John Keats: When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be

I produced a video essay on John Keats' poem When I have fears that I may cease to be. I discuss the poem's theme, Keats' poetic means and the characteristics that make this a Romantic poem.

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Edgar Alwin Payne's Landscape, Canyon de Chelly

Edgar Alwin Payne, Canyon de Chelly , specific date unknown, ca. before 1947 Nature falls into the happy rhythm of human steps in this beautifully romanticized oil painting by Edgar Alwin Payne. The cliffs provide the wanderers a pleasant shade, while the clouds shine benevolently in the sky. The shadows in the background are like children peeking around corners to see what the grown-ups are doing. The way the light rakes across the rock face, it makes the cliffs appear to be follow the wayfarers around the curve of the valley. The way the rocks sink back into themselves counters this forward rhythm and creates the impression that they are reluctantly curious about the horsemen. The clouds overhead seem less connected to the wanderers but are playful with each other. Continuing the horizontal rhythm of the rock walls, the clouds have a peculiar shape that draws one in to wonder what Payne was trying to communicate. Though the clouds s...

How to Paint a Landscape in Oil

This is a landscape painted with oil on paper. It was painted from a photograph and the subject is a pond in Central Park. The visual theme is "distance" and all of my choices were made in order to communicate and stress the illusion of space. The painting was made in four layers, with a few days between each one to allow the paint to dry. I am going to describe the process of each layer. STEP 1 The first step is to block in the large shapes. This is a means of mapping out the composition, choosing which objects will be included and which omitted. The exact tones used at this stage are not absolutely critical but are an approximation of the target colors. Since they will serve as a substrate for subsequent layers, I mixed them lighter and duller than my target colors. That way they won't dominate subsequent layers by showing through and altering the color of those layers—at least no more than I want them to. STEP 2 The next layer of paint is ...

Giuseppe Arcimboldo and the Double Image

Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526 – 1593) was an Italian Renaissance painter famous for his imaginative and unconventional portraits. Born in Milan, he served as a court painter for the Habsburg emperors in Vienna and Prague. Arcimboldo's unique style is characterized by his "composite portraits" which used a combination of objects, fruits, vegetables, and other elements, arranged to portray a human face. These whimsical and highly detailed works are often interpreted as allegorical representations of the seasons, elements, or human attributes. The Four Seasons 1563-73 Arcimboldo's most famous series of paintings is "The Four Seasons" where he cleverly arranged items like flowers, fruits and branches to capture his enigmatic visages. Today, Arcimboldo is popularly known primarily for his influence on the surrealists. But Arcimboldo's influences is more far-reaching than that. From the chalk cliffs of Germany to the American Southwest, Arcimboldo has helped sha...

Andrew Sandberg's Fine Art

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