Tag Archives: painting

The Hidden Art of Hilma Af Klint

In the art world one of the most significant developments during the early decades of the twentieth century was the liberation of formal elements. Shape, color, texture, pattern and all the other elements of form and design had been used … Continue reading

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Painters and Optical Devices (Part 2 Degas)

This is the second of three posts looking at how some representational painters have used optical devices and photography in their quest to capture images of the world around them. In the first post we described aspects of Johannes Vermeer’s … Continue reading

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Painters and Optical Devices (Part 1 Vermeer)

While writing a recent post describing how painters have depicted three-dimensional space I started thinking about a related topic that is also interesting. I’m referring to the influence of optical devices – mostly cameras and photography – on the way … Continue reading

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The Design Element Of Space

In today’s blog post we talk about space and how artists have depicted it over the years. You can find our complete discussion of space in Chapter 4 of Design: A Beginner’s Handbook. For this post we will anchor the … Continue reading

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Mark Bradford and The Politics of Abstraction

Industrial sanders. Discarded handbills torn from telephone poles. Hairdresser’s permanent end papers. House paint from the local Home Depot. These are the tools and materials employed by the artist Mark Bradford in the creation of his large scale paintings. Bradford … Continue reading

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Tamara de Lempicka, a Star of Art Deco

I recently had a conversation with a San Francisco based graphic artist who asked me about the mid-twentieth century painter Tamara de Lempicka. If you’re not familiar with Lempicka’s name I’m not surprised. Her career spanned the years between 1920 … Continue reading

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The Language of Motion

It all started with a bet. Leland Stanford, who went on to found Stanford University, bet that when a horse gallops there is a moment when all four hooves leave the ground. At the time this was nearly impossible to … Continue reading

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Vernon Fisher And The Clutter Of A Mind At Work

The first time I saw the work of Vernon Fisher I was instantly captivated. He is a masterful storyteller and painter who employs deadpan humor in his investigations into perception and consciousness. Combining the extraordinary and the mundane, Fisher looks … Continue reading

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A Story of Discovery: The Art of Judy Pfaff

I’ve spent the last few weeks going through piles of old art magazines. I’ve saved them for years. They’ve moved across country with me, been boxed and carted from house to house but rarely reread. I’m in a stage of … Continue reading

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Message and Vision: The Art of Alison Moritsugu

In Design: A Beginner’s Handbook we advise readers to work towards mastery of design and craft skills but to remember that those things should always be subservient to your vision as an artist and the message or concepts you want … Continue reading

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