Nicolai Fechin

Russian painter and draftsman Nicolai Fechin.  I love his vision of the human face and body.  His work is so full of love and grit.  To me these are painfully beautiful pictures.

A portrait of Boris Karloff.  That's right, from the Frankenstein movie. 

Sara Sniderhan

(I don't know why blogger insists on all of this being underlined, but I can't get it off.) My friend Sara Sniderhan's show at Ingram gallery will open this Thursday.  If you're anywhere near Toronto this is a must-see.  I met Sara at the Weekend With the Masters in San Diego.  She was the other scholarship winner and I was blown away when she showed me her work on her phone.  She is a cool person, an amazing painter, and best of all her last name rhymes with Spider-Man.  I wish I could be there but if you make it to the show take pictures and say hi to Sara for me.

Happy 172nd to Auguste Rodin!

Yes, this is a blog about painting, but Rodin is such an influence on so many of us that I thought we should celebrate.  Here are some of my favorites.  Honestly it's hard for me to find the original sculptures vs. figurine copies on the internet, so I'm only posting a few here.

There is a slim chance that you might be familiar with this one.

Here is an actual film of Rodin working in his studio. What a treat.

Alex Kanevsky

Thinking of Alex Kanevsky tonight.  I have no idea how he builds these paintings, and that fascinates me.  In interviews he claims not to really be interested in inventing any new kind of technique.