Reading Book Group and a * Giveaway *

One of the reasons I started a monthly painting challenge was to force myself to finish my painting projects. The other was that it was more fun to have others join in with me. For the same reasons, I've decided to start a reading group on this blog as well. I've had a copy of The Art Spirit by Robert Henri sitting around for a while with the good intentions of reading it, but have not made the time for it.

So, starting January 1st, 2010 I hope you all will join me in reading this book. You don't even have to be an artist...only an art lover to join in. There are no rules to reading this book...you can jump in at the middle if you choose. The forward by the author himself states...

"No effort has been made toward the form of a regular book. In fact the opinions are presented more as paintings are hung on the wall, to be looked at at will and taken as rough sketches for what the are worth. If they have a suggestive value and stimulate to independent thought they will attain the object of their presentation."

There will be a section to leave comments or favorite quotes. If you are interested in participating and would like to win a copy...please leave a comment. Also, if you have participated in any of the past or current challenges you get a "bonus" entry so please leave a second comment for an extra chance to win. The giveaway ends December 27th and a winner will be chosen via random.org on December 28th. You can also pick up a copy at Amazon...



Also...don't forget the deadline for Challenge Nine artwork is due January 13th.

Challenge Nine Gallery - Favorite Master Artists

Michelle Burnett

James Parker

Gloria Viorge

Gary Nemcosky

Paula Cravens

Alan Osler

Rosemary Sexton

Dennis Bailey

Sylvia Williams

Rodica Voicu

 

Bill Brauker

Sherry Massey

 Ellie Elledge

Dana Cooper

Ria Hills

Elisha Dasenbrock

Tj Lev

Rick Nilson

Millie Nguyen

Sharon Wright

Cathyann Burgess

Challenge Nine - Who's Your Master?

La Gioconda (aka Mona Lisa)

by Leonardo da Vinci

For Challenge Nine I am going to leave it up to you to show us who you are inspired by! Who is your favorite master artist? (As always, just make sure not to copy any living artists and to be aware of copyright laws). It is also a great opportunity to finish one of the past challenges that you might not have been able to get finished in time. Feel free to submit work inspired or copied by a favorite artist that has been painted or drawn prior to this challenge that has not been previously posted to this blog. Also, with the busy holiday schedule, I am going to extend out the deadline to January 13^th and limit the post to just one per person (just for this challenge). Please email to mtrmburnett at gmail dot com (Sorry... I had it wrong on the last challenge!) along with your name and blog or website link.

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For those of you who participated in the self-portrait challenge…I received this information from the wonderful Deb Keirce concerning Art Calendar’s 2010 Self-Portrait Cover Contest. The deadline for this contest is December 11, 2009 with no entry fee!

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 Thanks to all who participated in last month's Van Gogh challenge...it was a lot of fun with a lot of great entries! I will continue to post entries for Challenge Eight until the end of today if you still need to submit your work.

Challenge Eight Gallery

Bill Brauker

Pattie Wall

Rodica Voicu

Delilah Smith

Rick Nilson

Rick Nilson

Rick Nilson

Michelle Burnett

Anne C M Campbell

James Parker

Pam Holnback

Gloria

Dida

Charlotte Tanner

Ria Hills

gemma

Claire Beadon Carnell

Cindi DeWeese

Carolann Gould

Debbie Later

Marie Theron

Silvia Williams

Pat Koscienski

Sheila Tajima

Sherry Massey

William Cook

Sherry Maghsoodloo

Dennis Bailey

Challenge Eight - Vincent van Gogh

The Mulberry Tree, 1889

Vincent van Gogh

Thank you to all of you that participated in the self-portrait challenge...one of the most challenging challenges yet! Now we are on to Vincent van Gogh. His wonderful, unique style of painting seems like it would be a lot of fun to emulate. Feel free to go about this challenge however you feel inspired by his work. You might want to copy some of his work or choose to paint from your own reference in the van Gogh style. You could work from his color palette, use thick texture, or try you hand at making those great, swirling brushstrokes.  Challenge Eight is due November 18th. Please email your final work to: mtrmburnett at gmail dot com.

A few great links:

Van Gogh Gallery

Van Gogh Palettes and Techniques

Paint Like Van Gogh!

Challenge Seven Gallery

Rachel Parker

Edward Burton

Anne C M Campbell

Michelle Burnett

Beckie Saar Leone

Rodica Voicu

Debra Cooper

Sylvia Williams

Ria Hills

Greg Piszko

gemma

Patrice Wall

William Cook

Lauren Maurer

Sheila Estep

Dana Cooper

James Parker

Nora Mackin

Sherry Massey

Cindi DeWeese

Aaron Caycedo-Kimura

 Karen Hargett

Nicole
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Deb Keirce

Challenge Seven ~ The Art of the Self Portrait

 

Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?), Jan Van Eyck, 1433

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First of all, THANK YOU to all who participated in the last challenge! There were so many wonderful interpretations of Western Art. For this month's challenge, the inspiration was a wonderful book I came across at the library, Artists’ Self Portraits. You might want to see if your local library has a copy since it's a little pricey. It's also HUGE... so you'll also get a workout just picking it up. For some lighter reading, here is an interesting Wikipedia article on the subject, but before you check it out, you may want to try out this fun little quiz to test your knowledge first.
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Self Portrait with a Cap, Rembrandt, 1630 

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I hope you'll enjoy this challenge. It can be silly or serious, realistic or abstract, a quick sketch or a finished portrait. If you are not up to painting yourself you might think of painting one of your favorite artist’s self portrait instead. Or maybe think outside of the box…maybe paint a grouping of items that represents you. If you’ve already done a self portrait, then great! You are ahead of the game and we would all love to see it in the gallery!

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DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 16!  Please email a photo of your work (or the blog link to your photo) to mtrmburnett @ gmail.com (without spaces). I sometimes get a little busy and cannot post it right away, but if you haven’t seen in posted within a couple of days, please email me or leave a comment. Sometimes they don’t make it through the spam blocker!

Triple Self Portrait, Norman Rockwell, 1960