Friday, November 20, 2009
Arte Lisboa 2009 - Contemporary Art Fair
Friday, November 13, 2009
Interview with British Artist Paul Coventry-Brown

Originaly from Liverpool (UK), Paul Coventry-Brown is a mostly self-taught full-time artist.
As for the linen panels, I use Claessens #13 which is their finest weave. It is still quite a rough weave compared to a fine detail cotton canvas but the first coat/layer fills most of it in and by the second coat the paint goes on very smoothly and very fine unbroken lines are possible.
It come the nearest to being able to replicate some of the techniques and feel that I have observed in the old masters.
The reason I like it so much is the way the paint goes onto the surface, it's very hard to explain, it is just a joy to paint on and I would recommend it to everyone to give it a try.
If I ever use cotton canvas I always give that two extra coats of gesso too.
I never need to prime a canvas as I never buy any that have not first been primed.
Starting with the finest unprimed surface, the canvas is inspected, smoothed with a pumice, cleaned, and sized. It is then oil-primed with linseed oil and zinc white and allowed to dry for 3 days in a dry air oven before the final coat of titanium white is applied.
I use the same brushes for all subjects, still life or portrait.
Winsor & Newton - Cotman watercolour brushes
Robert Simmons - White Sable
Siverwhite
I rest one end on the top of my easel and the other end I hold in my left hand (I never rest it on the painting itself).
With the less complicated compositions I just go straight onto the canvas with a brush and draw the outlines very freely with a very thin burnt umber. I much prefer this to pencil of charcoal. Even beginners can do this, as I proved at a class I taught in the Spring (see the May posting on my blog).
A basic understanding of mixing colours is valuable and so is experimentation.
I will always make sure to paint the shadow and the surface it is cast onto at the same time so I can blend the edges into each other, I don't want hard edges shadows.
I usually work from dark to light.
I have a regular client base and, luckily for me, most of the paintings are sold by my mailing list and sometimes through my blog.
Sometimes I sell some on eBay that I don't manage to sell privately, but only a few.
Art Calendar Self-Portrait Cover Contest 2010
The readers of the Art Calendar have the opportunity to participate on the Self-Portrait Cover Contest 2010 and win gift certificates to Blick Art Materials, with the winner being feature on the cover of the March issue.
Submissions must be sent electronically and the deadline will be 23:59 on December 11th, 2009, Eastern Standard Time.
The winner will be notified on December 15th, 2009.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Johannes Vermeer's The Milkmaid at the Met
Saturday, November 7, 2009
NanoArt 2009 - 4th Edition
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Open Day at Sotheby's Institute of Art New York
Monday, October 26, 2009
CultureInside Halloween Contest 2009
The artistic community CultureInside is running a free contest for its registered members.
Adressed to artists and photographers and having the Halloween as its theme, the call starts on Monday October 26th and ends on Friday October 31st.
Selected by the CultureInside team and its community, the winners will have their works exhibited in a permanent online exhibition
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Art Enclosures - Call for Artists Venice 2009 - 2010
Monday, October 19, 2009
Sand Animation by Kseniya Simonova 2009
Winner of Ukraine's Got Talent 2009, Kseniya Simonova (Ксения Симонова) performed amazing sand animation that portrayed life during former USSR's Great Patriotic War against the Third Reich in World War II (animation on top).
2009 Artistic Infusion Program - Call for Artists
Friday, October 16, 2009
Fingerprint on Vellum Portrait may Belong to Leonardo da Vinci
Sold at Christie's New York as " Young Girl in Profile in Renaissance Dress" and catalogued as "German, early 19th cantury" for $19,000 to art dealer Kate Ganz who kept it for 12 years before selling it on for a similar price in 2007 to a swiss art collector, the 13in by 9in (33cm x 24cm) chalk, pen and ink on vellum portrait, mounted on an oak board, may have been painted by da Vinci.
Examined by the forensic art expert Peter Paul Biro and compared to one found on "St. Jerome", a Leonardo's work kept at the Vatican, when the artist is not known to have assitants, a fingerprint was found at the top left.
A palm-print on the neck is also consistent with da Vinci's use of his hands to create shading and texture.
The claim made by Martin Kemp, Emeritus Professor of History of Art at Oxford University, is backed by tests done with a "multispectral" camera from Lumière Technology of Paris and by the carbon-14 analysis of the vellum, carried out by the Institute for Particle Physics, in Zurich, which resulted in a date range between 1440 and 1650.
Infrared analysis also reveals that drawing and hatching were made by a left-handed artist.
Professor Kemp believes that the sitter is Bianca Sforza, daughter of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (1452-1508) and his mistress Bernardina Corradis. He suggests that the portrait may be dated from around 1496, when aged 13 or 14 she married Galeazzo Sanseverino, the Duke's army captain and a Leonardo's patron.
No other artwork on vellum by Leonardo da Vinci is known, however the artist had inquired the french artist Jean Perréal about techniques using coloured chalk on vellum.
Should these tests be proved reliable, the artwork that was previously sold for $19,000 is now valued at £100 million, according to London dealer Simon Dickinson.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
National Portfolio and Graduate Portfolio Days
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Terry Ludwig Confetti Pastels
With the characteristic square shape that Terry has made us familiarized with, these new pastel sticks feature multiple pigments of different hues, enabling the artist to achieve interesting effects and details, such as sparks on water and shadows, or to deliver more interest to porcelain elements on a painting.
Terry Ludwig developed this new interesting line of Confetti soft pastels, now it's up to the artists to use their creativity and give the best use to it.
Monday, October 5, 2009
List Your Art Workshops For Free
If you are looking for a website where you can list your art workshop for free, Artist Workshop is one of the options.
Recently developed by Peggy and Robert Stermer-Cox, the website permits registered users to list their workshops for free, including online ones.
In the future we will see further development as the Artist Workshop is a new website and will continue to improve its service, namely based upon users' feedback.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Alive Gallery (Seoul, South Korea)
Located in Seoul, South Korea, the Alive Gallery uses advanced IT technology to enhance the visitor's experience.
This enables the interaction between visitors and the characters from famous western paintings, such as The Last Supper and The Arnolfini Portrait.
It's possible that you may not need to travel far to enjoy the experience, since there's the possibility of exporting this technology to other galleries and museums, or even being developed in your own country.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Social Networking for Artists
Friday, September 25, 2009
Museum of Chinese in America
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Casa das Histórias Paula Rego
Featured are also other artworks such as "Life Painting" (1954), created when studying at the Slade School of Fine Art (London).
Many of those paintings depict the female model Lila Nunes, Paula Rego's favourite model since 1988 and who also was Victor Willing's nurse.
Design by the portuguese arquitect Eduardo Souto Moura, the Casa das Histórias de Paula Rego museum has 750sq. meters, featuring an auditorium with a capacity for 200 people, a library, bookstore and spaces for permanent and temporary exhibitions.
The artist has loaned several paintings to the museum, including 15 by her later husband Victor Willing (1928-1988). for a renewable period of 10 years.
Among the several works of art, including 257 etchings and 278 drawings, the visitor may see a large tapestry based upon the work "Alcácer Quibir".
With free admitance between 10am and 10pm, the Casa das Histórias Paula Rego museum will present two temporary exhibitions per year (Spring and Autumn).
Friday, September 18, 2009
Stop-Motion Animation by Eleanor Stewart
Hoedown from Rodeo from Eleanor Stewart on Vimeo.
Graduated by the Visual Communication at the Glasgow School of Art, Eleanor Stewart has created this cutout stop-motion animation inspired by Westerns.
The musical score is called "Hoedown", from the Rodeo Suite by Aaron Copland.
Eleanor did this work for her final year degree.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
XVI Galeria Aberta - Beja 2009






























