1785-1851 Audubon, John James ~ Bobwhite (Virginia Partridge), 1825Audubon developed his own methods for drawing birds. First, he killed them using fine shot to prevent them from being torn to pieces. He then used fixed wires to prop them up into a natural position, unlike the common method of many ornithologists of first preparing and stuffing the specimens into a rigid pose. When working on a major specimen, like an eagle, he would spend up to four 15 hour days, preparing, studying, and drawing it.[53] His paintings of birds are set true-to-life in their natural habitat and often caught them in motion, especially feeding or hunting. This was in stark contrast with the stiff representations of birds by his contemporaries, such as Alexander Wilson. He also based his paintings on his own field observations. He worked primarily with watercolor early on, then added colored chalk or pastel to add softness to feathers, especially those of owls and herons.[54] He would employ multiple layers of watercoloring, and sometimes use gouache. Small species were often drawn to scale, placed on branches with berries, fruit, and flowers, sometimes in flight, and often with many individual birds to present all views of anatomy. Larger birds were often placed in their ground habitat or perching on stumps. At times, as with woodpeckers, he would combine several species on one page to offer contrasting features. Nests and eggs are frequently depicted as well, and occasionally predators, such as snakes. He usually illustrated male and female variations, and sometimes juveniles. In later drawings, he had aides render the habitat for him. Going behind faithful renderings of anatomy, Audubon employed carefully constructed composition, drama, and slightly exaggerated poses to achieve artistic as well as scientific effects.  Related Paintings of John James Audubon :. | Golden Eagle | the american wild turkey cock | Roseate Spoonbill | Great Blue Heron | White Gerfalcons |
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claudio monteverdi
Period: Baroque (1600-1749) Country: Italy Born: May 15, 1567 in Cremona, Italy Died: November 29, 1643 in Venice, Italy Genres: Ballet, Choral Music, Miscellaneous Music, Opera, Vocal Music
Frans Hals
1580-1666 Frans Hals Galleries In the field of group portraiture his work is equalled only by that of Rembrandt. Hals's portraits, both individual and group, have an immediacy and brilliance that bring his sitters to life in a way previously unknown in the Netherlands. This effect, achieved by strong Baroque designs and the innovative use of loose brushstrokes to depict light on form, was not to the taste of critics in the 18th century and the early 19th, when his work was characterized as lazy and unfinished. However, with the rise of Realism and, later, Impressionism, Hals was hailed as a modern painter before his time. Since then his works have always been popular.
Sebastian Vrancx
Flemish Baroque Era Painter , b. 1573, Antwerpen, d. 1647, Antwerpen Antwerpen,was a Flemish Baroque painter and etcher of the Antwerp school. He was an apprentice in the workshop of Adam van Noort, who also trained many illustrious painters such as Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens and Hendrik van Balen. He also visited the workshop of the Antwerp painter Paul Bril in Rome around 1600. He was esteemed as one of the main painters of battle scenes, and works by Vrancx were in the collection of Peter Paul Rubens. As a collaborator he worked at times with Jan Brueghel the Elder. and together with Rubens, Frans Francken the Younger, van Balen, Frans Snyders and Joos de Momper the Younger on the Allegory of the Senses, two works commissioned on the occasion of the archduke Albert of Austria's visit to Antwerp. His best-known student is Pieter Snayers. Most of his pictures represent biblical scenes or scenes of war, such as the sack of towns, cavalry combats, genre paintings and allegorical subjects. Though occasionally vigorous in drawing, his paintings are dull and heavy in tone. He was at the same time a writer of poetry, comedies and tragicomedies for the chamber of rhetoric De Violieren. He was served as dean of the Antwerp painters' Guild of St. Luke, and was a district head and captain of the militia. His works can be found in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp,