Martina's Art Blog

  Jolly Toper painted by Judith Leyster c. 1629 Judith Leyster (1609-1660) was a Dutch Baroque artist from Haarlem, Netherlands.  She specialized in genre scenes, or in other words, she painted ordinary people doing everyday activities.  This style of painting is what associates her work with the rise of the merchant class.  She is known for her upbeat, informal paintings of happy musicians and rowdy groups of people, as well as still lifes. In the Jolly Toper, Leyster’s first known signed work , she captures the image of a man who had just finished his drink and has a pipe on the table in front of him.  She was a mere 20 years old when she painted this painting. As in the Baroque style, she uses shadows, the tilt of his head as if he is trying to keep his beret on, and the placement of the jug to show the actions taking place.  Leyster has other  important works of art, including a self-portrait, that all have a distinct style which includes a lot...

  The Northern Renaissance The Madonna of Chancellor Rolin  by Jan van Eyck c. 1435 Biography Jan van Eyck (before 1390 – July 9, 1441) was known as the inventor of oil painting.  He used oil paint to create highly detailed paintings.  One of his most famous works is titled The Madonna of Chancellor Rolin  painted in 1435 in the Netherlands.  This painting is considered one of the most important works of the Northern Renaissance because of the mastery of detail, realism and use of light.  Today there are 20 surviving van Eyck paintings dated between 1432 and 1439.   The Painting Nicolas Rolin Chancellor of the Duchy of Burgundy commissioned Jan van Eyck in 1435 to paint this masterpiece.  The painting hung in the Saint Sebastian Chapel in the Notre-Dame-du-Chastel in Autun , where it remained until the church burnt down.  In 1805, the painting was moved to the Louvre where it remains today.   The Louvre, in 2024, created a...

As an adult who has not explored their own artistic abilities, I am intrigued with Bob Ross’s ability to teach people how to paint.  Bob Ross became a household name because of his television show “The Joy of Painting” which aired on PBS from 1983 to 1994,  Bob Ross Quick Bio . Bob Ross on PBS:  Picture Link On this show he would paint a picture explaining, step by step, on how to create each layer of the painting.  He would create a complete oil painting on each episode using the wet-on-wet technique that he learned from Bill Alexander, another artist who had a television show called “The Magic of Oil Painting”.  The wet-on-wet technique is applying oil paint on top of still-wet oil paint.   I find that I am generally drawn to realistic art as compared to abstract art.  I think that’s one of the reasons that I like Bob Ross’s artwork.  It is realistic depicting outdoor scenes, some of which are based on Alaskan scenery.   Bob Ross ...