The survival of realism
In the 1930s, a quiet battle was going on between the forces of realism and abstraction. Abstract painting won—for a while. Death on the Ridge Road, 1935, Grant Wood American Regionalism arose during the 1930s as a response to the Great Depression. It had a short life as art movements go, ending in the 1940s. Focusing …
The art of the Great Depression
Santa Fe, the visionary New Deal, and the start of a new American art movement. The Voice of the Earth (The Basket Dance), 1934, Will Schuster, courtesy New Mexico Museum of Art. In 1934, one in four American workers were idled. The government stepped in with programs we would eventually lump together as the ‘New …
Unhappy in your art career?
Envy, covetousness, and false expectations are all ways to guarantee a rotten time as an artist. Dyce Head in the early morning light, Carol L. Douglas I haven’t been able to paint for weeks. It seems as if my peers have made fantastic strides in that time. I look at their work on Instagram and …
End of the trail
You can still buy some pretty horrible unauthorized copies of James Fraser’s work, but few people remember the artist. End of the Trail, cast 1918, by James Earle Frazer, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We had the smaller version in our house when I was growing up. When I visit a city, I …
Monday Morning Art School: How to develop an oil field sketch
A fast, simple way to do a quick, finished field study. Megunticook River, Camden, by Carol L. Douglas A few weeks ago I mentioned that I use Inktense pencils to mark out my paintings on canvas. This is a technique borrowed from my pal Kristin Zimmermann. Value study in charcoal. My first step is always …
Continue reading “Monday Morning Art School: How to develop an oil field sketch”