The Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn created nearly one hundred self portraits during his 63 years of life. Roughly 40 of these self portraits were oil paintings. The rest were drawings and etchings. This was, and is, a fairly unusual number of self portraits for an artist without a smartphone. He might have made self portraits to practice rendering facial expressions, while he also carried out his own self expressions and examinations. He might have made self portraits because they were free, whereas models cost money. He could have also been making them as a kind of self promotion. A self portrait would allow him to advertise his skill, mark himself as memorable, and possibly even earn some cash for the sale.
Below you’ll see a couple of ink drawings and then a couple of related etchings, roughly mirror image from the ink sketches, as the plate he drew the final image onto would have then printed in reverse.
Exercise your creativity This SAL Challenge is a vocabulary based creative challenge every day for January. Materials are artist’s choice. You can draw, paint, sew, collage, sculpt your food, anything you want. See below for today’s creative challenge. Set the timer for 20 minutes and see what happens. SLIMSY : flimsy, frail Slimsy is a blend …
Today is the Memory/Imagination day of our 30 Day Creative Challenge. Look at “The Desperate Man” by Gustave Courbet. Your challenge today is to imagine what he’s looking at, and recreate that. Medium is artist’s choice. You can draw, paint, collage, assemblage, assemble a diorama, or dress in drag. Set a timer for 20 minutes. When the timer chimes, continue if you wish, …
March 13, 2020 was the League’s first day in quarantine. March 20, 2020 was scheduled to be League artist Lucy Garnett’s ‘Notations’ show reception at Shoreline City Hall. It was half a lifetime of work, and the League-hosted celebration was canceled. Here’s a look back at one of her pieces that seems to have an …
A few days ago I posted the Portrait Awards for 2022. 13 artists won prizes and recognition for their artworks , but there were a few more artworks that I wanted to share. Sometimes it’s good to have an art buddy, someone you can go to museums with, someone who can critique your work and …
Rembrandt’s Self Portrait Drawings
The Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn created nearly one hundred self portraits during his 63 years of life. Roughly 40 of these self portraits were oil paintings. The rest were drawings and etchings. This was, and is, a fairly unusual number of self portraits for an artist without a smartphone. He might have made self portraits to practice rendering facial expressions, while he also carried out his own self expressions and examinations. He might have made self portraits because they were free, whereas models cost money. He could have also been making them as a kind of self promotion. A self portrait would allow him to advertise his skill, mark himself as memorable, and possibly even earn some cash for the sale.
Below you’ll see a couple of ink drawings and then a couple of related etchings, roughly mirror image from the ink sketches, as the plate he drew the final image onto would have then printed in reverse.
Sketch vs Etching
Sketches – just a few
Etchings
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Exercise your creativity This SAL Challenge is a vocabulary based creative challenge every day for January. Materials are artist’s choice. You can draw, paint, sew, collage, sculpt your food, anything you want. See below for today’s creative challenge. Set the timer for 20 minutes and see what happens. SLIMSY : flimsy, frail Slimsy is a blend …
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March 13, 2020 was the League’s first day in quarantine. March 20, 2020 was scheduled to be League artist Lucy Garnett’s ‘Notations’ show reception at Shoreline City Hall. It was half a lifetime of work, and the League-hosted celebration was canceled. Here’s a look back at one of her pieces that seems to have an …
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A few days ago I posted the Portrait Awards for 2022. 13 artists won prizes and recognition for their artworks , but there were a few more artworks that I wanted to share. Sometimes it’s good to have an art buddy, someone you can go to museums with, someone who can critique your work and …