r ranson

So far, I've found Waldemar's videos to be the best for learning art history.  He keeps a narrative going and relates the different elements back to previous ones he talked about.  

Here are some videos published on youtube.  A lot of them have issues with the music overwhelming the sound (especially the impressionist).  But the ones I borrowed on DVD from the library had good sound, so I think it's just an issue on youtube and the captions are usually pretty close.

Dark ages in a new light (see earlier post)

Renaissance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLfoOK62sZc
aged restricted because some of the art don't have clothes :(

Baroque


Rococo


Impressionist


Van Gogh

I want to read ahead to see if I'm right.  But I think I'm getting the hang of this author now.  

He starts the novel basically telling us, "watch out, I'm going to make you love this guy/gal even more before I kill them off in a hug heroic, pointless, planet saving, event."  Then Sanderson is trying desperately to mislead us and make us think that someone else is going to die.  But hints of foreshadowing keep creeping through.  

It's almost too self-indulgent.  Like the final episode of a long running TV series.  They spend too much time reminding us of how much we love the character and how sad we will be when they go, that it gets in the way of the plot.

So far, the Lost Metal is getting on my nerves.  But also, some amazing moments with Wax's wife.  She's so wonderful.  

Anne Miller wrote:Maybe there is a used bookstore with some college textbooks on art history.

I saw this on Reddit:

Start with Helen Gardner's book, "Art Through the Ages." After that, explore art on Wikiart to discover new pieces on your own

Interesting subject for sure.

This one perhaps?
https://a.co/d/cqVAaAY
Looks like starting price is about $200 cad (I was hoping for under $100).  I'll see if the library can interlibrary loan it.

Christopher Weeks wrote:I know that you already know Wikipedia exists, so I'm assuming this doesn't work for you, but it's how I'd start and it might be a useful suggestion for anyone reading this down-stream. I'd go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_history and start reading. Then I'd follow links and links from links and lin...

Wikipedia is often inaccurate or biased.  That one is about the history of people who study and analyze art history.  Not really a primer about art.  It also doesn't have a story to it which is important to learning. A narrative makes it easier to remember how everything is interconnected.   Wiki is too segmented to work for me.

Something more like this is what I'm looking for



History as seen through art, and art as connected to history.  

I'm looking for some basic primers on art history to get me to a place where I can know enough to search our more information on a specific artist or time.

A book would be great.

The thing is, I tried the ones at the library and they are either too juvenile (and this, kids, is what a paint brush looks like.  Use the fluffy end.) Or too name heavy.  I tried a book about Ruskin, and by the end of the second paragraph, I had seventeen names to keep track of, including the name of Whistler's mother's neighbour's brother during the American civil war.  Index said this guy wasn't mentioned elsewhere in the book, so why do I need to care?  What's that got to do with art?

Anyway, how to learn about art history.  I'm mostly interested in European post roman times, and a bit globally, especially cultures that had a lot of contact with europe pre 1700.  But if there is something cool to learn about outside those limits, I would love that too.  I mostly set the limits so I would be less overwhelmed.  History is huge.

Where do I begin?

Tent caterpillar season started last week.  Feels early this year.

A little test today of my french box set up.



It makes a fantastic table easel.  Rest the palette on the half open drawer and we have an incredibly useful table.  

I also wanted to know if my supplies are right.  Pretty good so far.

The main colours I choose are lemon yellow, purple-leaning red, ultramarine blue, burnt umber, and white.  I was able to quickly mix most of what I need, but the greens were a bit transparent and weak.  Might add some convenience colours like yellow ochre and black as they make a nice realistic green.

The canvas size was another test.  11x14 fits nicely on this easel, but is a bit much to fill in under two hours.  The picture above is at the one hour mark and I have a lot left to block in.  To be fair, over 30 min were spent mixing colours.

As I'm working with mostly natural light, it was shocking to see how fast the light changed.  The wall went from pink to yellow in the first hour alone.  And the flowers opened so it was hard to keep track of which flower was which.

But this little field test earned the easel alot of love from me.  I think I'm ready to take it to the garden.

from here

Extender Medium, previously called Impasto Medium, is essentially colorless paint made with inert pigments in linseed oil. It is intended to be used as the name implies, to extend paint. It is made from marble dust (calcium carbonate) and barium sulfate which are typically used as modifiers for oil paint to improve feel and dry time. When used in larger amounts, these pigments are categorized as fillers, as in the case of student-grade oil paints.

Extender Medium is a translucent, pale grey paste that has a similar consistency to most of our oil paints. It has a very low tinting strength and only slightly lightens and changes the sheen of most colors when mixed in. An ideal use for the extender Medium is when you want to mix a larger quantity of straight paint and don’t mind a slightly less saturated color or a muted sheen. Using mixtures made with Extender Medium can be a very cost effective way to cover a lot of surface area. Underpaintings are a great opportunity to use the Extender. It can also help mix certain tints and colors that would otherwise not be available simply with the addition of white or other tube colors. A normal brushed out layer dries in about 3-4 days.

Looks promising.

And pretty affordable at the local art shop

Starting the lost metal and suddenly I remember Brandon Sanderson hasn't killed off a main character in a few books.  I have suspicion he lulled us into a false sense of security.   The last plots were very comfortable and a predictable rythm.  I have a bad feeling about this one.

There is something incredibly charming about a garden whencit reaches end of summer decay.  The hunt to find just one more tomato that hasn't over rippened.  The smell of summer, settling into the earth.  It only lasts about a week before everything gets cleaned up for winter fava beans.  But that one week is special.

She captured it perfectly in the video and painting.

I love garden art, and art about gardens.