pLog Pith VIII

A few words now about technique, so that there may be no misunderstanding…
April 10, 2011/by tja

Why Your Paint and Medium Sometimes Doesn’t Stick: The Beading on Your Canvas and How to Fix It

Yes, I promise, I'm really going to give you the solution.

So,…
March 23, 2011/by tja

The Library of Velazquez

Often before I leave on a trip I print and assemble a packet…
March 18, 2011/by tja

Titian: His Colors and Technique

My friend and colleague, the Classicist Paul Gwynne, called my…
March 14, 2011/by tja

“The Power of Mathematics”

And I have to say, underlying everything that we're talking about,…
February 24, 2011/by tja

Sedulous Indulgence and Instruction from Carolus-Duran

Book notes on A Manual of Oil Painting by the Hon. John Collier published in 1887
February 19, 2011/by tja

The Secret of the Old Masters

This life work was more or less an injury and loss to me in many…
January 14, 2011/by tja

pLog Pith VII

Why is it that those so quick to believe man-made absurdities…
January 14, 2011/by tja

A Dose of Speed Does the Body Good

The business of the artist is to see to it that his talent be…
December 29, 2010/by tja

“Reconsidered, a Met Velázquez Is Vindicated”

Article in the New York Times...
December 21, 2010/by tja

“It’s Better than Television”

– Steve Martin, speaking about artwork, in a recent interview…
November 18, 2010/by tja

A Recent Look at Las Meninas

A Spanish documentary interviews several local experts about…
November 8, 2010/by tja

The Drying Time of your Paint & How to Use Cobalt Siccative

Drying time is something that I've rarely had to worry about…
November 3, 2010/by tja

“Any Fool Can Rough It”

– Nigel Dundas, on the art of safari, September, 2010, Kenya.

Now…
October 1, 2010/by tja

“Getting Started”

Going through some emails today I came across this gem sent from…
September 7, 2010/by tja

“The Mona Lisa Curse”

This was just passed along to me from a friend in London:

"The…
September 6, 2010/by tja

Notes on “The Ghosts of Cannae”

P8 - "Verisimilitude is not truth, just the appearance of truth."

P12…
September 2, 2010/by tja

“Having a Life and Not a Career”

Most bizarre: I was re-watching the recent clip of Christopher…
August 16, 2010/by tja

“No Explanation, Nor Apology”

Anyone can learn to paint and to analyze physical truths as facts,…
August 16, 2010/by tja

“By Going Wrong, I Began to Work Out How to Go Right”

Today on the train ride back to Rome from Puglia I caught up…
August 13, 2010/by tja

pLog Pith VI

It is this deep sincerity, this deep appreciation of the significance…
August 10, 2010/by tja

“A Candle Burned at Both Ends…”

...Makes a Lovely Light.
Seeing Hitchens like this breaks my…
August 7, 2010/by tja

“A Superior Order of Beings” – Public Taste & the Arts

The present generation appears to be composed of a new, and,…
July 30, 2010/by tja

Sargent and the Sea

New show at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
July 23, 2010/by tja

Everybody Wants Some

News in Italy today that there is a newly discovered Caravaggio.

I've…
July 17, 2010/by tja

Sfumato = 30 Layers?

French Scientists Crack Secrets Of 'Mona Lisa'
July 17, 2010/by tja

“Bianco di San Giovanni”

Bianco di San Giovanni is considered the white pigment par excellence for fresco painting. It is used also in tempera and grounds while it is not advised in oil and encaustic painting techniques.
July 14, 2010/by tja

“Old Masters & Modern Science”

Review of the show "Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries,” by Michael Kimmelman of the New York Times in London.
July 13, 2010/by tja

The Calling of Someone at the Table

A painter’s analysis of Caravaggio's Calling of Saint Matthew…
July 11, 2010/by tja

Caravaggio Techniques and the Camera Obscura

Today I had a lively in-studio conversation with friend, colleague…
July 7, 2010/by tja

pLog Pith V

If you want Warhol
walk the aisle of a supermarket

If you want…
July 5, 2010/by tja

A Story About Jan

Here is what happened: I just listened to the story on NPR about…
July 4, 2010/by tja

Pythagoras and Plato

A musical message in the works of Plato?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128290660
July 4, 2010/by tja

Michelangelo’s Brain

Concealed Neuroanatomy in Michelangelo's Separation of Light…
June 29, 2010/by tja

pLog Pith IV

Da Vinci tells us to take a 2 dimensional surface and make it…
June 24, 2010/by tja

More V for Vermilion & the “Beads on a Duck’s Back”

I just spoke with the Michael Harding himself.  First…
June 2, 2010/by tja
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