Haven't blogged in nearly a month...

Life has a way of catching up with oneself and I'm not any different.  Nearly a whole month went by with no post.  I did spend one week in Chicago, so I will share some of the fabulous pictures I took while visiting the Chicago Institute of Art Museum.  What a fabulous place!

This is a painting by Frans Hals, who was a Dutch painter, 1580-1666.  This was painted in 1627 and it is called "Portrait of a Lady", it is oil on canvas.  Part of the Max and Leola Epstein collection.

The face I could really care less about, I'm concentrating on the unique collar of the day and how he painted it.  Simply amazing detail!

Here's an even closer detailed look.

But what really fascinated me was the detail on the laced cuff.  WOW!

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I will not forget the portraits of the men either!  

This painting is called "Portrait of a Gentleman" done in 1680, and it is oil on canvas by

Caspar Netscher who was also a Dutch painter!   1639-1684.

This particular painting was painted in 1680.  

When going to art school, my one professor made us concentrate on specific details which will help identify different fabrics, whether they shine or not, how they lay on the body, etc.  This is a prime example of what my professor would have us try to paint.  DETAIL to the max.  

That's a brocaded jacked, a silky vest or whatever you call he has his hand tucked into, and a lacy collar.  WOW...talk about hard work.  

Here's a little information on the painting and the artist which was hanging next to the painting.

Trained by Gerard Terborch, Caspar Netscher painted genre scenes and small-scaled portraits.  By 1662, he had settle in the Hague, the seat of the Dutch government.  There he found a ready made market for likenesses made in the style of the more grandiose portraits of Jan Mijtens and other artists catering to the court.  The  unidentified subject of this portrait wears a rich silk dressing gown as a mark of his status as a leisured gentleman.  The statue of Justice in the background and the sword and the militia roll near his right hand suggests the sitter's role in maintaining civic order.  

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So this is part of the reason I haven't blogged, nor painted, I've been enjoying learning and observing, which helps me to be a better artist.  

A different type of post for sure, not just looking at my artwork and how it progresses but what turns my eye, how I learn and absorb from other artists.  Always learning....always learning!