Inside Great Masters' Minds

Great art lessons from art forgers. The forgers are not only excellent craftsmen, but also brilliant psychoanalysts and art critics, and of course criminals.

http://www.artnews.com/2013/11/20/fakers-fakes-fake-fakers/

Excerpt from the article:

How to Draw like Poussin?

Drawing by Nicolas Poussin

“Even Poussin did not learn how to draw like Poussin without years of practice. For just as no one could play the violin in imitation of [a master], unless they had first learned to play it rather well, so it is that no one can draw an imitation of a master draughtsman without being a pretty good draughtsman himself. Long years of practice added to arguably a solid art school background had given me proficiency in the art, and I could at least claim to understand the visual language Poussin used. But now I had to learn his dialect, his accent, his pitch, his almost imperceptible inflections and mannerisms, subtleties that he himself may not have been aware of.”  Eric Hebborn 


How to draw like Matisse?

Drawing by Henri Matisse

“With Matisse, for example, I had to be particularly careful. At the beginning . . . I used a very easy, flowing line for a Matisse drawing. Because he had, I thought, a very simple line. And then suddenly later on I realized that his hand was not as secure as mine. Obviously, when he stopped work to glance up at his model, his line stopped, too, with just that tiny little bit of uncertainty. Where I went very securely on, Matisse was hesitant, insecure. I had to correct that; I had to learn to hesitate also. "  Elmyr de Hory

Creation of Adam

Good images touch people at the time; great images touch people through the ages.

"Creation of Adam"
Michelangelo

We came across some version of this iconic image at some point of our lives. Most recently I saw it on the wall of a local realtor's office. As a proud Italian American,  he had photoshoped his face into the picture as Adam.

I'm not religious in any sense but "Creation of Adam" moves me deeply every time I look at it. Aren't we all looking for inspiration, redemption, hope and transcendence? As a skilled storyteller, Michelangelo chose to freeze the very moment when the two hands are about to touch but have not yet touched, the moment when a human being is about to become truly alive. It generates great anticipation among the viewers, make us anxiously wonder what would happen next.

That's why great art never ages. It invites the viewers to be part of the creation, to interpret the meaning contained in the void in-between the two fingers.