Cover Art to Fall in Love With The best book covers are not only beautiful but tell a story or, at least, hint at themes and the plot of the novel. We, readers, will not only judge a book by its cover but will buy (or give it a try) a book because we love […]
Bringing Ideas to Life Concept art and illustrative art are not the same thing. A concept is, after all, a seed of an idea. But those seeds bloom into great artwork. Illustrative art is about graphical representation; concept art is about how to represent an idea best. In effect, both illustrative art and concept art […]
Cards from A Different Century Tarot began in 15th century Italy as a card game called tarocchi. Today, it is better known as a divination tool, something psychics and card readers use to predict the future. And despite being a product of six centuries ago, it remains popular in modern times. Furthermore, it is popular with […]
A Style or a Technique? Tenebrism is a painting style that emphasizes light by creating deep shadows. It is considered by some a variant of chiaroscuro and it was common in Baroque paintings. Among its most prominent painters were Caravaggio and El Greco. Tenebrism comes from the Italian word tenebroso, indicating dark, gloomy, and mysterious. […]
Simplistic But Not Simple Naïve art is a term used for a visual art style created by a person without formal training. In short, non-professionals. Naïve art tends to be confused with other art styles such as primitivism, folk art, and outsider art. And yet, those styles are similar but not like naïve art. Naïve art […]
Out of This World Art Space art, also known as astronomical art, refers to artwork inspired by space and astronomical features such as black holes, nebulas, galaxies, etc. This is an art whose purpose is to showcase the wonders of space and space exploration. This is a modern art movement… Or is it? The ancients […]
Books to Be Displayed Last year we discussed what makes a good cover and I named three examples from three books published in 2020. Since that post was popular, I decided to repeat it this year, except we will look into my top five. As we know, fandom loves artwork. And we judge a book […]
What is the Grotesque Art Style? Grotesque in an art style that aims to provoke both, an uncomfortable feeling in the viewer but also sympathy for its subject. Yes, disgust and pity. What were those seventeenth and eighteenth-century painters thinking? This art is said to take inspiration from Ancient Rome’s statues found inside Emperor Nero‘s […]
What is Atomic Age Art? Atomic age art was the art of the atomic age. But what was the atomic age? It was the period from 1940 to around 1963, a historical period marked by nuclear war fears and the Cold War. World War II was over, the Great Depression ended, and two new superpowers, […]
What is Art Nouveau? Art nouveau was an international art movement born in France during my favorite time in history, the Belle Epoque, from 1890 to 1910. From France, it expanded around the globe. Art nouveau is a French word meaning new art. It wasn’t new. It was groundbreaking. It broke tradition and expanded into […]
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