Victorians are so cute sometimes.

I'm reading a French text on painting, and it is very amusing. It was written by a painter who was the teacher of many of the famous artists around the beginning of the Impressionist movement and includes Manet- who I apparently paint like, according to *my* old teacher.

This book is crack. The guy apologises for not knowing how to write, so he'll just toss in some anecdotes. I wonder if this was how his lessons went too. He gives the usual advice about learning to draw and paint, then adds reading Homer, Vergil, Shakespeare, Moliere etc. to "ornament your soul" while you're at it.

The anecdotes so far include The Giving Fine Wine to a Peasant story, and the Lazing in a Field with a Cow story. The wine story goes like this:

Artist: Have some wine!
Peasant: *drinks*
Artist: ...Uh, how do you like it?
Peasant: Not bad. A little flat.
Artist: WHUT?! *gives him some more over 15 days*

Artist: Here, drink this.
Peasant: My god, what is this stuff?!
Artist: Heheheheh! It is your wine that you love so much!
Peasant: !!

Now I'm reading about what Shakespeare does... or... something? I dunno.

"Take for instance a narrow soul. He sees a poor orphan, deformed and gross- and laughs! Shakespeare looks at him and sees a soul in the huge sad eyes."

...This is a book on *painting*, okay? In case you want to see for yourself (and can read French), it's called 'Méthode et entretiens d'Atelier' by Thomas Couteur.

I also enjoyed his 'to guys who don't know nothin' the sea is just a line and some water. But for guys who know stuff- IT'S THE SEA, MAN!!!'

-Sophie

Eugene Delacroix or how yucky is Romanticism

Romantic painter or reptilian plagiarist monkey?

Also "Chaos-Man."

I'm not even sure what this is: 'oh, don't come near me! he says, I vegetate in my moist solitude, if any approach me, I make them die!'

Is... that supposed to be Delacroix? I'm so confused. But I will never be able to shake the impression that he's actually a lizard monkey agent of chaos.

All courtesy of Thomas Couteur and his rage against Eugene Delacroix and Romanticism in general- but mostly Delacroix. Admit it, you can hear the "sighs of the damned" in that self-portrait, ~see~ him lurking in his poisoned pond, the shadows of his soul rising from his body like plague-laden vapors!

Or it's just that the burnt umber underpainting is showing through.

-Sophie

ETA: It keeps getting better:

"It is then he begins his dark productions. .... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

These dots represent the time I pause in silence."