Good morning! What a verse to start the day with. Happy painting!

#art #gift #language #steiner

Started off this weekend transported to the Renaissance, putting on the hat of an apprentice eager to learn the old ways from drawing a work of the great Masters.

#arthistory #transformativepowerofart #renaissance #drawing

After a half hour break, we moved on to copying a Rembrandt, which was an exercise in light and shadows. Rembrandt did over 90 self-portraits in his life (wow!), experimenting extensively with light. During this period, portraits took a departure from the classic and perfect images of the Greeks to these soulful, maybe more human pictures.

#arthistory #transformativepowerofart #rembrandt #portrait #oldman

Here are the other Rembrandts from last weekend’s art retreat. We had a gifted facilitator, Van James, an artist-teacher from Hawaii who led us through the changes in the visual arts over time. Other participants shared how they felt so melancholic doing these drawings. Beginning artists usually shy away from shadows–we like to show the face in its full glory… but we eventually learn that it is in bringing in the shadows that the best light comes out. Interesting metaphor for life. ????

#light #shadows #darkness #rembrandt #portrait #arthistory #transformativepowerofart #vanjames

William Turner was an English painter known for his landscapes that captured light in a new way. From the detail-oriented art of the Renaissance we moved on to copying these loose renderings of the outdoors, done in nice, gestural strokes. I’ve always been a fan of Turner, who liked to experience raw nature as inspiration for his works. He painted this piece after a train ride during a rainstorm, where he put his head out the window to take it all in.

#turner #train #storm #light #arthistory #transformativepowerofart

Here’s my #wip rendition of an impressionist landscape, done hurriedly (I took too much time taking in nature!). I picked a spot under a tree, facing a lily pond and pool. Impressionism grew from a group of young Parisian artists, inspired in part by Turner’s fascination with light. They painted with loose gestures, later on called impressions. This style was such a departure from the Canon of art in those days, but these impressionist works are the most popular and widely viewed in museums all over the world today.

#landscape #drawing #impressionism #arthistory #transformativepowerofart

From drawing impressions of the outside world, we moved on to doing expressionist landscapes. I think this one is by the Russian painter, Kandinsky. It was physically tiring to draw with expressive strokes, but this was a very enjoyable drawing for me! Look at all those colors!

#expressionist #landscape #color #drawing #arthistory #transformativepowerofart

Expressionism gave artists free reign over color, and as expected, it was also a freeing art period to draw through. I loved, loved, loved the range of colors in my classmates’ works! #arthistory #transformativepowerofart #expressionism #landscape #drawing