Day 7 - master copies

(as always, written the night of the day, and posted the day after)
Last night (1/6/11) I went to bed and wrote a note in my sketchbook to do some master copies.
Today (1/7/11) I actually followed through!
I've been wanting to do more studies, to avoid getting stuck in my own drawing/painting habits, and to improve skills.

I chose to paint from my favorite era, copying some of my favorite paintings. I have always been a fan of Pre-Raphaelite depictions of magic users. Priestesses, Sorceresses, Witches, etc.


"Very Dangerous Secret" --- After "Medea" by Frederick Sandys
5" x 7" acrylic on book page
(available at my etsy - $35)


my version of "Circle of Magic" after Waterhouse
5" x 7" acrylic on book page
(also available at my etsy - $35)

I could also get into a heavy discussion about the Pre-Raphaelites - they are a favorite subject of mine - After teaching art appreciation/history, I was quite astonished to discover that nearly all the art books I used to teach from AVOIDED the Pre-Raphaelite painters like the plague, as if they had no drastic impact on the modern art world. HA! (one of my books merely mentioned them with no explanation, and provided a poor representation of the movement in black and white, and then proceeded to wax poetic about Cezanne for 4 pages and how he was the most enlightened painter ever. I wanted to throw the book out the window! "The Story of Art" by Gombrich E.h." 10th ed - its actually a very good book, except for the Cezanne pages, and the chapters on modern art) I do understand why the Pre-Raphaelites got buried in art history, and why other movements won out in popularity at the time.
... but that is a story for a different time I'm not here to lecture, just to improve my self drive by showing publicly what I did today.

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INSPIRATION for Today:
Currently Playing "Mystery Case File: The 13th Skull" Hidden object and puzzle game for the pc - by Big Fish.
Why do I include it here? Because the graphics in the hidden object game has made me see EVERYTHING in a new light - Every time I look at a cluttered spot in my home, I feel like I'm in a big fish game and I have the urge to turn places in my home into 'hidden object' images. I am starting to feel a new appreciation for all OBJECTS. While I was cutting veggies earlier, I was making note of how all the food was laying on the table. The balance and volume of everything.
I was looking at everything with fresh eyes. And I mean EVERYTHING.

- my bookshelves with the cornucopia of trinkets on top, and on the shelves, and on the wall above the shelves I have a type drawer filled with tid-bits.
- my bulletin board , fairly empty now but OH the possibilities!
-The kitchen cupboard, filled to the brim with cans and bags and other food stuffs.

Anyway, time to stop rambling.