Remember when video cameras first hit the market? Everyone had to have one of these new gimmicks. Wow. Just imagine making your own movies. The disgusting part was watching the playback. Ugh. I would get nauseous looking even at my own first clips, let alone watch the clips of sheer amateurs who thought themselves as the reincarnated Cecil B. DeMille.
That was until I decided to learn from the pros. I would watch a movie on TV, or go to the movies. Instead of watching the story unfold, I would see how the cameraman handled his camera. When he uses the zoom, and how he uses it. When he pans, how fast, how slow. Most of the time he just held it still and LET THE CHARACTERS DO THE MOVING. That was a big revelation to me. After all, isn’t that what the video camera supposed to do?
Same with your canvas. Learn from the pros. Like Michelangelo, Claude Monet, Cezanne, the French Impressionists, Eighteenth century artists, etc. You can get some books out of the library. Better yet, if you can afford it, some books are a little expensive but well worth buying.
We have a large book of Monet’s work, "Monet--a Retrospective", his history and all about his life. Plenty of color plates and some in black and white. I like to sit in a quiet chair and just study his paintings. When you read the background behind some of the paintings, you’ll discover the thought process he endured in order to arrive at a particular "statement".
Same with Michelangelo. I love to study his drawings. Drawings say so much more than the finished piece because once again, they show the thinking behind the work.
This is how you can really learn. True, it’s always best to be able to learn from a live situation, like a classroom, but many times that’s not always possible. The next best thing is to refer to those whose works are imbedded in history for all of us to gleen from.
Amazon has a wide selection of educational books to assist you in your study. Check out these personal selections. Go to Amazon.com and put "books" in the search box, then "master's paintings". Or, you can click on the image below which will take you straight to that page in Amazon where you'll find many more books on the subject.
This is an excellent book at an excellent price. Go for it and enjoy!
--Adam
Click Here!
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