Inspiration!





^^ Contemporary Russian academic figure studies


^^ Ramon Casas

^^ Lilian Wescott Hale


^^ Gustav Klimt


^^ Robert Fawcett



^^ Anton Azbe

^^ James Montgomery Flagg


^^ Anders Zorn

^^ Jenny Saville

^^ Kent Williams


^^ Luis Jimenez Aranda



^^ _______

^^ Gustav Klimt

^^ Anton Azbe

^^ __________



^^ Dean Cornwell

^^ Mead Schaeffer



^^ Edmund Blair Leighton

^^ John William Waterhouse

^^ _______

^^ ______

^^ Robert Heindel

^^ _____ Ferriera

^^ Lucian Freud


^^ Golucho

^^ _______

^^ Edwin Austin Abbey


^^ Edgar Degas


^^ Dan O'Conner



^^ Jerome Witkin

Every morning, I send the students here in Austin a suite of images to get the inspiration proper for the day. I haven't made an inspiration post in a while, so hopefully this makes up for it...haha. These works are the premier selections from these morning emails.

Regrettably, in a few instances, I did not record the artist who created the picture, or it was not listed. This means a few of these are not credited. If you know the name of the artist for untagged images, please leave a comment, and I will make proper adjustment.

Stay inspired!
-fv

20 comments:

allie said...

Hi Francis,
Thanks for posting these! The image between Anton Azbe and Mariano Fortuny, of the three women reading, is by the German artist William Liebl. I think it's called "Three Women in a Church" (or whatever the equivalent of that is in German.) Love that one.

Colin Boyer said...

This is the most epic post ever.

Vincent Nappi said...

thank you sir may I have another!

Anonymous said...
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Sakievich said...

Anonymous, your eyes must've been blinded at some point. If you think this type of work is photographic or strictly mimetic, then you're not aware of the degree of imagination necessary or aesthetic nuance needed to ply at this level.

I apologize if we young'uns aren't willing to live in your world and want to build our own on what is inspiring to us.

You may be unaware but there were several contemporary people in the post and in fact, if you look at Mr. Vallejo's work, he's not making an attempt at replicating the past, but is rather pulling from it those things which inspire him. Fine work of any age deserves to be appreciated and your sad need (not to mention your anonymity) to live in the perpetual now reveals the shallowness of your vision.

Anonymous said...
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Daniel Cruit said...

"Technical wankery"? Is that really all you see in these pieces?

There is such a thing as technical wankery, and this is most certainly not it.

It takes a more trained and subtler eye to see the beauty, abstraction and design in reality. Witkin especially is a master of this.

Look beyond the fact that these are realistic renderings. There's much more here.

Colin Boyer said...

Anonymous, thanks for your opinion. Since you claim that Francis has "shitty tastes in art," you must be the crème de la crème of art taste. Please post with your real name and link us to your drawings so we can view them. I'd like to see what an elitist like you does.

Dudi said...

I'm still keeping track of you Mr.Vallejo since 08, thanks for everything including both amazing drawings you gave me back in kansas! For me it was like finally meeting with James Jean (for you). Thanks again man.

Nimit Malavia said...

This is a really great collection of inspiration! Thanks!

Adam Paquette said...

anonymous... if James Jean saw your post here, he would bitchslap you for aggressive ignorance.

To segregate your tastes to one arena and limit your understanding of another is one thing... but to claim an understanding of a movement and then slander the very foundations that movement is built on is extremely narrow.

The only thing you are doing is polarising taste, where guys like francis and many of the artists represented here have a far wider and more holistic appreciation for all the forms of art in their specific contexts.

ANYWAY.


Francis: Lovely eye man. There are some real hotties in here I hadn't come across. I always look forward to these aggregate posts of yours. Cheers.

Anonymous said...

To the person who says that Francis has shitty taste in art apparently doesn't have any idea of what art is. PLEASE let us see what your idea of art is-we are all very curious! EMV

Anonymous said...

"to claim an understanding of a movement and then slander the very foundations that movement is built on is extremely narrow."

what movement?

chris feczko said...

hey man, one of the names you left half blank was Stephan P. Ferreira. stuff looks great man, btw, dan oconnor is a great find, cant stop lopoking at him but do you know where to see more of his paintings, hes pretty anonymous on the internet

Stephan P Ferreira said...

Francis - thanks so much for including me in your inspiration post!

I don't agree with the "technical wankery" discussion by Anon.

Francis, I see that you're an illustrator, and I also started painting as one. Historically, some of the best painters are illustrators. The further back you go, the less of a distinction there is between the two (think Michaelangelo).

I can see why you're looking at these artists - maybe Anonymous has a point about them being somewhat old fashioned in subject matter - but the subject matter itself is usually the least exciting part. It's HOW it's painted that is exciting and makes the subject exciting.

Paintings like these usually teach me more about risks I can take with my own work - how something can be painted.

Anon also mentions a host of painters that aren't exactly contemporary. Neo Rauch or Cecily Brown are exceptions - but they're still drawing from a rich, craft-conscious tradition of figurative painting. In fact, all the painters Anon mentions are.

And you know what - even up-to-the-minute abstract or very illustrative, decorative painters are drawing from the same tradition. It's just that the end-result of what "craft" means has changed a great deal.

The ideas of painting are all the same whether it's a Thomas Eakins nude study or a Cecily Brown.

Stephan P Ferreira said...

PS- Chris Feczko, Dan O'Conner is actually spelled "Daniel O'Connor". He got his MFA at Penn. Academy of Fine Arts and teaches at N. Kentucky U. http://www.manifestgallery.org/studio/instructors.html

Great stuff - see alot of comparison to Antonio Lopez Garcia's mid-career stuff.

leifpeng said...

Its a shame that whenever someone goes to the time and effort to put something positive together for the benefit of all, some troll feels the need to piss on it.

Francis; this is a gorgeous post - incredibly inspiring. - thank you! :^)

Allen Williams said...

My opinion...don't throw any of it away. Internalize what you will, what you need, in order to give voice to your own personal narrative, be it in the vein of the old masters or the new. And certainly if your work is honest, do you really need someone else to tell you its worthy or relevent.

Anonymous said...
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Nick said...

The portrait of the blonde child with the gold and green background (nsde.png) is by Edgar Maxence.