Whether you are a novice or an experienced artist, there is always something that can be learn’t from the masters. Art itself is a very diverse subject and a matter of personal taste. So many different things can be classified as art.
As a race the Chinese and Japanese generally use black and white to express themselves. Very cleverly they use brushes for both their writings and their drawings. Brushes, in fact, made of hair with a very fine point, ideal for their delicate work, with a bamboo handle.
It is usual for the brushes to have handles of bamboo and I would imagine these go back to the paintings of Zen. They seem to sometimes paint with these long painted brushes with a very delicate stroke, sometimes in ink over a slight wash.
Trees etc. just seem so lifelike, as if they are really moving, flowing naturally as it were. A good example is the patterns produced on the famous Willow Pattern plates. These same brushes are also used for Calligraphy and no doubt silk painting.
So what do we know about Expressionism? How does one describe this type of work to a beginner? I actually see it as a way of letting your inner emotional state run free. But I stress that this is my interpretation of it.
To the eye of a beginner particularly, I am sure this art form would appear to seem unbalanced and even distorted, with unusually created shapes. Take Van Gogh for instance.
Impressionism is the Monet type of painting. Here you have very short dashes that bring together the painting when they are close together. Especially if you stand well back to look at them.
These really are appreciated the world over. His interesting floral and water scenes are a typical example and where the light actually reflects on the painting. Interestingly enough they appear as a series of dots and dashes which then appear to join up. This style of painting is Impressionism which heralds from the 19th Century.
Still Life painting often is often done with simple everyday life objects. A few examples to name are; a bowl of fruit, bread and cheese, a glass of wine and a carafe, or even a cauliflower or onions.
Simple items are not always easy to reproduce and you need a good backdrop for this type of work. I think that this dates back to about the 17th century and the famous Dutch Masters. How fantastic some of these artists from a bygone age were, and so forward thinking.
Now to the regular night-time scenes found in gay Paris created by the likes of Toulouse-Lautrec. How he loved all this and brought the subjects all to life for us and into our homes as posters etc. showing the bawdy lifestyle of the local artists and burlesque in the dance halls.
What about Monet who produced such greatly coloured and inspired landscapes, and natural artistic scenes. Yet he did not stop at this as he also loved doing very amusing caricatures mainly of his friends.
So many wonderful artists, too many to mention, Constable, J.W.Turner, Renoir, and Picasso, and what a talent Salvador Dali.
His works appear to be from another world – so innovative- what a brain that man surely had, terrific insight and amazing incredible talent. If you are fortunate enough to have visited Barcelona his work abounds there, for everyone to appreciate.
