I want to thank each of you that have followed my blog from time to time this past year, but particular thanks goes to the 400 active subscribers that receive the blog posts automatically each week. You all mean a lot to me and make the job of conceiving and writing new articles well worth the effort. I began this blog in 2010, so there is now a significant archive that is there for your use. Forty-six posts were created in 2021 and as you can image some have been more popular than others. Listed below are the top posts from each month of the year. The number one most popular for 2021…you’ll discover it here.
January
Charles Francis Murphy – American Tonalist: Exactly 100 years ago yesterday (January 30th), artist John Francis Murphy (1853-1921) died in New York of pneumonia. Never heard of Mr. Murphy? I can’t say I knew much about him either, but when seeing his work sometime ago, I decided to investigate. (Click HERE to learn more)
February
Frederic Rodrigo Gruger-Illustrator from the Golden Age: The last quarter of the 1800s in America produced, what seems to be, an inordinate number of brilliant artists…artists whose work influenced popular culture and fashion to a degree we have not seen since. They were the “movie stars” of their day. Society followed them with great interest. Home delivery of weekly and monthly publications brought their work into millions of homes and people eagerly awaited each issue. (Click HERE to learn more)
March
Top artists answer questions about plein air painting – Part 1: In order to create a quality painting outdoors in front of the subject, an artist is required to be at their very best. Just about everything involved conspires against success. (Click HERE to learn more. You will also find Part 2 equally interesting HERE)
April
Beyond the photo: Photos can be a starting point for further exploration. It’s a creative exercise to conceive of a variety of compositions and moods based on the same photo. When we force ourselves to think beyond the photo and allow our imagination to explore, oftentimes alternative solutions may be better than the original reference. (Click HERE to learn more)
May
“The Culvert” – How is was created: In this latest video I show the complete creative process behind my latest painting…”The Culvert”. You’ll find this helpful. (Click HERE to view video)
June
A Lasting Legacy: I thought this article would be easy to write…that it would just flow out of me. In reality its been quite the opposite. For three weeks I’ve been contemplating how best to faithfully express my love for my friend and mentor of 55 years. Putting into words all this man has meant to me, I’ve come to the conclusion it can’t be done, so I’ll just do what I can, insufficient as it is. (Click HERE to learn more)
July
The legacy of Paul Strisik: I had the good fortune of meeting Paul Strisik and his wife, Nancy, in 1984. I had been invited to accompany a group of artists to Spain and Portugal for two weeks of painting. There were 19 of us, many of them…(Click HERE to learn more)
August
Who is Samuel Cherubin? I’m sure you’ve seen his name many times. If you’re on Facebook at all and love art, particularly great paintings, Samuel Cherubin’s name will be attached to many of those posts. Although he’s not an artist himself he has developed a very sophisticated artistic taste and happily shares that with his 141,000 followers. His daily posts are such a generous contribution to the art community, and are a virtual art museum of some of the world’s greatest artists. (Click HERE to learn more)
September
The value of still life painting: I have created a number of still life paintings during my fine art career. They were only painted for my personal enjoyment, but also as a change of pace from landscape painting…and as something unexpected for my collectors. I have since come to realize their valued importance in the development of an artist. I do not even slightly suggest that my still life paintings compare favorably with the master works shown here, but I do not deny that they are valuable in my overall repertoire. (Click HERE to learn more)
October
Painting Basics: I recently gave a one-hour Zoom presentation for the Visual Arts Guild of Frisco. In this presentation I share the basic principles that need to be mastered in order to create a great painting. The teaching is presented in a logical, progressive manner…clear, concise, understandable, informative…and doable. I hope you enjoy this. Any questions? I will answer them in the comment section. (Click HERE to learn more)
November
My story – Part 4: I have had the pleasure and honor of interviewing over 100 artists for this blog over the years. One thing I know for certain, everyone has a story and each one’s journey is unique and interesting. Still, it’s with some trepidation that I share some of my story with you, maybe because I fear you may not find it interesting, but more importantly that it will seem somewhat self-serving. I comfort myself and justify the decision to go ahead and share the story because I believe what I said above in the second sentence. (Click HERE to learn more. Interested in the complete story, click PART 1, PART 2, and PART 3)
December
He came once, He’s coming again: Many may be surprised by the title of this blog post, after all, it’s Christmas and this title doesn’t seem very Christmas-e-e does it? But then, what’s really important; is it all the delights of the Christmas season, or, the monumental, world changing event that occurred all those years ago? (Click HERE to learn more)
Top post of 2021
August: Who is Samuel Cherubin?
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Want to take your painting to the next level? I can help. Click HERE to learn about my critique/mentoring programs.
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John Pototschnik is an Art Renewal Center Living Master. To view his art and bio, please click HERE
