18 April 2010

"The Foot of the Artist"

An oil painting by Adolph Menzel, completed in 1876.  Menzel may have been considered "one of the two most prominent German artists of the 19th century," but this particular painting of his I'll file in the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot category.

Source, via It # π.

2 comments:

  1. Perhaps a little insight from a fellow artist: Things that are very challenging when practicing the human form are often hands, feet, and of course faces. Faces because they're what we are tuned to recognize (and hence, if even the slightest bit off seem wrong), hands because they have so many forms pushing and pulling inside to create their shapes, and feet for the same.

    I've drawn and painted my own hands and feet hundreds of times to practice, and I'd be surprised if any artist interested in the human form hasn't done the same.

    This also explains why so many artists have many many self portraits of themselves. Although in my own case, I've done only a handful and destroyed all but one.

    An interesting twist? Check out Van Gogh's hundreds of shoe paintings. They are amazing works of art, and much forgotten from his body of work.

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