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The Landscape Artist

Contrary to still life paintings and portraits, landscape paintings never fail to excite people. We normally strike an emotional connection with landscape paintings as more often than not they arouse nostalgic feelings. Somewhere down memory lane we identify some of our own visual experiences with the landscape paintings we see.

Landscape paintings have been part of many cultures and landscape artists have enjoyed a place of pride in traditions of countries like Britain, Japan, France, and Holland,

Paintings of landscape artists are more suited to brighten up walls. The originals are pretty expensive and the only way that you can adorn your walls with the paintings of great landscape artists like Camille Pissaro, John Constable, or Claude Monet is by buying their reproductions.

Before the time of the Impressionists landscape artists painted from memory or drawings, from consigns of their studios. Monet and Renoir were the first to move out in the open to get inspiration from Nature to paint and had to suffer the ridicule of the masters.

Hiroshige (1797-1858) and Hokusai (1760-1849) of Japan painted wild oceans, forests and mountain ranges in bright colors and left a great impression on the landscape artists of 19th Century Europe. The later Twentieth Century saw the emergence of other forms of art in the shape of Surrealism, Cubism and Abstract Expressionism that drove the landscape artist into the sidelines.

Despite the current trend of video art and installations, the works of the landscape artist are still fancied by the general public because of their inherent quality of bringing the Nature within your home.

Landscape artists have been known to go to great lengths to paint pictures as realistically as they possible.  In an effort to capture the same mountain in different weather conditions, the landscape artist, Paul Cézanne, painted the same mountain, Montagne Sainte Victoire, near his home in Aix-en-Provence, France, nearly eighty times. Monet depicted water by sitting in a rowing boat on the river.

As with mountains, so with sky and water, and landscape artists painted the sky and water as frequently as they did the mountains. The first European landscape artists to paint the sea were the Dutch painters Vermeer (1632-1675), and Rembrandt (1606-1669).

The blurring of the sea and the horizon that the English landscape artist, JMW Turner used in his paintings of stormy skies and seascapes gave the idea of abstract painting to the future artists.

Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth, both American landscape artists, captured light on water beautifully and earned accolades for their mastery on painting this aspect nature.

December 22nd, 2007 Posted by admin | Arts, Landscape Artist, pictures | no comments

Artist supplies

The proficiency of a swordsman depends a lot on the quality of his sword. And so for any professional who uses tools to achieve his objective. Whether it is a mason, an accountant, a designer or an artist, the perfection of the output is largely dependent on the instruments that one uses. The appropriate and specific use of materials can go a long way in creating a masterpiece.

Artist supplies can obviously found in an artist supply shop. But oftentimes we may be faced with a situation where an artist shop may not be in the vicinity of the area that we live in or visit frequently. Some of the artist materials are extremely costly and can cost an arm and a leg. If you find yourself incapable of making such a large expense for supplies, there are other places that you may look for to ensure that you find the right tools to achieve the right turnout.

The best place to start your search (and in most cases you will not have to look further) is the Internet. With the world at your fingertips, you can search for the exact tool that you want across the globe. If you are able to spend some quality time searching judiciously, you will discover that you can find the right material at atrociously low prices. The time you spend on searching for the right supplier on the Internet will be far lower than what you would have spent trying to look for the right product in brick and mortar shops.

However, do not get carried away by the exhilaration of having found the right material at the cheapest rates possible. Before you place the order and give away valuable information like your credit card details, be sure to check the credentials of the supplier and the company. This will save you the trouble of landing up in a situation where your supplies do not reach even after having paid the amount upfront or landing up with something you had not envisaged. To add to your horror you may realize that the fly-by-night operator seems to have vanished from the virtual world and that there is no way of tracking the company.

The manner in which you can avoid such hassles is to check the company on the Better Business Bureau and also to ensure that you have the confirmed contact details of the supplier. By spending a few minutes to this will ensure that you sleep soundly knowing that your money is safe and that you will receive genuine material that you had ordered for.

It is said that when an artist finds the right tool, he sticks with it for years since he knows what he is getting. So when you find the right material which that your needs, make sure that the price that you pay for it is reasonable since it is expected that you would want to return to the same brand again and again and surely, you would not like it to create a hole in your pocket each time you do that.

December 20th, 2007 Posted by admin | Arts, supplies | no comments

Art in Stone

Out of the many forms of art, artwork in stone is probably one of the most difficult to master. Art in stone is also one of the most impressive and durable crafts that one can create. Gifting stone to your loved ones conveys a hidden message of your undying love for them. Art in stone, as compared to other long lasting materials, is not overly glitzy, and does not shimmer at all but has a steady, strong and robust quality about it that signifies something that will last forever.

Taking up art in stone as a hobby or a profession is not advisable unless you are seriously committed to it as it requires a lot of time and patience. A simple carving of a man may take up to three weeks of daily work to complete. It is a much better idea to buy one or commission one from a crafter rather than trying your own hand at it.

Sometimes art in stone can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, but considering the amount of time it takes to make, the price seems to be justified. All carving has to be done meticulously by hand and only the most skilled craftsmen and artisans work their art in stone. A large soapstone statue can take months to fabricate before it reaches a store or a direct buyer.

When carving art in stone, you need to have a definite idea of what you want to make as well as the qualities of the material you are using.  Softer, gentler features look better on soapstone rather than on coarser and harder rock or jade. The features of the material must be respected for a perfect piece of art in stone. If you launch into it with the idea of making your piece on any given piece of rock, you still might have something appreciable, but it will not be in harmony with the material.

Being carved in stone is therefore an apt metaphor for being ancient and unbreakable!

December 18th, 2007 Posted by admin | Arts, stone | no comments