- III -

This week as I was doing some regular creeping through my social media accounts, I came across a shared link on Facebook to a very talented photographer named Nick Knight. I would describe him as very dedicated artist, it took him 10 years to develop this amazingly unique art. He takes the pieces and exposes them to heat and water during the printing process and creates a beautiful mixture of painting and photography.

This artist truly inspires me, I have always wanted to create something beautiful that no one had thought of before but it is definitely harder than it seems! As I said up above it takes dedication and it must have been through a lot of trial and error, so I guess I will just keep on trying until I find something like this, something I could be proud of.

- II -

I don't know about you, but when I think back to when I really started to learn about art I think about those dreaded classes of art history. At first, I couldn't help but fall asleep but as time went on I really started to enjoy learning about the different eras, the styles and just how different art was then compared to what it has become now. Every era, whether you liked the pieces or not, there was still some level of respect for what the artist was trying to express. Since this is 'ThePaintbrushFiles' why not kick off this blog with some classic paintings.

Neo-classicism, Romanticism, Baroque and Rococo are the eras in which a few of my favourites were born. There is something about the way they painted, they took such time and dedication to depict every emotion, every small detail and express it in the piece. Unlike us, they didn't have cameras to capture a specific moment or to re-live a memory so they would paint it.

 

Judith Slaying Holofernes

This oil on canvas by Artemisia Gentileschi was one of the first classic paintings that intrigued me. I know at first it can be a bit graphic, but when you look past that it is just beautiful. The angles, the colours, the shading, well pretty much everything! Not to mention that it is huge framing at 62.5 inches x 49.4 inches. That takes some serious talent and time.

So the first time I saw this piece, it was in my above mentioned art history class. The lights were off for the projector and I was just starting to fall asleep when my teacher put this up. Then instead of talking for hours (slight exaggeration), she asked us a question " Who do you think painted this? A Man or Woman? " Everyone started to comment aloud that they thought it was a man, that a woman could not possibly want to paint something so angry and graphic. So I decided to shout out " Woman " which I instantly regretted once I realized my teacher wanted some sort of explanation as to why I thought that way. I had some hunches but of course what did I know? I understood where everyone was coming from but I didn't agree, this painting had emotion behind it and the painting seemed focused and simple. As you can see, I was obviously right and she went on to explain the story behind the picture. 

 

  

  Judith Beheading Holofernes

The teacher then flipped over to show us this oil on canvas by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, who had created a painting based on the same story. You can see the differences, but one of the major ones that I noticed and that she talked about was that it was less emotional. The proportions and angles weren't as accurate and it seemed almost dream-like, less realistic.

For the background story you can check out this link 

http://www.artemisia-gentileschi.com/judith1.html

Hopefully I didn't bore you with my post, I am definitely no expert, just somebody sharing a passionate hobby and some memories with whoever wants to read.

A few other favourites from those eras...

The Lady of Shallot by John William Waterhouse

The Swing by Jean Fragonard

On a side note, I really don't think that art will ever be this way again. It is so beautiful and elegant and I appreciate having had the opportunity to learn about it and study it, even if I hated it at the time.

Here are some more links the other paintings incase they peaked your interests.

http://www.artble.com/artists/john_william_waterhouse/paintings/the_lady_of_shalott/more_information/analysis

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/rococo.html

- I -

At first, it seemed simple. I could even say that I thought it was going to be easy.

"You have to create and maintain a blog throughout the semester for 10% of your final grade" my teacher told the class, maybe not in those exact words but you get the idea. That is when it started, I (as usual) started to over think about what I could possibly blog about, sure it could be anything but that didn't help the situation for me. That meant an endless amount of options, and I enjoy a lot of things. Did I want to blog about something that I had to do research on? Something that I could use in the future? Take the opportunity to learn more about my industry? I had absolutely no idea, so I waited and waited until the following class the next week. 

All of my friends in class had come up with their ideas, and some had already even made their first post. Great, now I was behind. So I decided to just ask what they thought I should do, and TADA the idea came (not from me personally, but I'll take the credit) why not do something about art?

So here I am, my first blog post for 'The Paintbrush Files'.

Don't let the name fool you, even though I will probably talk about some paintings, I will also talk about a variety of different forms of art with a wide range of mediums.

I have loved art, since well.. I can remember. I used to be that weirdo kid in elementary school who would draw my teacher pictures (for fun). Then as the crazy high school years came I realized that art was not only a really awesome and easy credit, but that it was a lovely way to express yourself. Now here I am, still loving art but I have been dabbling in to the many different forms when I have the extra spare time in between school and work. Needless to say, I am actually excited to share this with someone, whether someone is really no one or just my teacher.

Hope you enjoy!