Once upon a time, there was an English painter who moved to Provence, a part of southern France long associated with artists seeking the colors nature might reveal to them in the region’s legendary sunlight. This painter was not working in the time of the Barbizon School and the Impressionists, however, but in the blossoming days of the internet, as an early participant in painting/blogging and the nascent practice of “painting a... 

Garlands of fruits, rendered with softly psychedelic colors; twisted networks of wiry limbs and roots, framed by lush tropical plants, luminous in distant mist; topographical cornucopias of formal gardens, resplendent on the surface of a globe, itself set in a magical walled garden; fruit laced bowers sheltering asexual twins; glowing indoor showers of jeweled raindrops; flaming chandeliers hanging from trompe l’oeil ceilings in baroque... 

Aside from the human figure, trees are some of the natural forms artists find most interesting, and they have been drawn and painted in a myriad ways. St Louis artist Mary Sprague creates ink drawings, sometimes in colors, often monochromatic, in which delicate sprays of line and hatching coalesce to create her tree forms. When seen at the scale at which her work is reproduced on her website…  Read More →

Painter Robert J. Barber lists his inspirations as including Joaqu  Read More →

German symbolist and Art Nouveau painter Franz von Stuck (sometimes simply “Franz Stuck”) began his career as an illustrator and cartoonist for popular magazines; but after winning a gold medal at his first painting exhibition, and experiencing subsequent critical success, he began to devote himself to painting, engraving and sculpture, as well as architecture. Von Stuck studied at the Munich Academy, and later returned to take up... 

Rembrandt created one of the most extraordinary visual autobiographies in the history of art in the form of over 80 paintings, drawings and etchings. At times he used himself as a model for a historical or Biblical subject, in this case as the Apostle Paul, seen with the characteristic manuscript and sword (the hilt of which is visible under his cloak). Here we see Rembrandt exhibiting his astonishing skill as a painter. From the deft rough... 

Danny van Ryswyk is a painter from the Netherlands who studies and adheres to the techniques of the Dutch masters, painting on mahogany wood panels prepared with traditional animal skin glue and chalk gesso in a series of glaze layers, each of which must be allowed to dry before the next is applied, with a medium of walnut oil, balsam and amber resin. Van Ryswyk applies his knowledge and skill to luminous, refined still life compositions, shimmering... 

Like many young boys, I developed a fascination with trains when I quite young, and never completely lost it as an adult. I still find trains and train travel fascinating and possessed of their own aesthetic; huge gleaming machines, spouting grease and sparks, barreling through the night on slivery rails, carrying freight, passengers and the imagination of little boys to far away places. Terence Tenison Cuneo was a British artist known for his... 

There is much to be said for the simple, direct observation of our immediate surroundings, and the artistic expression of that observation. I find the results often have a visual charm that comes from the unassuming honesty of the act of observing and recording, unrestrained by the intention of “creating a work”. I see some of that simplicity of intention and directness of observation in the small gouache paintings of Michigan painter... 

Oregon painter Mitch Baird paints the landscape of the Pacific Northwest, both dramatic and more intimate, with a fresh palette, confident brushwork and clear vision. He also applies his skills and passion for plein air painting to scenes from travels in Europe; and paints lively still life compositions and occasional figurative works. Baird received a BFA in Illustration from Brigham Young University, where he credits Ralph Barksdale with inspiring... 

Tony Ryder is a noted contemporary draftsman and painter, author of the popular book The Artist’s Complete Guide to Figure Drawing and a well regarded teacher. He studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Art Student’s League in New York, and continued independent studies with Ted Seth Jacobs in New York and France. Since then, Ryder has taught at the New York Academy, the Art Student’s League and independent workshops... 

Charles Burchfield is probably one of the more important 20th Century American artists that most people have never encountered. Burchfield’s work went through several phases. His early watercolors can have a simple, almost naive feeling. He went through a time when he settled into rather straightforward representations of landscapes. But his mid-career paintings, after he appears to have experienced some kind of transformative event, and... 

Steve Huston studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and embarked on an illustration career while still in school. After graduating he worked in illustration for 10 years, acquiring a client list that included MGM, Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures. He then started to teach drawing, painting and composition at the Art Center, and later in corporate classes at Disney, Warner Brothers and Dreamworks. He has since transitioned... 

Like many of us who come out of art school with concerns about the viability of gallery art as a source of livelihood, Tom Wheeler had a back-up plan, and devoted part of his attention to computer based design skills. Also like many of who who pursue a dual career path, he found he had a passion for both sides of his career. He now divides his time between web site design and programming and his in interest in painting and drawing, and he teaches... 

John Collier was a Victorian neo-classical painter, apparently introduced early on to Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema , who did not take him on as a pupil, and influenced later in his career by the portrait paintings of John Everett Millais and his Pre-Raphaelite colleagues. Judging by the quotes from reviews written during his life and at the time of his death , Collier faced poor critical reception in many circles, particularly in the ability to...