So you want to paint like Rembrandt? Should you?!!

Should an artist aim to develop his/her own style?

Skill and artistry are not the same. Developing a style is what makes the difference.



 History and the recent example of Odd Nerdrum are proof of this point.



Honest copies of the great masters and paintings made "in the style of" Old Masters require tremendous skills and part of a sound education in the visual arts. They help an artist survive financially, but are these true art in the pure sense? As much as I myself value it and like seeing this, I think this actiivty is not itself art.



Why would the world want 2 Rembrandts? Or 2 of Van Gogh?

Most likely, the second version will not be remembered as an artists.

Esteva do Algarve

Ok, here's the latest. Inspired again by Portuguese topics. This time, it's a ceramic jar with blue flowers and an "esteva". All my paintings are always a work in progress. Sometimes, I think I'm done and I come back and change something, or add something...perhaps making a shadow more drastic, or light brighter...rounding out what should be round, etc. I am satisfied enough with this one to show it, but I do not know that it is complete...I will sign it when complete :)

This is a quiet scene, or a freshly cut esteva left by the jar on a old wooden shelf.

Again, using Rembrandt soft pastels, Gioconda pastel pencils, charcoal and a workable fixative.

I didn't know about the estevas, after a dear friend from the Algarve region told me about them. Estevas are flowers native to the Mediterranean basin, growing anywhere from Portugal to France. They are used as ornament and sought after for their aroma. Their resin, called "ladano", used in perfume fixatives, is collected from the saliva of goats after letting them graze on the estevas. Curious, huh? :)