The surrealist movement was, in part, a reaction to fascism. As a student I assumed some of the surrealist art was motivated by political protest, a refusal to make sense or be pretty. Looking around today at a world I thought I understood, but now seems misshapen and horrifying, I think I understand why the artists’ images bent and turned. Reality is not a firm and trustable thing, and it’s unsettling when it shifts.
[image_with_animation image_url=”8601″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Qi Baishi (1864–1957) was one of the most beloved contemporary Chinese watercolor painters. His original name is Huang but he went by Baishi (“white stone”) as a pseudonym. Some of Qi’s major influences include the Ming dynasty artist Xu Wei (徐渭) and the early Qing dynasty painter Zhu Da (朱耷). His favorite …
Last weekend was our first annual Seattle Artist League Printmaker’s Show. On display were 30 pieces; beautiful displays of monotype, drypoint, linocut, woodcut and reductive woodcuts in black and white, and color. All of the prints were strong and interesting. Nikki has a way of getting good work out of people. We asked guests to compliment …
These are some paintings in which my favorite part is the wall. Enjoy. Do not paint a white thing white. A white thing is everything other than white. The video below illuminates some of the colors actually present in an image of a white horse, and a white flower. Because colors change according to what they’re next to, they still …
Lately I’ve been noticing how many good paintings and drawings use repeating shapes within them, a motif. This motif seems to carry us through the composition, and give harmony and order to the shapes. I recently stumbled across this original drawing by Diego Rivera, posted on Facebook by Paul Hemminger of Bellingham Frameworks. It’s full …
Surrealism and Fascism
The surrealist movement was, in part, a reaction to fascism. As a student I assumed some of the surrealist art was motivated by political protest, a refusal to make sense or be pretty. Looking around today at a world I thought I understood, but now seems misshapen and horrifying, I think I understand why the artists’ images bent and turned. Reality is not a firm and trustable thing, and it’s unsettling when it shifts.
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Qi Baishi
[image_with_animation image_url=”8601″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Qi Baishi (1864–1957) was one of the most beloved contemporary Chinese watercolor painters. His original name is Huang but he went by Baishi (“white stone”) as a pseudonym. Some of Qi’s major influences include the Ming dynasty artist Xu Wei (徐渭) and the early Qing dynasty painter Zhu Da (朱耷). His favorite …
Seattle Artist League Printmaker’s Show
Last weekend was our first annual Seattle Artist League Printmaker’s Show. On display were 30 pieces; beautiful displays of monotype, drypoint, linocut, woodcut and reductive woodcuts in black and white, and color. All of the prints were strong and interesting. Nikki has a way of getting good work out of people. We asked guests to compliment …
Portraits of Blank Walls
These are some paintings in which my favorite part is the wall. Enjoy. Do not paint a white thing white. A white thing is everything other than white. The video below illuminates some of the colors actually present in an image of a white horse, and a white flower. Because colors change according to what they’re next to, they still …
Motif & Repetitions in a Diego Rivera
Lately I’ve been noticing how many good paintings and drawings use repeating shapes within them, a motif. This motif seems to carry us through the composition, and give harmony and order to the shapes. I recently stumbled across this original drawing by Diego Rivera, posted on Facebook by Paul Hemminger of Bellingham Frameworks. It’s full …