SIMON SCHAMA’S POWER OF ART
Posted on July 24, 2007
Over the last few weeks (as of June 18th) I have been watching Simon Schama’s Power of Art on PBS HD.
The BBC website has a more informative site on the series. Catch it here.
The series covers eight artists in total.
- Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) and Wheatfield With Crows,
- Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Guernica,
- Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) and David With the Head of Goliath,
- Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and The Ecstasy of St. Theresa,
- Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) and The Conspiracy of the Batavians Under Claudius Civilis,
- Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) and The Death of Marat,
- J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) and Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On),
- Mark Rothko (1903-1970) and the Seagram murals.*
Instead of me going on about the series it is best you read it directly from the BBC site. I cannot explain it any better.
However, my review of the series is all positive. Somehow Simon gets into the soul of each artist and puts it on the screen for you to see and feel. It is as if Simon had interviewed each artist at a defining moment in their lives. At times, though, it made me question how much of what was being portrayed was actual fact and what was just an educated opinion.
Either way, if you have not seen this series, it is one to catch!
Now, if you have missed this fantastic series, no worries, PBS is offering it for sale in their store.
*List taken from PBS site
Transcribing – Van Gogh’s Cornfield and Cypress Trees
Posted on July 21, 2007
I am working my way through Jackie Simmond’s ‘Pastel Workbook’ and one of the exercises is to copy Van Gogh’s Cornfield and Cypress Trees. It looked like it was easy enough, but I had a few challenges. One was trying to keep the strokes from touching too much. Another was that I used a paper with a strong ochre tint to it whereas I should have really used a blue/grey paper. Overall, once I got into the aspect of paisley strokes it is quite a fun style to paint with. Please leave your comments on areas of improvement! On a side note, I painted this outside (to enjoy the beautiful day) on my Plein Air Easel to test it out. I put the easel on my SLIK Able 300DX tripod and was impressed at the stability. I had the painting on a 12×12" hardboard and never had a problem with anything moving when applying the pastel. Below is Van Gogh’s painting to compare mine with.
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Apples
Posted on July 14, 2007
Two sketches of apples. The first one I focused more on the apple and it shows. Although the background colour compliments the apple well, it is unfinished and lacking definition.
The second sketch I started with the background, knowing that if I didn’t I would focus on the apples too much. There is a sense of harmony between the background and the apples, however there is lack of definition in the apples.
Please post your comments if you have any.
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New Additions
Posted on July 14, 2007
I have added two new items to my repertoire.
A new easel and a new set of 120 Rembrandt pastels.
The easel is a Windsor and Newton H-frame Shannon easel and I am enjoying it as it is easily adjustable and is very sturdy. What I like about the easel the most is the ratcheted vertical adjustment. Very quick and very simple to adjust.
The Rembrandt set is great. With the 120 set, 60 are full sticks and 60 are half sticks. What would have been even better would be to get a 180 piece set of all half sticks for the same price. Then I could really try out more colours without spending a lot of money. Plus it would save me the time of actually breaking all the full sticks in half for my pastel box. Yes, I am one of those that works in half sticks and have no problem breaking my pastels into as many little pieces as I need to. :)
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Lighweight Tripod Easel – LT Easel
Posted on July 11, 2007
I have taken the time to design a Plein Air easel with the intention of having it extremely lightweight and portable.
The easel is made from aluminum, weighs 1.5 lbs (0.68kg) and is 24" long. It attaches to any standard tripod. It will accommodate surfaces from 6" up to 24” high. The advantages of attaching it to a tripod are that the entire unit is extremely lightweight, the easel can be positioned at any angle from flat to tilting forward and the height is easily adjusted via the tripod so any painter will be comfortable working on it. Add a ‘rock bag’ to the cross posts of the tripod and you have added stability on softer ground or windy days.
I have had some initial interest so I sent design drawings off to a few manufacturers and am currently waiting to here back from them regarding the cost. When I have a final price I will post it here (price will not include cost of tripod, applicable taxes or shipping). Any shipping will be from British Columbia, Canada.
If interested in purchasing one, please contact me.
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