Monthly Archives: July 2012

Light and substance—it’s another way to describe chiaroscuro, the painting technique developed in the Renaissance that we worked on last week.  Think about those two words together—light, a perennial quest for painters, exemplified by Monet and the Impressionists, and applauded … Continue reading →

Chiaroscuro in art is “an Italian term which literally means ‘light-dark’. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modeling of the subjects depicted.” Wikipedia[1] Tonal contrasts are about the … Continue reading →

Notes on the formal elements of my process that I demonstrated this last week are below.  It could be expanded, to be sure.  But these checkpoints are things you might question when you are struggling with a piece.  While I’m painting they are … Continue reading →

If you are prone to watching movies that involve soulful, struggling writers who can’t seem to catch a break, you have probably heard them counseled by a wise advisor—“write what you know”. Oddly, in the last week I’ve heard two … Continue reading →

Not being much of an “understander” of performance art and one who has little patience for what feels like exhibitionism, I was surprised at how affected I was by the HOB documentary about Maria Abromovic—“The Artist is Present”.  I want … Continue reading →