Sorolla ~ Columbus

Columbus Departing from Palos, painted for Mr. Ryan of New York and currently belongs to The Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Virginia.

In preparation for his own painting, Sorolla persuaded the duke of Veragua, Columbus's descendant, to model for him. Sorolla made nine large studies in varying composition and lighting.

In Sorolla's masterful, full-length portrait, Columbus's features and physique agree quite well with what contemporaries said about him. More importantly, in Columbus's penetrating glance Sorolla has captured the character of his subject with unsurpassed brilliance.

When one stands before the glowing canvas by Sorolla, one cannot help but feel we have a representation truly in accord with our ideal of the man Columbus.

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Tried posting this at http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/09/caricature-and-likeness.html, all attempts failed! Seems I may be considered spam. BLogger, less fun every day. Check your spam boxes for hidden goodies!

Antonio,

"muscle memory" Exactly, practice what you want to learn, in the way you want to practice it.

I recommend with some trepidation Lasar's book, Practical Hints for Art Students, for though it has much information, and is ostensibly for amateurs, it may be too dense for most. He does not discuss it, so I fear the angle machine is lost to history. I always imagined it as a kind of segmented & hinged ruler. Useful?

from Lasar~ "Consider your drawing as a star before putting it into movement, then bend the points of the star to suit the subject."

Note how Lasars figure abstraction and the controlling of salient points relates to the ideas presented here~ Doug Higgins

further more

The first exercise in The Art of Drawing by Willy Pogany is a sight-size lesson meant to develop your judgement of Distance, Direction, and Proportion. Pogany uses dots in the way Ruskin, if my memory hasn't failed, advocates using line drawings of fauna. Free-hand copy and self correct by overlaying.

""Well, there's a job I'd like to have. :)"" re:Lasars

I called, but they were no longer accepting applicants. :(

Swipe Spot #9

This post is dedicated to commenter EnV, who said "Escuse me?", with regards to the following line from a previous swipe spot post: "I was disgusted to see a bit of plagiarism, usually, worthy only of an Italian."

The 1975 film "JAWS" needs no introduction, for it is one of the most universally seen movies. What needs even less fanfare is the iconic poster created by American illustrator Roger Kastel.

artist Roger Kastel

"JAWS" comp

Which somehow brings us to the Bruno Mattei film "Fauci Crudeli", aka "Cruel Jaws", aka "Jaws 5: Cruel Jaws".

Some insightful imdb.com "Cruel Jaws" trivia: Lifts footage from Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975), Jeannot Szwarc's Jaws 2 (1978), Joe D'Amato's _Deep Blood (1989)_, and mostly from Enzo G. Castellari's The Great White (_Ultimo squalo, L' (1980)_).

Marketed as "Jaws 5: Cruel Jaws", even (though) the movie has no connection with Jaws (1975).

An imdb.com user review perhaps says it best, "And for sheer brass neck how dare they credit Peter Benchley! Obviously his lawyers haven't seen it."

So yes EnV, you are escused (sic)!!!

Roberts Howard- Fantasy Artist

Roberts "Robz" Howard has been one of Americas premiere fantasy artist/illustrators for the past four decades. Having produced close to 900 paperback covers and untold amounts of magazine interiors he stands without peer. Once known as "The Kid Who Could Draw", Robz put those skillz to serious use. His tell-tale trademark, quality, comes from his never ending quest for perfection.

For Dragon Attack studies that would make a lesser artist proud, don't cut it for Robz.

Oil, gouache, poser, ink, photoshop, Robz does it all. Hell!, he wrote the book!!

Here we see where Bernie Wrightson got his look (that's wright, rippin' off Robz). Though the cards are inserted by a computer technician, ideas and art by Robz.

A special bonus, Master analysis of a Master, Robz on Pyle. IMHO Robz' art shows you just what a piker Pyle was.

erratum: The Pyle composition analysis is by students under the tutelage of the Master, Robz.

(unidentified student of Robz)

Frazetta: No Time to Prime

An observation that conservation may outweigh preparation. The yellow-red brown in these pictures is unprimed, unsized, untoned, untempered Masonite® hardboard. One can only assume that the completely paint covered pictures are the same.

Frank Frazetta (1928-2010), part ii: The Redo

I've been told that my previous post contained no work by Frazetta. How I could have made such an error is beyond me. That embarrassment aside and without further ado, Frazetta~

Frank Frazetta (1928-2010)

Words cannot convey the visceral impact of his artistic visions. So, in a moment of silence, feel the power of the pictures~