Thursday, January 21, 2010
Color: the infinite magician
Of all the elements that go into making a work of art, perhaps the strongest influence of all belongs to color. Colors have a strong effect on our emotions. They can create almost any kind of mood. According to where and how they are used, they can make us feel cheerful or depressed, excited or soothed, filled with longing, or at peace. In addition to subject matter, drawing, or design, color can be used to affect the emotions of the viewer.
Beyond art, color plays the same role in clothing, interior design, architecture—every visual aspect of life. So it’s not surprising to find that, at the Frick Collection in New York City, classic paintings hung against a wall newly painted in soft coral, seem themselves to have been newly restored. In the Frick’s East Gallery, the velvety coral walls sharpen details, brighten colors, clarify compositions and deepen meaning. It’s as if we are seeing these paintings for the first time.
The Frick Collection is a wonderful place for close encounters with some of the best of European painting; and with the recent renovations, the experience is enhanced even further.
Friday, January 08, 2010
Good news!
I’m happy to report that the pirated scans of our Famous Artists Course have been removed from the website that was offering them. Leif Peng, who writes a blog called Today’s Inspiration about illustration art, posted a very apt entry about this situation yesterday. Here’s the link to his post. Thanks to everyone who appreciates the value of the Famous Artists Course materials and supports our efforts to protect their integrity.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
The sincerest form of flattery?
Remember that old saying about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery? Maybe we can take that one step further. We recently learned that various sites and blogs are offering PDF scans of our Famous Artists textbooks—free. The people who scanned them and the people who downloaded them can’t say enough wonderful things about them, raving about how thrilled they are to be able to study and learn from this classic instruction by some of the great American illustrators.
Let’s leave aside for the moment the uncomfortable fact that these materials are copyright protected, and therefore to scan them for public use is theft. What these enthusiasts don’t realize is that our textbooks are just one part of an integrated Course whose central feature is the personal critiques by real artist-instructors—that as good as our textbooks are, the full Course, including the critiques and the one-on-one attention from instructors, is a hundred times better as a learning experience.
And not only that: we are about to launch a revised and updated version of the Famous Artists Course built on the classic material that is so highly regarded, but expanded to include even more color and demonstrations.
We’re delighted that there are so many artists and potential artists out there who love our materials. But let’s be fair. We’re still in business, our books are still in print, and our complete Courses are the most thorough and in-depth method of art instruction ever developed—and the best is yet to come!
Monday, January 04, 2010
A new year—a new Course!
Happy new year to all! Here at FAS, we’re in the final stages of preparing our new Creative Art Course. It will combine all the classic teaching elements of the original Course with an updated and reorganized approach. Best of all, it will be available for download! The same great one-to-one instructor relationship will still be the cornerstone of the learning experience. Watch insideArt and our website for more news!
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