I just delivered this commission to my client yesterday. Her little dog June Bug is actually smaller than the portrait.

I currently have some health issues going on, so there will be a break in my creativity for a time (and hence the current break in posting).

Rheumatoid Arthritis and Renoir...

There were a few artists with debilitating and chronic health issues. One such artist who painted regularly even when his hands were deformed from arthritis and he had to have his brushes tied to his hands in order to paint, was Renoir.

(Frida Khalo is now thought to have suffered from Fibromyalgia, and painted from her bed).

When you see these towering artists who set examples in their dedication to their craft, it makes our daily trial and tribulations seem like trifles. Who is your art hero who painted or sculpted on despite personal troubles?

As always, if there is anything you want to know about an artist, wikipedia.org is always a great jumping off place.

________

"For me a picture has to be something pleasant, delightful, and pretty - yes, pretty. There are enough unpleasant things in the world without us producing even more." ~ Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Phrenological Excuses and ACEO sized thumbnails

Somehow the holidays crashed onto my head, and I fell ill and fell behind on everything. The upside is that my darling lovely daughter came to visit for a week and she suggested that each day going forward this year, I do an ACEO sized sketch for no one but myself, to loosen up my creative juices (the last year of pet portraits has left me in a creative rut). This little exercise is great not only for creativity, but it is also great to hone up my drafting skills again on a different format than what I've been working in.

How will you exercise your skills outside your comfort zone?

______________________

And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart, till the Devil whispered behind the leaves "It's pretty, but is it Art?"- Rudyard Kipling

Master Monday: Movement with Vincent

I have had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Van Gogh Museum some time ago. When viewing so many of this talented and troubled man's work in chronological order, you can't miss his strong use of line, and brush stroke. He invokes such energy and visual movement throughout his paintings so effortlessly.

(I confess he isn't one of my favorites, this Master Monday is brought to you in honor of @chancetrouble, who loves Master Vincent).

_______________________

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.
Vincent Van Gogh

A quick look at Lucian...

I have been entranced with Lucian Freud's work since I first saw his paintings a few (ahem) decades ago. The power of his brush strokes, the energy of his brush work, and the honesty of his vision. Somehow his work pushes away the superfluous "gloss" and unflinchingly shows the model in harsh honest light.

I strive to work with the honesty and energy of this master painter. What are you striving for in your work? Who is are the masters that inspire you?

_______________________________

The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real.-Lucian Freud