Angels of Warmth

Yan Yaya, Oil painting, 2003

The Irritating Gentleman (1874)

Berthold Woltze - Oil on Canvas (click to enlarge)

Cityscapes

Running on Fumes (click to enlarge)

A colorful rainy night in Tokyo (click to enlarge)

Bob Ross introduces son Steve Ross to the show

Link to video

"The temptation (to criticize him) should be steadfastly resisted"

Field of Red and Yellow Wildflowers, Bierstadt pic.twitter.com/4y7cL0zRKG

— Zeynep (@zeynepppnyz) July 25, 2015

Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was an American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West... 

Born in Germany, Bierstadt was brought to the United States at the age of one by his parents. He later returned to study painting for several years in Düsseldorf. He became part of the Hudson River Schoolin New York, an informal group of like-minded painters who started painting along this scenic river. Their style was based on carefully detailed paintings with romantic, almost glowing lighting, sometimes called luminism. 

Despite his popular success, Bierstadt was criticized by some contemporaries for the romanticism evident in his choices of subject and his use of light was felt to be excessive. His exhibition pieces were brilliantly crafted images that glorified the American West as a land of promise. Bierstadt's choice of grandiloquent subjects was matched by his entrepreneurial flair. His exhibitions of individual works were accompanied by promotion, ticket sales, and, in the words of one critic, a "vast machinery of advertisement and puffery." 

His wife was diagnosed with consumption in 1876, and from then until her death in 1893, Bierstadt spent time with her in the warmer climate of Nassau in the Bahamas. He also continued to travel to the West and Canada. In later life, Bierstadt's work fell increasingly out of critical favor. It was attacked for its theatrical tone.

"Marco Grassi’s hyper-realistic paintings"

 

Via Reddit

"Canadian Artist Adds Pop to Thrift Store Paintings, Ups Value"

Do you have a favorite?

Bob Ross: "wash your brush.. that's the fun part of all this"

Untitled (King and Queen)

 Evan Izer, Untitled (King and Queen). 2005-2008.
10" x 12".
Lapis Lazuli, carbonized ivory, gamboge resin, mercury sulfide, 
hydroxypropylcellulose, calf skin vellum, Hiromi washi, cotton-rag paper.

Two Drug Addicts On The Subway After A Fix

Evan Izer. Two Drug Addicts On The Subway After A Fix, 2013
Ink, gouache paint & crayon on laid paper

Due to financial considerations, my "Sketchbook" website is down, so I thought I'd post some drawings here until I get things running again.

I used to love to draw pictures of people that I saw when riding the subway in New York City. My usual practice was to make the drawing in a small sketchbook as quickly and furtively as I could, using a mechanical pencil or sometimes an ink brush pen. I would later choose the best of these sketches and work them up in other media when I was back in my workshop.

I usually chose subjects based upon extremity of appearance— extreme beauty or extremity of another sort. The two people depicted in this drawing had the paralytic flush of people who just shot up. They remained like this— eyes rolling underneath closed eyelids, mouths gaping, slow-motion twitching— for the entirety of my 25-minute ride.