The Van Gogh Project
During 2007, the Fine Line Artists are studying a different artist each month. Understanding that group projects are often more fun than solitary study, they offer an invitation to anyone who’d also like to participate. This month, they’re studying Vincent Van Gogh, and I’m having a wonderful time looking at masterpieces and reading about what the others have learned.
I think what I admire most about Van Gogh is his dedication to his craft. He practiced drawing every day, and the paintings that followed often mirrored the original strokes from his pen. His brushwork reminds me more of ink drawings than oil paintings, and I think he probably would have liked working with soft pastels.
Van Gogh’s early work is subdued in color. His first masterpiece, The Potato Eaters, uses none of the bright colors associated with his later and better known works such as Starry Night, Irises, or any of the Sunflower paintings.
What I find appealing in Van Gogh’s work are the use of line, texture, and opposite color schemes. Coincidentally, they’re the same features which I’ve found to be just as unappealing in some paintings. There are a great many of his drawings and paintings that I like and just as many that I don’t, but I love that he got away with a lollipop tree or two.
What I’ve learned so far:
1. Van Gogh had very little academic art training, and studied a great deal on his own. Because of this,
2. Van Gogh broke rules. Objects are often outlined, and subject matter centrally located on the canvas.
3. When he remembered to sign his work, he wrote Vincent, NOT Van Gogh.
4. When something worked he stuck with it, reusing the same title for different paintings.
5. His favorite color was yellow.
6. The collected works look like they could have been painted by several different artists, instead of only one. Van Gogh was capable of wide variety of styles, but
7. There were some real klinkers between all those masterpieces!
So what will I be doing for this project? It seems that Van Gogh and I both have an affinity for florals and old shoes, so I’ll be doing a still life, with hopes that Vincent would approve.
The Fine Line Artists:
Other Participating Artists:
An admirer of Millet, Van Gogh’s earliest works depicted rural life. A poor fellow himself, he often painted the objects around him when he could not afford a model. A Pair of Shoes was painted in 1886, a sketch of which appears below:
I think my husband’s workboots would be right at home in an art studio, too.
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Hi Lisa! I really enjoyed reading your Vincent post, a lot of the same things have occured to me also. It seems to me with most artists you either like them or you don’t, with Vincent there’s so variation you can like some and loathe others
Hope you do get out those old boots! 
Nice post Lisa. Glad to have you on board and looking forward to seeing your input to the project.
Hi Wendy! Van Gogh didn’t have much of an inbetween, did he? I either sayoooohhhh, aahhhh! or oh, dear… I’ll get to hubby’s boots eventually- he’s wearing them right now.
Hi Katherine! Studying a different artist each month is a great idea. I had no idea Van Gogh was so prolific, or how short his career really was.
Vincent van Gogh self portrait found at Geneva flea market by Jules Petroz
watch the video on
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqQDtEizSt0
Haha. Okay, I’m going to leave the You Tube link for it’s entertainment value, and admittedly, I do like being entertained.
As far as it’s authenticity, you might want to try sending the actual artwork as opposed to sending a picture of it. I’m not surprised the curator wouldn’t evaluate it.
Oh, and shame on you for using web space I pay for to post your cheesy advertisement.