be painted with a delicacy.
The long fine brushes they use seem to create lovely flowing works of art which appear so true to form and give out the freedom of movement. Naturally this works well on silk. The trees and waters are expressed well like this.
So what do we know about Expressionism? How does one describe this type of work to a beginner? I actually see it as a way of letting your inner emotional state run free. But I stress that this is my interpretation of it.
Let us use the famous painter Van Gogh as an example. To the normal person much of his work appears to be totally distorted. The weird shapes and forms created turned into natural genius!
The painting is often brought together by a series of dots and dashes, which when viewed from a distance can be really appreciated like the artist Monet.
If you go back to about the 19th Century this is about where it started. This style is good for landscapes where the light makes such a difference to the actual scene.
Let us consider Still Life paintings now. Are they easily achievable? I think not. They appear so easy on the eye. Probably because we all recognize the typical types of subjects that are used for this. How often do we stop and think how talented artists are?
Just because we recognize them, doesn’t mean they are easy! Really you do need a good background first to work from to enhance your work. The 17th Century Dutch Masters started something! Grapes in a bowl, with a glass of wine, you get the picture!
Now to the regular night-time scenes found in gay Paris created by the likes of Toulouse-Lautrec. How he loved all this and brought the subjects all to life for us and into our homes as posters etc. showing the bawdy lifestyle of the local artists and burlesque in the dance halls.
Even Monet did some amazing humorous sketches often of his friends yet still created such fantastic luminous colourful scenes. They were always so lovely and bright.
There is so much that could be said about these artists and their foresight and actual talent. These are just a few I have named but I could also add Matisse, Picasso, Constable, and many more.
One of my favourites happens to be Salvador Dali. His work appeared to know no bounds. He surely is one of the greatest painters ever known. Barcelona is fortunate to have so many examples for the general public to savour.
Anna Meenaghan, the author of this article, is a contemporary artist [http://annameenaghanart.com] and knows a fair bit about art. Being a contemporary painter [http://annameenaghanart.com/index.php?p=1_5_contemporary_painter] she has been involved in the arts all her adult life. Her latest project is an online art community where I am an active participant myself. Comment by Michael Bruckner.
