TRAILERS

1

I saw Hockney's documentary a while back and loved the science in that, this looks on the same level. Will definitely be looking this one out. What was cool about the Hockney one was how secretive the painters were about the technology they had, also that the methods they use are still good painting techniques today. Bonus.

Carpola on Dec 24, 2013

2

Yep! In this doc, he undertakes a challenge to recreate one of Vermeer's most famous works himself. It's proof that it would work just as well today.

Alex Billington on Dec 24, 2013

3

Painters were like ninjas it seems Alex! Hidden skills. Always love to hear about how images were created and the process, often it's more exciting than the final product. One documentary I watched this year that I was blown away by was Everybody Street by Cheryl Dunn, it's about Street photography in New York, you should definitely look it up.

Carpola on Dec 24, 2013

4

It's interesting because it does possibly give us an understanding of how optical devices could have been used by Vermeer. There's good evidence to suggest he did. The problem is that a lot of people who see this automatically assume this is the big "secret" to all realistic painting. There are plenty of artists throughout history who painted realistically without the use of any such optics. I attended The Florence Academy of Art which is one of several schools that still teach classical drawing and painting techniques. We don't use optical devices. There isn't anything wrong with using these tools but the idea that optics are the "secret" of good painting tends to undermine the training and ability to see that artists have. Here's just a few realistic painting schools and artists working today. my site: http://www.michaeldevore.net/ http://www.florenceacademyofart.com/ http://www.angelartschool.com/ http://www.grandcentralacademy.org/ http://davidleffel.com/ http://www.lipking.com/

Michael DeVore on Dec 25, 2013

5

Seems with painting there are hundreds of techniques to create a similar image, that has always been an interesting part of it. In the modern age with projectors and photoshop things have changed again, but I've saw artists come unstuck when they didn't have the 'box of trick's'. It seems that the art historians are the ones who get upset about the methods of the artists, preferring to liken them to magicians. Always with painting the final image is the most important part of it, not how it was created. There is no cheating if the final work looks good, at least in studio based work. Not sure if you've watched any of Kim Jung Gi's drawing demos, his line work is incredible. Also for realistic painting that isn't too clean, I would recommend Kent Williams http://www.kentwilliams.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGjGhU2o7sQ

Carpola on Dec 26, 2013