Painting

June 27, 2019

Artist Immortalizes Asia’s Historical Storefronts in Watercolor and Ink

Many travelers use a camera to capture the places they visit, but Shanghai-based artist Zhifang Shi opts for watercolor and ink. From Japan to South Korea, the talented artist travels all over Asia, documenting old storefronts and street corners in his sketchbook. Shi paints en plein air, quickly capturing fleeting moments with loose, gestural line work.

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June 18, 2019

Artist Uses Thick Brushstrokes to Create Paintings of Plump Songbirds

Inspired by nature, artist Angela Moulton creates stylized bird portraits that are bursting with color and texture. Each impasto painting features abstract layers of thick brushstrokes that are built up to form each adorably plump body, perched on tree branches. Moulton splits her time between Illinois and Idaho, where she comes across the many different bird species that inspire her. “I paint a lot of North American birds because it's my home.

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June 5, 2019

Artist Reimagines Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ with Adorable Dogs

When we last checked in with artist Aja Trier, she was crafting clever paintings that placed popular icons inside of Van Gogh‘s swirling Starry Night. While Trier still looks to this world-famous work of art for inspiration, she has since switched subjects, turning her attention from pop culture to pups. In her Starry Night Dogs series, Trier imagines a world in which our four-legged friends sat for Van Gogh.

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May 19, 2019

How David’s ‘Death of Socrates’ Perfectly Captures the Spirit of Neoclassical Painting

In the middle of the 18th century, several styles dominated Europe's artistic tastes. In France, the frivolous Rococo genre was taking shape, and Baroque art was well-established across the continent. While both of these popular periods can be characterized by an interest in extravagance, not all 18th-century art shared this sentiment. In fact, Neoclassical artists like Jacques-Louis David had the opposite approach to painting, as typified by his subdued masterpiece, The Death of Socrates.

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My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.