This article was originally published on Hubpages in May 2021. What's It About? As the introduction to this book clearly states, this is not a 'how-to-paint' manual nor a treatise on art history. If you want those things, the text promptly encourages you to look elsewhere. Instead, in this book Marr asks what attracts a person to a particular painting which not only captures their initial interest, but continues to be inspirational after many decades of viewings. Life, he writes, can be beautiful but mundane, and art can help people to transcend the everyday world of dull routines. Why do we take the time to travel to exhibitions and pay the entry fee in order to look at paintings, when we're all surrounded by so many diverse visual experiences? What makes paintings special? What makes any painter want to paint, to struggle through untold failures in order to create their paintings? How do painters decide how to communicate the idea in their mind to their chosen suppor...

 This article was originally published on Hubpages in October 2019. What's it About? Contained within this book are introductions to 50 artists whose work has been largely overlooked due to gender bias. This book does not attempt to present a complete history of each artist's work. Instead, it provides a clear overview of the creative contributions to the art world by women. It begins with Catharina van Hemessen, who was born in Antwerp in 1528 and who was mentioned as a famous woman painter in a book about the Netherlands published in 1567. It ends with Tacita Dean, who was born in Canterbury, England, in 1965 and who is still creating art in the present day. For each artist, there are brief biographical details and a small portrait image, plus a suggested further reading list. Each artist also has at least one full-page quality reproduction of a typical example of their style of art. About the Authors Art historian Christine Weidemann is the author of  Niki de Saint Phalle ,...

 This article was originally published on Hubpages in August 2019. What's It About? The Story of Painting  aims to present a comprehensive overview of Western art history. This heavy book features 450 fine art paintings, plus over 200 supporting images. The author, Sister Wendy Beckett, begins with Neolithic cave paintings of animals, then moves immediately to the murals of Ancient Egypt. The text moves onto Minoan and Mycenaean art, and then into Ancient Greece. Next comes early Xtian, then Medieval art. Throughout the book, in small side columns, further images or additional information offer greater social context or historical background to the main text. The easy-going narrative winds quickly through the passing centuries until we finish with 20th-century works, such as those by Frank Auerbach and Mark Rothko. Beckett briefly discusses how painting materials and methods have changed through the centuries, and while she is not an artist herself she clearly has a deep love ...

 This article was originally published on Hubpages in July 2019. What's It About? Gallery by title, and gallery by deed. Here we have an image-crammed book dedicated to the popular subject of marine art which presents 136 full-colour pictures of quiet coves, raging storms, elegant regattas and rugged fishing vessels. Some of the chosen paintings are historical in character, depicting paddle steamers and old sailing ships, while others are determinedly contemporary. The media employed ranges from oil paint, watercolours, pastels, acrylics and mixed media. Each reproduced painting is described by media, size, and the support on which it has been painted. Each painting is accompanied by a short description of the work, often with a few words from each contributing artist. About the Author Jerry McClish (1920 - 2008) was the president of the International Society of Marine Painters. He has taught painting workshops in America, Mexico and the Caribbean. He has starred in a video series ...

 This article was originally published on Hubpages in June 2019. What's It About? This heavily illustrated book tracks the rise of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood from its inception and early struggles for recognition and respect to the heady years, which saw the blossoming careers of some of the Western world's best-loved 19th-century artists. In the autumn of 1848, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his brother William Michael Rossetti, along with William Holman Hunt, Thomas Woolner, Frederick George Stephens and James Collinson, met at the home of John Everett Millais on Gower Street, London. Inspired by etchings of antique Italian works, they created a new artistic aesthetic inspired by paintings created prior to the Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino era (1483 to 1520). Thus, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) was born. These young art students were roundly ridiculed for their pretension. Stoically, they forged ahead and organised independent exhibitions of their work. At firs...

 This article was originally published on Hubpages in January 2019. What's It About? Over 200 quality reproductions of Claude Monet's world-famous Impressionist paintings illustrate this large book. A choice selection of private letters allows the reader a fascinating insight into the artist's life. These letters describe Monet's early experiments with drawing and painting. The book also contains the blossoming of what were to become life-long friendships with fellow artists such as Cezanne, Manet and Degas, Monet's decades of financial struggles, and his personal life as a husband, father and step-father. Monet toured widely through Italy, Brittany and Norway in search of new vistas to paint, while struggling with very little money and encountering crushing disinterest from art dealers and critics. Monet experienced occasional bouts of ill health and sometimes dismal temporary housing while searching for scenes to paint. He determinedly refused to admit defeat in t...

 This article was originally published on Hubpages in January 2019. What's it About? Just as the title implies, this book brings together a large collection of Joseph Mallord William Turner's sketches. William Turner is famed the world over for his oil and watercolour paintings, many of which feature stormy seas and mountainous landscapes. More than anything he is renowned for his paintings of light - light bouncing off water, off clouds, off buildings - so that specific architectural or geographic details are veiled by his determination to capture the every-shifting qualities of light and shadow. Turner was born in 1775 in London, England, and entered the Royal Academy of Arts when aged only 14. He also studied architectural drawing, which served him well later when he was able to earn a steady living from illustrating travel books, for example those by Sir Walter Scot. He never married but had two daughters by his housekeeper. He was reputed to be an astute businessman, and i...

 This article was originally published on Hubpages in January 2019. What's It About? This heavily illustrated book aims to be a helpful guide for painting realistic watercolour paintings for beginners and more experienced painters alike. The text offers clear step-by-step instructions which are easy to follow, and each exercise has plenty of photographs to show the reader how to proceed, and is written in a cheery, affable manner meant to encourage people to have a go. The book is presented in four sections: trees; flowers; mountains, valleys and streams; then sea and sky. These were originally available as separate books. About the Author Terry Harrison was born in 1951 in Norfolk, England. He studied at Farnham Art School and then began a career in graphic design. He never lost his love of painting, and in 1985, after a stint working for the  Yellow Pages  telephone directory, he chose to become a full-time self-employed artist. He founded his own publishing company in ...

 This article was originally published on Hubpages in August 2019. What's it About? Fine art painting, drawing, sculpting, inventing, architecture, engineering, science, mathematics, geology, music, military weaponry, hydraulics, botany, anatomy, map making - the list of Leonardo da Vinci's skills reflects the man's broad range of interests. Born on 15th April, 1452 at Vinci in Florence, Italy, Leonardo was the illegitimate eldest child of notary Piero da Vinci and Caterina, who was classed as a peasant. The child lived mostly with his mother and grandparents, while his father went on to marry four times more. Leonardo's illegitimacy barred his entry into the guild of magistrates and notaries. For the same reason, he could not attend university or train for any "noble" career. However, at the age of fourteen or fifteen, Leonardo was apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio, painter by appointment to the powerful Medici dynasty, and so he began his training as an a...