Luminous Skies

posted in: Painting | 2

Back in the 1920s the Bauhaus artists like Johannes Itten and later followers like Faber Birren tried to quantify a recipe for luminosity. Birren would eventually describe the condition in his book ” Principles of Color” as the result of … Continued

The Principle of Interchange

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In the 19th century many scholars studied the Renaissance to learn painters’ secrets, techniques and principles. Notable among them were Sir Charles Eastlake with his book on the “Methods and materials of Painting of the Great Schools and Masters” first … Continued

Cezanne and The Photograph

posted in: Painting | 1

    Cezanne aspired to reconcile the experience of biological vision with the traditions of art history (that is the historical forms and iconology of  studio painting).  He intended to put that reconciliation on canvas.  He aimed for the compositional unity … Continued

Double Exposure

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    In exploring the main hall of NYC’s Metropolitan Museum I try many photo experiments. The hall is a rich reference to antique Greco-Roman architecture and, it hold the ghosts of  art history. I tried double exposing photos  to … Continued

Distorting Linear Perspective

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     Flying Down to Raleigh-Durham NC from NYC, I caught this view (see photo) over the Bronx and Manhattan. It coincides well with Leon Bastista Alberti’s  1436 diagram from his book, ” Della Pittura”.   Alberti’s diagram was to instruct … Continued

Reversing Color Perspectives

posted in: Painting | 2

The conventional notion of presenting color in perspective is to  have the warm colors recede into cool. This was an observation of Leonardo da Vinci as he looked at his Tuscan Landscape. However, if other perspective conventions are followed such … Continued