Archive for January, 2008
Developing a better way of creating pencil drawings can take some practice. Along the way, it will also help you learn more about how to effectively use the pencil in order to make your drawings look better. Aside from your creativity, the way you are able to use your main drawing tool, the graphite pencil, can greatly help in improving how your pencil drawings come out. Here are some useful tips that can help you out.The first thing that you should always bear in mind before you start doing your pencil drawings is to have sharp pencils on hand. It is always important to have sharp pencils always ready for use. Although there are times that you might need blunt pencils for creating different effects on drawings, the main part of your drawing duties always require that you use a sharp one. An absence of sharp pencils can easily ruin many a drawing. So always remember to have some sharpened pencils with you before you start doing a drawing.
Another important part of pencil drawing is the use of a variety of lines. Every experienced pencil artists know that different lines can be drawn simply by lifting the pencil or pressing it a bit harder on the paper. The way a pencil can be used with less or more pressure can produce a wide variety of effects that can help put life to a pencil drawing once it is finished.
Even shading can also make pencil drawings look better. Sometimes the usual shading motion from side to side, with each stroke ending below the last one, can result in uneven shading due to the overlapping of one line band with another. In order to even this up, you can try to work your pencil back and forth over the same area to make the shading as even as possible.
The direction of the marks that you make on paper can also affect the outcome of the whole drawing. The directions of the marks that you make on paper can be used to describe your object. The direction can be used to follow the form or go against it in a contrasting manner. The type of direction used can help create some energy on your drawings as well as direct the viewer’s eye.
Also remember that the marks that you make with the pencil on the paper can have an effect on the overall drawing. How carefully you make the pencil strokes matter can also make an impact on the finished drawing consider yourself as a conductor with your pencil as a baton. Every stroke that you make corresponds to the timing and the flow of the music that you wish to hear. Random pencil strokes in your drawings can ruin it.
January 30th, 2008
The Belem Tower is considered as one of the most beautiful examples of Portuguese late gothic architecture or Manueline style. It is a fortified tower that is located in the Belem district in Lisbon, Portugal. The tower was built to commemorate the expedition of Vasco de Gama. This defensive yet elegant tower has become one of the key symbols of the city and was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
The Belem Tower was built between 1515 and 1521 to become both as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon as well as a defensive structure for the city, guarding the entrance of the Tagus River and the Jeronimos Monastery. Its principal architect was Francisco de Arruda, an architect for the military who had already built several fortresses and defensive structures of Portuguese properties in Morocco.
Because of the influence of Arruda’s work to previous designs in Morocco, the tower was built manifesting Moorish decorative arts in its arched windows and balconies. The Tower of Belem can be divided into two parts. There is the bastion which was designed with the shape of an irregular hexagon. Then there is the five-story tower itself, which is located on the north side of bastion.
The bastion contains a vaulted chamber which has 3.5 meter thick walls with openings for the tower’s 17 large caliber cannons. An open center above the casemate made it possible for the tower to dispel smoke and fumes when the cannons were used. The base of the turrets has several images of beasts which included a rhinoceros. The whole tower is also decorated with decorative stone twisted ropes. These decorative stone ropes even are tied at a knot at the north facade of the building. The upper corners of the tower walls have statues of St Vincent and St Michael. The tower also has many fine windows with arches.
The tower itself is 35 meters high. It is composed of four storeys and has a terrace that offers wonderful views of the surrounding landscape. The different levels of the tower can be reached via a narrow spiral staircase with the second storey containing covered balconies on each side.
January 23rd, 2008
Donatello was a famous Italian artist and sculptor during the early Renaissance Period. Born as Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi in Florence sometime on 1386, Donatello was the son of Niccolo di Betto Bardi, a Florentine wool comber. Donatello first received his artistic training in a goldsmith’s workshop, as was the custom for artists during that time. He also worked briefly from the studio of another noted Italian artist, Lorenzo Ghiberti.While working at Ghiberti’s studio, Donatello was able to create one of his earliest works, a marble statue of David. The early sculpture showed the influence of Ghiberti and the International Gothic style. Donatello was able to develop his own style later on in his life.
Sometime during 1404, Donatello went to Rome with another noted artist, Filippo Brunelleschi, while undergoing studies as well as some excavations here and there. It was their stay in Rome that later on made a great impact in the development of Italian art in the 15th Century. It was this time that Donatello was first influenced by the type of art style that started the Renaissance Period in Italy during that time.
It was in 1423 that Donatello was able to master the art of sculpting. Sometime in 1430, Donatello sculpted a bronze statue of David which became the first large scale, free standing nude statue created during the Renaissance. It became Donatello’s most famous work. This was followed by a number of other commissions where Donatello displayed his unique artistic style that was influenced by classical art.
In 1443, Donatello went to Padua to do a commission to construct a bronze statue of the deceased Erasmo da Narmi, a well known condottiere. With the statue, Donatello was able to conceive an equestrian monument that would have a powerful influence on the other sculptors during succeeding years when it comes to creating equestrian monuments. Donatello was an active sculptor that did not lack of commissions to do outside of Florence, even after his style was eclipsed by upcoming Florentine art styles. He remained a productive artist until his death in 1466 at the ripe old age of eighty.
January 16th, 2008
The Wrigley building is located in 410 N Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. It is located in an area more popularly known as the Magnificent Mile which is the main thoroughfare of the city’s business district as well as the center for its nightlife. The impressive building was built to be the corporate headquarters of the Wrigley Company.
The Wrigley Building has been considered for over 75 years as one of Chicago’s most attractive buildings. Work on the structure started at around the 1920’s when the bubble gum magnate, William Wrigley Jr. chose the location for his company’s headquarters at a time when no major office buildings were being built north of the Chicago River. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White. The firm designed the building inspired by the shape of the Giralda tower of Seville’s Cathedral in Spain and mixed it up with French Renaissance details.
The 425 foot south tower of the building was completed in April of 1921 while the north tower took until May of 1924 to complete. Several walkways were added to connect the two towers at different areas of the structure during the ensuing years. All in all, the two towers of the Wrigley Building cover a combined area 453,433 square feet, not including the lower levels located below Michigan Avenue. The two towers do not stand at similar heights. The south tower rises 30 stories tall while the north tower of the building rises up to only 21 stories.
The south tower also houses a clock which occupies about two stories. The giant clock also features four dials, each of the four sides of the tower, with each one measuring 19 feet and 7 inches in diameter. The hour hand of each dial measures 6 feet and 4 inches in length while the minute hand spans 9 feet and 2 inches long. The hour and minute hands were originally made out of redwood but was later on changed using aircraft grade aluminum for added durability.
One of the striking features of the Wrigley Building is the use of about 250,000 individual glazed terra cotta tiles used throughout the structure. At the time of its construction, it was considered as the most extensive use of the material for any building. Even more impressive is how each terra cotta tile is individually identified in a computer database to enable a more consistent tracking system for a more efficient maintenance of each individual tile used in the building. The building’s interiors also contain several striking brass work throughout both to the tower’s lobbies.
During nighttime, the Wrigley Building provides the city with one of its more impressive lighting displays. Illumination for the building is provided by a several sets of lights which include 116, 1,000-watt metal halide lamps mounted on the southern side of the Chicago River. There are also seven other such lamps located at street level while 16 other lamps are located on the west side of the building. There are also 62 other lamps built on the building itself to provide the gradual brightness of the building towards the top, making it a very spectacularly lighted display at night.
January 9th, 2008
Henri Emile Benoit Matisse was a noted French artist known as one of the best artists in the 20th Century. He was born on December 31, 1869 in Le Cateau-Cambresis, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. He was the first son to parents who run a successful seed business. He was schooled to become a lawyer. In 1887, he went to Paris to study law and even became a court administrator after gaining his qualification. Matisse only discovered painting while on a period of recovery after an attack of appendicitis in 1889. During this time, his mother provided him with art supplied to spend his time with while recovering.
Upon discovering art and painting, Matisse decided to become an artist and leave the practice of law which disappointed his father. In 1891, he began to study art at the Academie Julian. He started by painting still lifes and landscapes using the traditional style from which he became quite successful. By 1896, he was able to exhibit five of his own paintings at the Salon Nationale des Beaux-Arts where two of them were eventually bought by the state.
In 1897, Matisse was introduced to Impressionism by fellow painter John Peter Russell. This led Matisse to change his style of painting completely. As he was influenced by the works of post-Impressionists such as Van Gogh, Gauguin and Paul Cezanne, Matisse began to incorporate color as a crucial element of his later works. Matisse became fond of having bright and expressive colors into his works which became more pronounced sometime in 1905. This eventually led to paintings using wild and often dissonant colors in order to express emotions rather than following the natural colors of the subjects. This became the start for Fauvism, which came from the word Fauves (wild beasts) from which the artists became known as. Matisse was considered as one of the leaders of the said movement.
Matisse created many of his finest works from 1906 to 1917, when he was an active participant in the great gathering of artists in Montparnasse. In 1917, Matisse relocated to a suburb in Nice. This was followed by a distinct softening in his approach to his artwork. He began to show in his paintings a sort of return to the traditional style. In 1941, Matisse was diagnosed with cancer that put him in a wheelchair after surgery. Here, Matisse began to create cut paper collages. In 1947, he was able to publish a book entitled Jazz, a book which contained a collection of colorful paper cut collages accompanied with personal comments and thoughts. Matisse died of a heart attack in November 3, 1954 at the ripe old age of 83.
January 2nd, 2008