Monet Painting Damaged

I have written only briefly about French Impressionist painter, Claude Monet but I thought I should say something about the events of the weekend. Early yesterday morning (Oct. 7, 2007) a group of people broke into the Orsay Museum in Paris, France. When they heard the alarm go off the group left, but on the way out someone punched through one the Monet paintings and left a four inch hole in the canvas.

I remember seeing the beautiful Le Pont d’Argenteul when I visited this museum and it makes me sad that someone would destroy it. Above, you can see a picture of the painting before it was damaged yesterday. Click here to see the damage done to Monet's painting. The tear is in the middle of the painting, just right of center, and runs horizontally. Cross your fingers that Monet’s Le Pont d’Argenteul can be fixed.

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Book Review: Vincent van Gogh by Eileen Lucas

Today’s book review is again on a book featuring van Gogh. So many great picture books have been written about this artist that it can be difficult to choose one. There will certainly be more to come.

For a review of the Yellow House by Susan Goldman Rubin, click here.

Click here for more information on Vincent van Gogh.

Eileen Lucas’ Vincent van Gogh is perfect for kids just able to read on their own. She begins at the start of van Gogh’s career when he is making sketches of the poor and continues until the end of his life. She writes about van Gogh’s life and how he created his artwork, squeezing paint straight from the tube onto the canvas and layering the paint in thick textures. Lucas also introduces the idea of Impressionism.

The book is beautifully illustrated by Rochelle Draper who used van Gogh’s own paintings, including his many self-portraits, as inspiration. The pictures have the appearance of having been painted on canvas, just as van Gogh’s were.

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Seeing van Gogh’s paintings in a museum helped me to understand the difference between a poster and real painting. There’s is something truly special about looking at the same canvas that the artist worked on. When you look the Yellow House you know that Vincent van Gogh himself placed his hands on that canvas. Plus, the layering of paint makes van Gogh’s subjects almost 3D. You can’t see that in a book or online. Seeing van Gogh’s paintings is a great reason to visit a museum.

Because van Gogh painted so many pieces, it is almost impossible to visit a major art museum without seeing at least one. Also, he painted subjects that everyone is familiar with. Most people have seen sunflowers up close. Most people know what farm land looks like. It’s easy to be comfortable looking at van Gogh’s masterpieces because you can understand what he was painting. He also used bright, attractive colors in many of his paintings which make looking at them fun.

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Photography Guidelines Part 2

Yesterday you learned about the rule of thirds and the diagonal rule. Today’s post will focus on another important aspect of photography.

When you look at your subject through your camera, think about the way the viewer’s eye would travel across the image. The best subject to photograph when you first start thinking about this idea is a road or trail or river: something that will run through the length of your photo but won’t move while you’re trying to create the perfect picture.
Look at the photo above, again taken in the Swiss Alps. The dirt path draws the viewer’s eye across and up the picture to the little barn. Then the viewer notices the trees and then the mountain. Is that the way you looked at this photo?

The photograph below was taken in Pere-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France. How does the road draw your attention through the photo?
Look at the final example below. The staircase leads the eye around the circular building and upward until it reaches the ceiling. The lines on the glass roof add an interesting detail to the photograph. When you take your own photos, look for things like lines or natural patterns. This photo was taken in the British Museum in London, England. The circular room on the right is the reading room where people can do research.

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Photography Guidelines

Photographers know that in order to make their pictures interesting it is helpful to follow a few guidelines. Today I’ll write about two of them and use some of my own pictures as examples.

The first is the Rule of Thirds.

The rule of thirds simply states that the main focus of your photo should not be placed in the center. Instead, move the focus up and to the right or left, or down and to the right or left. If you are taking a picture of a sunset, for example, you could take the picture with the horizon towards the bottom of picture instead of in the middle.

Look at the photo above. This is a picture I took in Pompeii, Italy. In the year 79 AD, the volcano, Vesuvius, erupted and the lava destroyed the nearby city of Pompeii. In the background of the photo you can see Vesuvius. In the foreground are two large pots that were used in Pompeii before the eruption.
This photo is a good example of the rule of thirds. Notice that it has been divided into nine equal parts. The horizon is located in the upper third of the picture while the foreground, the pots, are located in the lower third. Now look at the lower left hand corner. The main focus of the foreground can be found here, in the bottom left ninth of the photo. The main focus of the background, the volcano, is in the upper right ninth.

The second is the Diagonal Rule.

This rule says that the photo will be more interesting if the important points are placed on a diagonal line. This is especially useful when taking pictures of roads or rivers but can be used when photographing any subject.
The photo of Pompeii with Vesuvius in the background is an example of the diagonal rule but it is easier to see the diagonal in the photo of the cows shown here. This photo was taken in the Alps in Switzerland.
Next time you take pictures, try to use the Rule of Thirds and the Diagonal Rule to make your photos more interesting. Try to get used to not putting the main subject in the center of your pictures and you will notice how much better your pictures become.

More photography guidelines to come later on.

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Artist Profile: Vincent van Gogh

During his early life, van Gogh tried a lot of professions. He worked as an art dealer, a teacher, a bookseller, a minister’s assistant, and a missionary before he became an artist.

Van Gogh was Dutch and remained in the Netherlands from his birth in 1853 until 1886 when he moved to Paris. His brother, Theo, was an art dealer in Paris and tried to help van Gogh sell his paintings but they were too much darker than the art that was popular in Paris at the time. You can see an example of van Gogh’s early style in the painting shown here, The Potato Eaters. It is much different from his later paintings as you can see below. In 1886 van Gogh moved so he could learn about the style of art that was being practiced in Paris.

In Paris van Gogh was surrounded by impressionists who used a lot of color and preferred to paint natural subjects outdoors. Click here for more information about impressionism. He also met many painters including Paul Gauguin who would later live with van Gogh in southern France.

When he had had enough of living in the city, van Gogh left Paris for the more peaceful Arles in southern France. Here, he lived in the Yellow House that became the subject of a painting shown here. Compare this painting with The Potato Eaters shown above and you can see the effect of the impressionists on van Gogh’s style.

It was in the Yellow House that Paul Gauguin came to live with van Gogh. The two painted almost without break for two months but they did not get along well as roommates and Gauguin moved out after a bad fight. Van Gogh was growing ill and beginning to see things that were not there so he, too, moved out of the Yellow House, but he remained in southern France. Though he never stopped painting, doctors cared for him for the rest of his life.

Van Gogh and his brother, Theo, were very close. Van Gogh and Theo wrote many letters to each other and van Gogh often sent ink sketches of paintings he’d done. It is because of these letters that we know so much about van Gogh’s life. He painted hundreds of works of art and we know exactly when and where most of them were completed. Theo cared about his brother so much that he even sent van Gogh money so he could pay his rent and buy art supplies. When van Gogh became ill, Theo made sure he was well taken care of by doctors.

Bellow are a few more of van Gogh’s paintings. Notice the colors and the thick paint.

Starry Night Over the Rhone

Self Portrait 1889
Van Gogh painted many self portraits. To do so he used a mirror so the details are shown in reverse.

Want to paint the way van Gogh did when he was living in the Yellow House? Van Gogh painted quickly, dashing thick globs of paint onto his canvas. Oil paint had only recently become available in tubes so he didn’t have to make his own paints like artists before him. He could just squeeze the paint from the tube onto his canvas.

Van Gogh didn’t have to paint every little detail for the viewer to understand what he was trying to create. Try using quick, short brush strokes to create the idea of an object. For instance, if you decide to paint a tree, don’t paint each leaf, just use many dashes of green paint where the leaves should be. Use acrylic craft paints for this project. They will be thick enough to paint the way van Gogh did, but will be less expensive than buying many tubes of oil paint. Remember to paint on thick paper so the paint doesn’t soak through. Posterboard would be perfect. Just cut it to any size you want.

EDITED TO ADD: Vincent van Gogh by Eileen Lucas, book review

EDITED TO ADD: The Yellow House by Susan Goldman Rubin, book review

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