Drawing Light and Shadows
Light and shadows visually define objects. Before you can draw the light and shadows you see, you need to train your eyes to see like an artist.
Values are the different shades of gray between white and [more…]
Drawing Geometric Perspective
Geometric perspective (sometimes called linearperspective) makes subjects in a drawing look like they recede into distant space, appearing smaller the farther they are away from you. [more…]
Greek Architecture: Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian?
For the Greeks, temples were not only places to worship the gods but also impressive symbols of their society and culture. They were built as focal points on the highest ground of every city in Greece [more…]
Drawing the Furry, Fluffy, and Feathered
Drawing animals brings with it its own set of artistic difficulties. Most animals are always fully dressed. Their fashion statements vary from critter to critter, come in a variety of fashionable patterns [more…]
Focusing on the Elements of Composition in Drawing
Composition refers to the organization, arrangement, and combination of objects within the borders of a drawing space. You want to bring the eyes of the viewer toward your center of interest within an [more…]
Understanding Installation Art
Installation art is difficult to describe. In principal, it means taking a large interior (the exterior can be part of an installation, too) and loading it with disparate items that evoke complex and multiple [more…]
Exploring the Ancient Pyramids
From the ancient civilizations of the Near East to the native peoples of Central America, pyramid building has been a common architectural design for thousands of years. [more…]
Spotting Good Architecture
Ancient Roman architect Vitruvius insisted that three fundamental principles are essential to architecture. His formula still holds true. A building must balance all three to be considered architecture [more…]
Discovering Italian High Renaissance Artists
If you are familiar with any Renaissance, it is with the Italian High Renaissance. In this article, you encounter names of master artists that have become household words. Now you can put those names in [more…]
The Birth of Impressionism: Manet and Monet
Impressionism began to take shape in the 1860s on the canvases of Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. But the actual birth of Impressionism was probably the summer of 1869, when Monet [more…]
Discovering the Baroque Masters: Caravaggio and His Followers
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, known more simply as Caravaggio (1571–1610), was the greatest and most influential painter of the Baroque style. He was also a quick-tempered Bohemian who was often jailed [more…]
Four Painters You Can Learn From
You already know famous painters like Leonardo da Vinci, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Claude Monet; well, here are four well-known artists that you may not be so familiar with. Look them all up and don't pass [more…]
Becoming an Art Connoisseur
There have been many gifted and sharp-eyed curators (keepers and protectors) in the 129-year history of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art — hundreds of them, expert in fields as diverse as ancient [more…]
Defining Romanticism in the Arts
Many art historians will tell you that Romanticism slips through your fingers when you try to define it. That's partly because Romantic artists didn't have one style like the Impressionists or Expressionists [more…]
The Art of American Realism
Some American artists followed traditions developed in Europe; others preferred homegrown styles. Realism — painting that is grounded in the ordinary and captures day-to-day life — was a natural for pragmatic [more…]
The Rococo Influence in British Art
Although the Rococo movement never got a foothold on British soil, English artists still felt its influence like a fresh breeze from across the English Channel. Without becoming flamboyant, a new, lighter [more…]
Recognizing the Many Faces of Art Forgeries
Art forgeries come in three general categories. One is the straight copy. The straight copy is just that — the forger copies exactly an existing artwork without making changes. The second is called a [more…]
Tracking the "Noble Savage": Paul Gauguin
The bright colors and shocking contrasts of Paul Gauguin's paintings have amazed and perplexed artists and art lovers for over a century, and the story behind Gauguin's life and style is as interesting [more…]
Discovering the Gold Standards of Architectural Rescue
Today, American architects follow standards established by the Secretary of the Interior when preserving architecture. The following definitions for preservation, restoration, reconstruction and replication [more…]
