Art Inspiration And History

Portrait painting is having a major revival. These days contemporary artists are reinventing this genre to bring forth autobiographical, gender, race, and identity issues. Next to its market success, the popularity of the genre is evidenced in the huge following portrait artists have on Instagram. In this post, I share who are ten of the … Read more

From the earliest times, artists have created vivid images of animals as a means of manifesting beliefs, theories, and social interactions. Starting in the Renaissance, artists began studying the anatomy of animals and included them in the backgrounds of their paintings. However, the specialty of animal painting developed until the 17th century when daily life … Read more

The technique of gouache has been around since ancient times. However, the term was first used in 18th-century France to describe a type of opaque paint made from pigments bound in water-soluble gum. Over time, the unique qualities of gouache resulted in its growing popularity. In particular, plein air artists and illustrators increasingly used it … Read more

Since Paleolithic times drawing has persisted as a multifaceted form of human expression. Particularly, as is the case with other media, drawing began to flourish as an independent art form during the Renaissance when artists created detailed studies of the human body. As time went by, drawing turned into a fundamental component of every artist’s … Read more

Since ancient times artists have portrayed arrangements of inanimate objects. However, still-life painting turned into an independent genre until the late 16th century when Flemish and Dutch artists captured intricate compositions of everyday objects. In the early days of the art form, these scenes were used to represent prosperity and were also infused with religious … Read more

Watercolor is one of the eldest and most ready-to-use mediums. Experts date its existence as far back as the Paleolithic times. However, watercolors started to be recognized as an art medium until the Renaissance and from then on have continued to be used by some of the most talented artists of all times. In this … Read more