Day 29

Another Rockwell. It started off strong, but it really tapered off towards the end. I ran out of time and work has been really stressful, so once again, my work lags behind. I think this blog will be a study of my frustration with work and how my art suffers... Not that I really believe copying section of other people's paintings is art, but you know what I mean. I'm using the term loosely...

Day 28

Another Norman Rockwell. I still am so impressed with this guy. This is one of the earliest images I remember seeing for some reason.

Day 27

Another little Norman Rockwell study...

Day 26

This another Norman Rockwell. I just can't believe how good this guy is. The subtlety he conveys is just brilliant! This is a section of his At The Breakfast Table. This is considered his "divorce" painting. Check it out, if you're bored out of you mind ever

Day 25

A section of, in my opinion, the best Norman Rockwell painting Breaking Home Ties

Day 24

Another Norman Rockwell study...

Day 23 (Detail)

The first blog looks a little weird. Here's a closer shot...

Day 23

Here's my drawing for the day. I did another Norman Rockwell study. Man, that guy was good and he gets no credit!

Day 22

Here is my drawing for the day. It's a section of a Norman Rockwell painting. I took out the girl holding the doll for time and it was slightly more interesting, too.

Day 21

This is the hardest face I think I have ever attempted (I'm still not happy with it, but I'm willing to cut my losses with it). Her head is tilted at a subtle angle, and she's making a awkward look on her face. Thanks a lot Jon Singer Sargent! Ya jerk! Probably renowned as the greatest artist to walk the planet. However, I think that J.W. Waterhouse might have him beat technically, but not as well known for some reason. Check out both artists!

Day 20

Blah...

Day 19

Here's the drawing for today. It's Gustav Klimt's Judith I. It's a great painting. It's as haunting as it is beautiful. When I first saw my wife, I thought she looked familiar, and then I realized it's because she kind of resembles Judith I. Not that my wife is any kind of haunting...

This, to me, is one of his greatest paintings. It shows what he is fully capable of. His style is very unique - strong geometrical design juxtaposed with soft organic shapes flowing throughout. All of his paintings are incredibly interesting and unique. Which is weird because Gustav Klimt himself was known for being incredibly boring. There was a quote from one of his friends saying, "the only interesting thing about him is his hair" (which in modern days would be considered something like the start of a "comb-over")

In Austria, Gustav was a very big deal. He painted murals in the Vienna art school that were mostly destroyed by Adolf Hilter years later. Hilter wanted to be an artist more than anything (he was a decent watercolor artist actually... not that I'm trying to compliment the guy...). Rumor has it that he snapped after not getting excepted into the school for the second time. Since he was out of options, he decided to try the army, and...and well, you all know waht happened after that. So after his rise to power, one thing on his agenda was to ruin the Gustav Klimt murals... in addition to numerous pieces of priceless art - like a good portion of Monet's paintings. The Nazi's occupied Monet's house and used his paintings to set the soldier's boot on. What a bunch of swell guys!

Anyways, here's my cheap rip off for today

Day 18

Here's the drawing for the day... similar to yesterdays. This a photo taken by Maxfield Parrish for one of his paintings...

Day 17

I'm pretty pleased with this drawing. It's a portrait of one of favorite artists, Maxfield Parrish. A truly brilliant artist. Do yourself the favor and google this guy. How he works with color is beyond unique. However, this painting is not a self-portrait, it's a portrait from an artist named Kenton Cox. It was done in 1905...

Day 16

Hey Gang,

Sorry the flash is so weird on this one. It really bleach out the lower section. I should have just retaken the picture, but I'm reading to go home. So yeah, here is my sad attempt at the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa is one of those paintings that is such a part of our culture that everyone is so familiar with her bone structure, so if you're off by a fraction of a centimeter in any direction with any facial feature, people can tell right away. So, as you can see, I'm off quite a bit.

People think that the Mona Lisa is an epic painting because of how technically superior it is to any other painting. People think there are all these hidden meanings behind her eyes or her smile. Not true. This painting has just been the focus of vandalism an theft for over a hundred years while at the Louvre. It started with an angry Italian guard who felt that France should not own art from an Italian painter. He felt it belonged to Italy. So one day, he stole it! It appeared years later only to be victim of different attempts to destroy it. Weird, eh?