Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The Passing of One of India's Great Artists

Maqbool Fida Husain better known as MF Husain, was one of the great artists in the world. There are more than 60,000 paintings to his credit. He was born in a traditional Muslim family in British India in 1915.

During his childhood itself he had a passion for art and his father was very supportive. In 1935, Husain joined J.J.School of Arts in Mumbai. Before being recognized in the late 1940s, he had a tough time in Mumbai when he struggled financially. His first painting exhibition was held at Bombay Art Society in the year 1947.

Many successful exhibitions were held in Europe as well as America. He also tried his luck in the film industry. It was an honor for him that his first film Through the eyes of a painter earned the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival.

Some of his paintings in which he depicted nude portraits of Hindu gods and goddesses brought up many controversies. Later in 2004, some Muslim organizations were against him as he used certain words from the Holy Quran in one of his films.

Again there arose objections against him as he painted Mother India as a nude woman. He apologized and went to live in exile to Dubai. After some years he got Qatar citizenship. He was honored with much recognition in India and his paintings were sold out for huge amounts. On June 9, 2011 he passed away at the Royal Brompton hospital in London.

Vishu Shaktar
June 2011

For Drawing Pencil Sketches

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Indian Film-Making Hero: An Art Form We'll Not Forget

Sathyagit Ray was a wonderful film maker of India. He had a great passion for film making where he brought real life stories into the movie business.

He was interested in artistic films rather than the commercial junk. His departure was quite a loss to the Indian film industry.

Influenced not only by film but affected by a humanitarian attitude of this wonderful art-form. Simplicity was the trademark of this hero but not only in India. His worldwide acceptance was mainly due to his humanistic approach to real life in India.

Ray made his films in Bengali which is a language spoken in west Bengal on the eastern state of India. In 1992 he achieved honorary academy award for lifetime achievements.

Ray's films are both cinematic and literary at the same time--it is sad to remember that today he is no longer with us but his films are still alive which is an asset to the nation.

Ray's film has a rare blend of intellect and emotion. His first film was Pather Panchali which established his reputation as a major film director by winning numerous awards. Ray directly controlled many aspects of film making. He wrote all screenplays many of which were based on his stories.

In addition to film making Ray was a composer, a writer and a graphic designer who wrote short stories, articles and novels in Bengali, also he made a significant contribution to children's literature in this language.

His stories were unpretentious and entertaining. The subjects include adventure, detective stories, fantasies, fiction and even horror movies.

Aditaya Drupada
Bengal

Monday, June 27, 2011

Painter of Light

 
One of my favorite contemporary artists is American Thomas Kinkade. Known as the “Painter of Light”, he is famous for serene but colorful light-filled scenes of beauty that seen more idealistic than real. Quaint cottages in the sunset, stormy seas crashing against lighthouses, pastel-tinted bridges over lilypad-covered water, these are all images that Kinkade imbues with his own way of highlighting with an ever-persistent glow. His paintings are viewed as inspirational, and he has spoken publicly about how his Christian beliefs impact his art.

Thomas Kinkade strikes a chord with the public so that he is also one of the more lucrative and well-known painters of modern day. He is one of America’s most collected artists. While his original paintings may be out of the price range of the average person, it is easy to find a likeness of a Kinkade painting on note-cards, mugs, ornaments, mousepads, and screensavers, to name a few. Prints of his paintings are popular, and even puzzles of his paintings have been known to be put together and framed as art.

Kinkade is a prolific painter of simple scenes of everyday life. His continues to evoke emotion and inspire people around the world with his unique, illuminated style.

Abraham Rosen

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Drawing Pencil Sketches Blog: Egon Schiele: THE Master of Drawing and Sketching

Go here for images of Egon Schiele: http://tinyurl.com/3uvqcrx

Egon Schiele: THE Master of Drawing and Sketching

He did mention that he had taken his art to "its fullest possible development" just prior to his death in October 1918, almost at the end of WW1.

He did make an outstanding contribution to self-expressionism in modern art, raising the bar far in excess of his peers (Gustav Klimpt is one) to achieve exemplary works of art.

Most of his drawings which I've seen personally in Amsterdam, are charged with energy not seen before in the world of art. It has all of Egon's emotions and feelings with his drawings becoming almost volatile.

No other artist in modern history has come close to his vitality.

He did base some of his paintings from photographs if you compare a painting of Adele Harms taken by Schiele with a photo he took earlier. This painting is mildly erotic which could explain a sexual tension between the artist and Adele!

Go here for images of Egon Schiele: http://tinyurl.com/3uvqcrx

Friday, June 24, 2011

Abstract Drawings Will Take You Beyond Realism

Powerful drawings of abstractions conjure strong emotional feeling if the viewer can relate to it. If the viewer can perceive the artists viewpoint, they can then be transported to other dimensions beyond 3D and/or above the 2D paper surface.

If one walks in the exhibition room with a closed viewpoint, this does not give the mind enough freedom to discover other elements the artist intended.

You do not have to be savvy in the art world to appreciate fine abstract drawings—only your perception of the lineal forms and the related tone values. Often the artist does point you in certain directions—but don't look at the finger, look towards the direction he is pointing—or what is beyond the drawing; this is very much like a koan.

If there is an essential feature in the artwork you recognize and can relate it to realism, you will be able to "feel" what is behind the abstractions.

There is no good definition of abstract drawing or abstract art and if there was something created with pure abstractions we would not be able to perceive it at all.

Any abstract drawing or painting, good or bad, must be able to communicate something to the viewer—even a bad drawing can invoke nausea.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Conversations About Figure Drawing and Painting

Have you ever overheard conversations between people in a gallery presentation?

"Well, I don't think there will be a return to figure drawing in the foreseeable future. I mean, look at those figurative paintings plagiarized almost from the Fauves!"

One of the things creeping in from the younger generation are about the attacks on the so-called "know-it-all gallery owners" who denounce the student's mimicking the old master's.

But, take note, that today the young artist's have embraced abstraction with more passion than their peers.

Figure drawing is here to stay and will always be part of an artists' bag of forms to inspire his and others' creativity.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Ever been out drawing or painting landscapes?

The discomforts experienced by artists can sometimes be severe from force 10 gales, freezing temperatures, rain or snow, heat and quite a variety of insects.

Apart from that, you can get human invaders who, in their kindness, make flowery statements on how good it is or sometimes the occasional critique with "It does not look much like the scene--and the grass isn't red, it's green!"

Did you know the artist John Singer Sargent employed a manservant to carry all his art equipment? He painted landscapes to get away from all his commissioned portraits. I think that might have been quite a bore for him with his sitters' comments "Please make me look 10 years younger!"

For us poor artists without the means to employ a servant, we have to prepare for any contingency; sun glasses to cut down on glare, a sunshade, portable drawing boards, all our drawing materials and a comfortable stool. And don't forget the digital camera for recording things.

Soft pastels, charcoal and 4B pencils help the beginner to they can work rapidly to capture those fleeting moments.


Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Learning To Draw What You See

If you are seeing them realistically, then draw them that way. The proportions of course must be correct right down to the last detail.

To do this, your observation of the thing being drawn, the basic structure, must be sound but this is not always possible unless you are in a relaxed state of mind.

I have tried several times while drawing from life (figure drawing) while being tense about something outside of drawing class, and my sketches have reflected this emotion.

When your mind is totally focused on something else, your direct observation becomes flawed. This is my opinion but if you have observed otherwise please make a comment here.

Being able to draw something realistically does not make you an artist--far from it. A literal translation without self-expression means it is just a copy--like a photograph.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Doodling Along in Those Spare Moments

There is tremendous creativity in all of us, even those that tell me "I can't even draw a straight line!" This creativity is not pertaining only to drawing, it is across all the arts.

Most of these creative juices lie dormant in the depths of our unconscious minds. We do have the ability to delve through these doors by unblocking with the use of doodling on scraps of paper--without any thought of "quality" in the doodles.

When scribbling with a mass of lines and shapes, this can trigger images of abstract forms or things you see around you every day. Ever had a persistent thought during the day and it turns into a dream or nightmare at night? Similar kind of thing.

It is of great value when doodling (or scribbling) to give yourself freedom to improvise-- and not thinking about anything which is quite difficult to do.

When a thought enters your mind about anything insignificant in your doodle, follow it and see where it takes you. See if you can "feel" the form in 3D, great if you can and that is when you come up with some really creative ideas!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Heart Drawings: Make Yours Elegant and Understated For Great Effects

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Saturday, June 11, 2011

The Dynamics of Drawing

We love variety in all things whether that be TV programs, the food we eat (imagine having pasta every night) the vacation time in the same place or in our artwork--drawing or sketching. I get tired of repetitive things and love change like everyone else.

So how do we introduce variety into our drawings? It's all in the BIG C: composition.

Example: in your mind, which of these two pictures would you prefer. One, all dots aligned vertically and horizontally like a grid pattern--or two, the same size dots randomly scattered? You could also have lines equal distance apart or each line unequal.

I will be writing more about composition with illustrations in the next blog. You comments here are welcome.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Fashion Design Sketches


Creating Fashion Design Sketches


They say that food, shelter and clothing will never go out of business and the time has never been better for a career with fashion design sketches.

Read page here: http://tinyurl.com/6zvcvxc and discover creativity in Fashion Design.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Gesture Drawing For Beginners

Gesture drawing is the basic skill required to master the art of drawing.

To lessen the learning curve you can start off by drawing faces or figures of various people--fat ones, thin ones, scraggly ones, bearded, ugly, beautiful and all those in-between.

To capture these basic elements you apply gesture drawing which will only be a few basic lines showing the main characteristics only--leaving out all detail!

Drawing rapidly gives your drawing life and vitality and there is always less tendency to add detail which actually kills a drawing.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Drawing Without Boring

What makes a drawing boring?

Any sketch or drawing that is overworked because the artist (possibly inexperienced) does not know when to stop.

He/she thinks by adding more and more detail makes the art look more professional. The key is knowing exactly when to stop.

Put your painting away for a day or two, then, with a fresh eyes, re-evaluate. You will see quite a difference as you now have a different viewpoint. You will notice the weak and strong points in your drawing or design.

Another test is to hold your artwork up to a mirror—you may well be surprised with what you see!

Friday, June 3, 2011

You should see this...

Robert D. Steele, former spy, the son of an oil man, blows the cover off all the mess that is going on. LISTEN UP to what he says, if it's the last thing you do. The government needs to be fired along with the electoral reform system. Spread the News! UNITED WE STAND! DIVIDE WE FALL! We bloggers and those who make videos (vloggers) do make a difference. You are the Paul Reveres and Patrick Henry's of our generation. You are the intelligence minutemen of the age. We have the power. Take it back!

Some states have already seceded from the Union of the once United States of America. Take back what belongs to you, what you worked for and for your families. Most important, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save you in these dark days ahead. A storm is coming on the horizon. Be ready! Stand Strong!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttDF9ATr57E&feature=player_embedded

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Do you want to sketch a car, but have no idea what to do or where to start? Fortunately, you have stumbled across the perfect beginner's guide to sketching cars.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6315678