Wassily Kandinsky (1866 - 1944) was a Russian-born painter who believed he could hear the sound that colors made. He believed in synaesthetic experiences: where two or more senses are unusually affected at the same time, especially regarding a marriage of color and sound. In 1913, Kandinsky completed Squares with Concentric Circles. Below, I've interpreted just one little square of a circle from the painting.
Kandinsky was a prolific art theory writer with many excellent quotes. Here are just a couple bright gems:
"The artist must train not only his eye but also his soul."
My Mom recently came to my house and found this old painting I did several years ago. She claimed it out of my closet, so now it's headed to her home in Charlotte.
Posting some drawings from my sketchbook below. The themes are random. You'll see that sometimes I draw on glassine, and I've transferred these to my sketchbook. I draw on glassine with graph paper or a handmade grid below. And sometimes I just draw the grid on to the glassine or sketchbook. The grid helps keep me disciplined, and allows me to see interesting details about perspective. I had fun with the oil pastel landscapes. Hope you enjoy!
Ever seen a cigarette machine that dispenses art? The project that re-purposes old cigarette machines is called Art-o-mat, and Art-o-mat was crowdsourcing art production, exhibition, and sales before crowdsourcing was cool. My daughter, Clarice, and I decided this summer to work on some pieces for Art-o-mat. We are currently in production, but we will post images soon of our artwork. Artists in Cellophane (the founder of Art-o-mat) are currently seeking more artists for an expanding number of Art-o-mat machines, placed all around the United States. Keep your fingers crossed that we get accepted! To read more about the Art-o-mat revolution of making art accessible (for the low, low price of $5 a pop!), click here or check out their Facebook page.
Another great crowdsourcing art organization is The Sketchbook Project. They host a succession of interesting projects, and are currently seeking entries for A Million Little Pictures. Clarice has already received her analog camera, and I hope to receive mine in the mail this week. We have until August 1 to take and develop 15 pictures and mail back to Brooklyn Art Library. Two entries from each photographer will be entered in their show. What a great way for any artist to wade into the art world.
Clarice and I are also intested in They Draw and Cook as well as They Draw and Travel. I hope that in August, we can post some images of art that we will send to both of these crowdsourcing artist website. TDAC has already published books of artist compilations. TDAT is gearing up to do so, and has a call out for artists. Both sites do an excellent job of promoting artists who send work to them. So, the investment for the artist is obviously worth it.
If are you looking for some inspirational sites with well-executed art and illustration, take some time to browse these sites. All of the above sites keep their content fresh and have associated social media sites with regularly updated postings. And in the case of TDAC and TDAT, you can also subscribe (for free) to a monthly e-newsletter.
I hope you have fun looking at these excellent art sites. Happy art adventures to all.
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