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Continuing the long line of intimists from Vermeer to Vuillard, Mark Karnes makes an alluring world out of the quietest aspects of his domestic life. Like all great painters of the near-at-hand, Karnes' work reminds us that beauty is to be found everywhere, at both expected and unexpected moments...
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Every year, we invite pastel artists to enter their work into our annual Pastel 100 competition, now in its 14th year. And every year, we receive thousands of pastel paintings. I am always stunned by the fantastic variety of the work and the extraordinary level of talent. We celebrate the impeccable...
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In a time when we often hear the arts being dismissed as unnecessary luxuries and when so many art classes in schools have been cut, it's nice to hear a little good news. Portrait of Claude Renoir Painting by Renoir, 1907, oil on canvas. A recent federal study of research data on the effectiveness...
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Looking at Mark Messersmith's artwork is like being sucked into a kaleidoscope. The colors are bold, varied, and everywhere. It seems odd to say this. I mean, of course, there is color everywhere--it's a painting. But what stands out about Messersmith's work is that the colors, more than...
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The Clubfoot Boy by Jusepe de Ribera, oil on canvas, 1642. Art...has the power to make any spot on earth the living center of the universe; and unlike science, which often gives us the illusion of understanding things we really do not understand, it helps us to know life in a way that still keeps before...
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I am usually heartened when I hear disagreements about matters of art and technique. Maybe I'm just combative that way, but more likely, I think I take such debates as a sign that there are more artists coming to the table, that the field is growing and evolving, and that there's no end in sight...
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The last two centuries, in particular, witnessed the final great explorations of the surface of the planet by scientists, geographers, and surveyors. In those pre-photography days, and for a while after, artists were an integral part of any expedition. Often these artists were also trained naturalists...
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"A line is a path that can offer an interesting and varied journey, rhythmic and with occasional, pleasurable surprises. Thus is one tempted to take the journey again. " -Krome Barratt, Logic and Design: In Art, Science, and Mathematics Creating representational art is challenging; a satisfying...
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I went to an artist's talk the other day and was a bit taken aback when the artist admitted that she went door to door looking for a gallery, taking images to every venue she knew of and talking her way past many annoyed assistants to get a few minutes of time with a gallery owner. She once cornered...
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Do you ever lose yourself in creating pencil sketches and discover, when you "wake up," that you've drawn objects or people or places that have personal meaning to you or ideas you've been subconsciously toying with? Drawing sketches can be like writing in a journal--the pages of your...
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I don't know if I've ever said these words "out loud" to you, but they deserve to be said, repeatedly and loudly. So here I am, virtually hollering at you across cyberspace: Experiment with abstract art! I know we have talked about how thinking abstractly is a key to any successful...
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Artist Allison Maletz forcibly breaks with convention and defies the observed rules of watercolor painting, working in ways that seem contrary to what the medium is capable of doing and exploring subject matter that can spark uncomfortable and often contradictory feelings in the viewer. Hug by Allison...
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I was always taught that effective color mixing starts with discovering the tinting strength of each color on your palette. For me, that is the basis of understanding how to mix colors, because it tells me how they will react when combined. A Breath Away by Joseph McGurl, oil on canvas, 24 x 36. I'm...
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If I had a time machine and could travel back to learn how to oil paint from any artist in history, I would not spare a second thought setting the clock to circa 1895, smack dab in the middle of the era when Odilon Redon was refining his fine art oil-painting and pastel-painting skills. The Cyclops by...
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Those of you who have read me for awhile know that I'm big on this patience thing, even though patience is the least of my virtues. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if it's on my list at all, but I keep working at it, and perseverance is part of patience, even if it only begins with the...