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Painting And Drawing: Is There A Difference?

Do you still believe that portrait painting and drawing are the same? Well, ok, they both belong to the art but they aren't identical terms. They overlap though.

Drawing is mostly creating lines that are arranged to form shapes, silhouettes. Very frequently, designs are created by drawing. For drawing, pencils, chalk, charcoal, a pen can be used.

Painting is about creating forms and values. There might be a shape or silhouette but it is not necessary. For painting, paints are used. 

Shall You Make a Drawing before You Paint?

Often a question arises whether you shall draw before you paint. Some people draw and then paint their drawings while others prefer to create an oil painting directly without making any designs. 

There is a common belief though that before you start with oil painting, you shall have a solid background in portrait drawing or drawing in general. However, once you are skilled enough, you can choose your own way of creating your pieces. 

Some people believe that for some painting styles, skills are not needed. For example, such a famous art style as abstract painting is criticized a lot by people who don`t understand the art and don`t know the art history. 

While it is correct that one doesn't have to be good at portrait drawing to paint an amazing self-portrait or any other abstract piece, it doesn't mean that anybody can do it. To paint a good abstract piece, one shall have an incredible feeling of colour and shape and have the finest painting skills. 

You cannot just grasp a box of paints and start throwing them onto canvas. Well, you can do it but it will not be a real painting, and thus, it will not be appreciated. 

Behind every paint stroke of a real painter, there is a depth of thought, feeling, empathy, and the most complicated task is to transfer it to the viewers. If a painter manages to make the viewers feel like he does, maybe not the same feelings but the same intensity, only then, the painting can be regarded as a success. We can tell it about abstract oil painting, too. 

Drawing and Realistic Painting

With realistic painting, completely different criteria apply. To be able to paint realistic objects or moreover, for realistic portrait painting, you need to learn to draw very well. While still, every painter has his/her own way to paint, but it is recommended to draw first. Then, one can use the drawing as a foundation for a painting. 

Some Things Are Harder to Draw, while Others Are Harder to Paint

What is more complicated though? Painting or drawing? It all depends on many factors again:

- Sharp detailed objects are easier to draw than to paint. For example, you can pretty effortlessly draw a city skyline with a pencil but drawing it might be challenging. 

- Your skills matter, too. While some people are great at drawing, they might be not so skilled in handling paints. And for some, both drawing and painting are fine.

- Paints can be different, too. While water-based or acrylic paints are pretty easy to use, painting with oil can be challenging. 

Is There the Most Complicated Way to Paint?

It depends on an artist whether he prefers drawing or painting. The same applies to a way to paint: some artists work with acrylic paints while others prefer oil. Though commonly, painting with oil is considered to be the most complex way to create art pieces. There are several factors that increase the complexity of oil on canvas creation. One of them is the time needed for paint to dry.

It is normal that for painting, an artist needs to put several layers of paint. Oil paint is known for drying very slowly. A couple of days might pass until you are able to put the second paint layer. It makes the process more time-consuming. Of course, you can paint all in one layer but to do so, you have to be very skilled. This is one of the main challenges when painting portraits. To make the skin look natural, a painter needs to put multiple layers. Every lower layer influences greatly on how the upper layers look.

It doesn't mean though that water-based paints are easier to manage. Everybody has this experience: they flow all around the painting, the colours mix, and if you don`t find the right way to handle them, your painting might become a mess. 

Acrylic paints are also far from perfection. They dry so fast that any proper blending is almost impossible.

Find Your Way and Enjoy It

Every artist has his own way of perceiving the world and recreating it. While some prefer drawing, others like oil painting. Thus, if you are in painting or drawing, choose your own way and create your masterpieces! 

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EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY: The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck

THE Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck, 1434, Oil on oak panel, 82.2 cm × 60 cm (32.4 in × 23.6 in)

THIS PAINTING IS AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE AS A HAND-PAINTED OIL REPRODUCTION: https://www.1st-art-gallery.com/Jan-Van-Eyck/Portrait-Of-Giovanni-Arnolfini-And-His-Wife-1434.html

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5 Most Famous American Painters

Artists from the United States have been a part of every movement since the country’s inception, providing a perspective not often seen by artists in other parts of the world. A perfect example is the cowboy painting, which expresses why famous American painters deserve their spot amongst the greats. 

1. James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Whistler’s painting style had roots in Realism, but his work would come to be associated with the Aestheticism movement. His most famous work is Whistler’s Mother, which he completed in 1871. Also known as Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, the piece depicts Whistler’s mother facing perpendicular to the viewer. The work is regarded as one of the most famous by an American artist living outside the US and continues to be visited by thousands at the Musee de Orsay every year.

While most of his career took place while living in Britain, Whistler was a prolific American painter born in Massachusetts. Whistler’s family left the United States in 1842 when they moved to St. Petersburg, Russia. His family returned to the United States soon thereafter, but he made a permanent relocation to Europe in 1855. 

2. Georgia O’Keeffe 

Some of O’Keeffe’s most famous works are her flower paintings. The works feature intense close-ups of flowers, which have been the subject of debate for decades. Some of these works include her various Red Canna paintings, as well as Jimson Weed. Many of her works can be seen on display at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Sante Fe, New Mexico.

Often regarded as the mother of American modernism, O’Keeffe was born in 1887 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. She traveled around the United States during her youth, studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, among other academic institutions. Best known for her work in American modernism and Precisionism, one of O’Keeffe’s paintings broke the previous auction world record for a female artist three times over. 

3. Thomas Cole

One of Cole’s most prominent works is The Oxbow, which depicts a Romantic view of the Connecticut River Valley following a storm. The panoramic view is typical of Romantic art and depicts the collision of the wilderness and civilization. Other similar works by Cole include THe Architect’s Dream and The Titan’s Goblet.

English-born Coleemigrated with his family to the United States in 1818. He was largely self-taught as a painter, relying primarily on books and other materials to further his painting skills. He found early work as an engraver before focusing more closely on oil painting. Cole is often regarded as a founding member of the Hudson River School, a movement that focused heavily on landscape depictions in a Romantic style. 

4. John Singer Sargeant

Born in Florence to American parents in 1856, Sargeant remained an expatriate throughout his life. He studied throughout Europe during his youth, displaying an early interest in landscapes. 

His focus on landscapes morphed into one for portraiture as his skills developed, largely the result of direction from his mentors. Sargeant completed his first portrait of a childhood friend in 1877, cementing a focus on portraiture that would last for the remainder of his career. 

Sargeant’s 1889 work, An Out-of-Doors Study, is one that well displays his talent for portraiture. The piece depicts a man and wife in an outdoor setting with a canoe behind them. Incredible detail is shown in the couple, with the man painting on a canvas as the woman lies next to him. The painting displays Sargeant’s knowledge of Impressionist techniques, a common theme throughout his body of work. 

5. Grant Wood

A native of Iowa, Wood is best known for his depictions of the American Midwest. He traveled to Europe multiple times throughout his career, where he studied Impressionism and Post-Impressionism extensively. Wood’s focus on depicting the Midwest earned him recognition in the Regionalism movement, which was interested in depictions of rural life in response to the Great Depression. 

Wood’s most iconic work is American Gothic, which he completed in 1930. The work depicts a farmer holding a pitchfork who is standing beside his daughter. Vertical elements in the pitchfork, farmer’s shirt, and house siding mimic those found in gothic architecture. Since its completion, this masterpiece has come to be regarded as a cornerstone of Americana and is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. 

Conclusion

American artists have been altering the course of visual art since the American Revolution. These artists have both painted within existing movements, and in some cases, created new ones. It’s no wonder then, that the great artists of the United States continue to fascinate and inspire art lovers the world over. 

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ARTWORK OF THE DAY: “Seated Woman With Bent Kneeby” by Egon Schiele

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The Lament for Icarus by Herbert James Draper: COME FLY WITH ME...

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The story behind Woman in Gold

If you're any kind of admirer of paintings then you've seen and valued crafted by Gustav Klimt. Gustav Klimt paintings are brilliant artful culminations. His original composition The Kiss is one of the most mainstream prints underway. It has been reproduced on everything from postcards to kitchen magnets. 

His art is immortal and appealing in an all-inclusive way. Any Klimt fans fount it in the theaters on their night out on the town. However, similar to a motion picture of Woman in Gold features Ryan Reynolds and Helen Mirren. It digs into the startlingly striking story of Klimt's other most well-known work. It`s his Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, the Woman in Gold painting. This record-breaking and invaluable work of art is a brilliant stage propelled Woman in Gold painting. It holds more history than anybody may have envisioned.

The Woman in Gold painting

Picture of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is the first of two representations of Adele. It considered being a significant articulation of Klimt's "brilliant stage." In 1925, Adele kicked the bucket of meningitis. In her will, she asked that her better half hand down the two representations and a few other Gustav Klimt paintings to the Austrian State Gallery. After 10 years, the artwork despite everything hung in the Bloch-Bauer family home, when the Nazis attacked Austria. A year sooner, Maria Bloch-Bauer, Adele and Ferdinand's niece wedded Frederick "Fritz" Altmann. She became Maria Altmann. With the intrusion, Ferdinand fled to Switzerland, and his works of art and other prized assets were appropriated. Maria stayed in Austria, not having any desire to leave Fritz who had been captured and sent to the Dachau Concentration Camp. The Nazi's were utilizing Fritz' capture to compel his sibling Bernhard to move his material production line to the Germans. And he did that. Fritz was discharged and he and Maria fled to the United States, inevitably settling in California. (As an intriguing side note; Bernhard had sent a Cashmere sweater from his processing plant to Maria soon after the war. Cashmere has not been accessible in the United States. Maria pulled in various purchasers and turned into the essence of Cashmere in California.) After the war, the Austrian Government kept the Bloch-Bauer assortment. It referred to Adele's will as be having lawful power and moved the masterpiece to the National Gallery at the Belvedere.

One of Gustav Klimt's most famous works is the subject of a significant Hollywood motion picture.

The hypnotizing brilliance of Adele Bloch-Bauer's look in Klimt's gold-spotted representation of her gives no trace of the fierce destiny that lay coming up for the canvas. The portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer Appointed was ordered by her spouse. It took Klimt three years to make. He hypothesis that the Austrian craftsman and his high-society subject were sweethearts. Adele's passed away in 1925 from meningitis. But the artful culmination stayed in the Bloch-Bauers' Vienna townhouse until the Nazis attacked Austria in 1938. It was one of five Gustav Klimt paintings taken from the Bloch-Bauer living arrangement winding up in Vienna's Belvedere Gallery. Ferdinand passed on in a state of banishment in Switzerland in 1945.

The Nazis likewise took a wedding band having a place with Maria Altmann, Adele's niece. Altmann got away from Austria, advancing toward Los Angeles with her better half, where she opened a dress boutique. In 1998 the Austrian government passed a compensation law. It decided that property taken by the Nazis could come back to its legitimate proprietors. Maria Altmann was 80 at that time. She started a fight in court to recapture the Klimts that had a place with her family. It incorporated a second representation of Adele Bloch-Bauer. She banded together with unpracticed legal counselor Randol Schoenberg. He was a grandson of her auntie's writer companion Arnold Schoenberg. It turned into an extended fight for equity against the Austrian specialists. The last incorrectly contending that they lawfully possessed the photos.

It was a significance to Austrian culture. It is no big surprise that Austria contended so energetically to keep the work inside the bounds of its fringes. The Altmann adventure is no special case. In the same way as other craftsmanship compensation cases. The film makes a better than average showing of featuring the quality and strength of Altmann. It misses the mark in communicating the significance that the case has had on the fate of reestablishing Nazi loot to its legitimate proprietors.

From one perspective, the case sparkling light on how little galleries and national assortments care about returning taken Nazi loot. Just as featuring the extraordinary duty required by those mentioning the arrival of their property to see equity win. For Altmann and her legal advisor, Randol Schoenberg, engaging a remote government over responsibility for painting was an overwhelming undertaking, particularly against a nation. They attempted to clutch its most prized aesthetic belonging, a work of art synonymous with the nation's personality. The prosperity is a demonstration of Altmann and Shoenberg's guts. The case had a considerably more enduring outcome. That in instances of craftsmanship compensation of Nazi loot, national organizations can't hole up behind sovereign resistance to keep away from lawful debates. Sovereign insusceptibility implies that outside governments can't be constrained into protecting their activities in remote courts. Until the mid-twentieth century, the sovereign resistance rule was practically total. Around that time, governments and state-supported industrialist ventures. They started to widen their jobs into something beyond conventional government works. Also, they turned out to be increasingly engaged with jobs that were customarily held by the private segment. This advanced the travel industry through national galleries. The craftsmanship was being purchased for national exhibition halls.