Famous Art and Artists
The great artists used to annoy me with their wonderful paintings and acclaim. Their pictures are hung in galleries around the world and are worth a fortune. It's all about the Monet, Monet - kerching, kerching.
They often created realistic images of people and places and are the single biggest reason why people despair of ever being able to draw properly. How can anyone learn to create such works?
This page started as a look at those classic paintings to redo them for fun and as a slightly anarchic message. Art belongs to the people - even if they can't draw for toffee.
As part of researching the originals I began to fall in love with them. Art, artists, history - these are wonderful parts of our human existence. Here are some of the ones that I enjoy.
They often created realistic images of people and places and are the single biggest reason why people despair of ever being able to draw properly. How can anyone learn to create such works?
This page started as a look at those classic paintings to redo them for fun and as a slightly anarchic message. Art belongs to the people - even if they can't draw for toffee.
As part of researching the originals I began to fall in love with them. Art, artists, history - these are wonderful parts of our human existence. Here are some of the ones that I enjoy.
Andy Warhol Screen Painting
Unusually for an artist Warhol made a lot of money while he was still alive.
He was particularly admired for his painting of a Campbell's soup tin. Cream of Tomato I think it was. We will never know if he would have done so well with a tin of Minestrone.
My version of a Warhol stick figure creation is not worth millions. At least, not yet. It may be after I die someone will find the original on an old computer in a skip somewhere and they will lovingly restore it. It will fetch three million dollars in an auction which by then will be just enough to buy a tin of soup.
He predicated the nature of fleeting celebrity when he said everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. He might have been surprised to remain so well known after many years.
Andy Warhol, American, Pop Art, 1928-1987. You all know the Soup and the Marilyn Monroe.
He was particularly admired for his painting of a Campbell's soup tin. Cream of Tomato I think it was. We will never know if he would have done so well with a tin of Minestrone.
My version of a Warhol stick figure creation is not worth millions. At least, not yet. It may be after I die someone will find the original on an old computer in a skip somewhere and they will lovingly restore it. It will fetch three million dollars in an auction which by then will be just enough to buy a tin of soup.
He predicated the nature of fleeting celebrity when he said everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. He might have been surprised to remain so well known after many years.
Andy Warhol, American, Pop Art, 1928-1987. You all know the Soup and the Marilyn Monroe.
Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli
Sandro's original sketches were probably similar to mine until he went a bit over the top with his own version.
I have not tried to draw his entire picture with all the pointless other detail. That would be boring for people and could result in eye-strain. It is enough to see she has just risen and needs to put some clothes on.
An early paparazzi style painting where the subject pretends to be surprised by the attention. "Oh my - you caught me while I was still in my shell".
Sandro Botticelli, Italian, 1445-1510, Early Renaissance. I might have a crack at "Mother and Child with Two Angels" sometime.
I have not tried to draw his entire picture with all the pointless other detail. That would be boring for people and could result in eye-strain. It is enough to see she has just risen and needs to put some clothes on.
An early paparazzi style painting where the subject pretends to be surprised by the attention. "Oh my - you caught me while I was still in my shell".
Sandro Botticelli, Italian, 1445-1510, Early Renaissance. I might have a crack at "Mother and Child with Two Angels" sometime.
The Creation of Adam - Michelangelo
Imagine being so famous that you only need a single name. The guy who painted the Sistine Chapel is like that. It took him four years which is a long time for some interior decorating - even if it is a bit fancy.
The version below also took me four years. There was the original stickman design and then the addition of colour a few years later.
The version below also took me four years. There was the original stickman design and then the addition of colour a few years later.
Girl With a Pearl Earring - Johannes Vermeer
The painting is a tronie which seems to be a posh art way of saying caricature.
Johannes Vermeer, Dutch, 1632 - 1675
Johannes Vermeer, Dutch, 1632 - 1675
Gustav Klimt - The Kiss
The painting of The Kiss is one of those iconic images that you will see everywhere.
He painted many of his paintings using gold leaf. That is great if you can afford it but felt-tip pens are a reasonable substitute.
I am not a great fan of Klimt. Nice lady pictures if you like that sort of thing. Hugely popular and very high auction prices.
I suppose the combination of geometric shapes and extremely detailed human face and bodies is an interesting mixture of art.
Sadly, like a lot of great art, the prints are bought in their thousands as part of everyday home decoration. "That gold naked woman picture will match the curtains in the living room".
Gustav Klimt, 1862-1916, Austrian Symbolist painter.
He painted many of his paintings using gold leaf. That is great if you can afford it but felt-tip pens are a reasonable substitute.
I am not a great fan of Klimt. Nice lady pictures if you like that sort of thing. Hugely popular and very high auction prices.
I suppose the combination of geometric shapes and extremely detailed human face and bodies is an interesting mixture of art.
Sadly, like a lot of great art, the prints are bought in their thousands as part of everyday home decoration. "That gold naked woman picture will match the curtains in the living room".
Gustav Klimt, 1862-1916, Austrian Symbolist painter.
The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci
This may be the most famous painting in the world and to be honest I don't really get it.
Everyone goes on about her enigmatic smile. In real life, the one outside art critics, I have never heard someone described as having an enigmatic smile. Not once.
If they had said she looks a bit pissed off that would be something everyone could understand. But using special long words is another way they try to exclude normal people from the art world.
Let me try it.
"I particularly enjoy the way Mark Ewbie has captured the enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa after she had been posing for four hours in a cold studio".
Leonardo da Vinci, Italian, 1452-1590, High Renaissance. Most people just do one thing like painting. Leonardo had the most amazing spread of interests and skills. Here are some of them. Painter, sculptor, botanist, engineer, cartographer, musician and writer. Wow.
Everyone goes on about her enigmatic smile. In real life, the one outside art critics, I have never heard someone described as having an enigmatic smile. Not once.
If they had said she looks a bit pissed off that would be something everyone could understand. But using special long words is another way they try to exclude normal people from the art world.
Let me try it.
"I particularly enjoy the way Mark Ewbie has captured the enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa after she had been posing for four hours in a cold studio".
Leonardo da Vinci, Italian, 1452-1590, High Renaissance. Most people just do one thing like painting. Leonardo had the most amazing spread of interests and skills. Here are some of them. Painter, sculptor, botanist, engineer, cartographer, musician and writer. Wow.
Persistence of Memory - Dali
A typical weird name from a very odd painter.
Dali painted pictures that were not real. If anyone else did that they would say it was cheating because you are supposed to do proper stuff but he got away with it.
That may be because although they were imagined scenes he painted them as though he meant it.
A Dali book and the company of a Rastafarian friend can be a pleasant way to spend some time appreciating art.
Salvador Dali, Spanish Surrealist, 1904-1989. Weird moustache. Crazy names for paintings.
Famous quote: "The only difference between me and a madman is I'm not mad".
Dali painted pictures that were not real. If anyone else did that they would say it was cheating because you are supposed to do proper stuff but he got away with it.
That may be because although they were imagined scenes he painted them as though he meant it.
A Dali book and the company of a Rastafarian friend can be a pleasant way to spend some time appreciating art.
Salvador Dali, Spanish Surrealist, 1904-1989. Weird moustache. Crazy names for paintings.
Famous quote: "The only difference between me and a madman is I'm not mad".
Picasso Stickman by Mark Ewbie
This guy was my first arty picture where I thought "Hey - I can have fun with a stick figure". I even sold a fridge magnet to a friend.
Obviously it is not a real Picasso. That would be hugely expensive, a bit better and subject to copyright restrictions. But it does say that even a doodler can accidentally produce something that almost works.
Maybe that is how all great art is created. They absent mindedly mess around until it looks like something, or they saw up some bits of shark, or they put a urinal into an art gallery...
Sometimes it is all in the accompanying notes. "I was inspired to create this..." and they continue for a thousand very long words.
Pablo Picasso, Spanish Surrealist and Cubist, 1881-1973. I have an open mind about Picasso. That means I don't understand it.
Obviously it is not a real Picasso. That would be hugely expensive, a bit better and subject to copyright restrictions. But it does say that even a doodler can accidentally produce something that almost works.
Maybe that is how all great art is created. They absent mindedly mess around until it looks like something, or they saw up some bits of shark, or they put a urinal into an art gallery...
Sometimes it is all in the accompanying notes. "I was inspired to create this..." and they continue for a thousand very long words.
Pablo Picasso, Spanish Surrealist and Cubist, 1881-1973. I have an open mind about Picasso. That means I don't understand it.
The Scream by Edvard Munch
Even non arty people know this picture. In fact, you probably know all of the ones on this page.
This was my first foray into redrawing the great artists. It also became briefly popular when a Scream anniversary passed and a news outlet picked up all the Scream images they could scrape off the net.
Fame at last! It was very brief.
The Scream is much appreciated by students as a representation of the fear and alienation felt when they have failed to get that essay in on time.
Edvard Munch, Norwegian, 1863-1944, German Expressionism. Can you name one of his other paintings?
This was my first foray into redrawing the great artists. It also became briefly popular when a Scream anniversary passed and a news outlet picked up all the Scream images they could scrape off the net.
Fame at last! It was very brief.
The Scream is much appreciated by students as a representation of the fear and alienation felt when they have failed to get that essay in on time.
Edvard Munch, Norwegian, 1863-1944, German Expressionism. Can you name one of his other paintings?
The Starry Night - Van Gogh
One of the most famous paintings of all time from Vincent Van Gogh. Also the title to a song about him by Don Maclean.
Painted from memory of his time at a sanatorium - Starry Night creates an impression of the night sky.
He did many other artworks but this may be his most well known.
Van Gogh, Dutch Post-Impressionist, 1853-1890.
Painted from memory of his time at a sanatorium - Starry Night creates an impression of the night sky.
He did many other artworks but this may be his most well known.
Van Gogh, Dutch Post-Impressionist, 1853-1890.
The Thinker by Auguste Rodin
This is a sculpture rather than a painting. Despite my brilliant graphic it is hard to appreciate the bronze and 3D nature of the original and in my opinion, lesser, work.
The Thinker is yet another classic that even non-arty people know.
But what is he thinking about? No one knows although he is often used to represent philosophy. That is a subject that involves a LOT of thinking.
For students of philosophy it often involves a large amount of drinking too. That is why my version is perched on a bar stool rather than a rock. The flip flops could be an important comment on the fleeting nature of philosophy and life but they are not.
Auguste Rodin, 1840-1917, credited with making sculpture more 'real'. He also did "The Kiss" and I can't wait to add that one to my oeuvre.
The Thinker is yet another classic that even non-arty people know.
But what is he thinking about? No one knows although he is often used to represent philosophy. That is a subject that involves a LOT of thinking.
For students of philosophy it often involves a large amount of drinking too. That is why my version is perched on a bar stool rather than a rock. The flip flops could be an important comment on the fleeting nature of philosophy and life but they are not.
Auguste Rodin, 1840-1917, credited with making sculpture more 'real'. He also did "The Kiss" and I can't wait to add that one to my oeuvre.
Venus de Milo
One of the many Greek statues that were created with no arms.
People like Alexandros of Antioch - who may be the creator - simply were not very good at hands so they left them off. It's how art works.
People like Alexandros of Antioch - who may be the creator - simply were not very good at hands so they left them off. It's how art works.
Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci
Another painting by Leonardo da Vinci who I will grudgingly admit is OK if you like that sort of thing.
In this picture he has drawn a man with a weird name and four legs which shows he was not completely up himself. At least he could make a joke from time to time.
Apparently Vitruvius was an architect so having extra arms would have been useful for complicated drawings of loft extensions.
In my version he is wearing pants to avoid any offence to sensitive or younger art lovers. Ladies are advised to avert their eyes when visiting any art gallery where "Old Masters" are in evidence.
In this picture he has drawn a man with a weird name and four legs which shows he was not completely up himself. At least he could make a joke from time to time.
Apparently Vitruvius was an architect so having extra arms would have been useful for complicated drawings of loft extensions.
In my version he is wearing pants to avoid any offence to sensitive or younger art lovers. Ladies are advised to avert their eyes when visiting any art gallery where "Old Masters" are in evidence.
Water Lilies by Monet
Monet painted a series of water lily paintings. Two hundred and fifty of them over a period of twenty years.
That seems like quite a lot and it could be down to him being a slow learner. It does not seem too hard to paint a water lily which is basically a leaf and a flower. Good job he didn't try something tricky like cats.
One day on a favourite river walk I realised why someone would continually paint the same scene. It is never the same! The seasons, weather, time of day, light and shadow - all these variables make every picture different.
Oscar-Claude Monet, French Impressionist, 1840 - 1926.
That seems like quite a lot and it could be down to him being a slow learner. It does not seem too hard to paint a water lily which is basically a leaf and a flower. Good job he didn't try something tricky like cats.
One day on a favourite river walk I realised why someone would continually paint the same scene. It is never the same! The seasons, weather, time of day, light and shadow - all these variables make every picture different.
Oscar-Claude Monet, French Impressionist, 1840 - 1926.
Still Life by Mark Ewbie
I had to squeeze in my own valuable addition to this important history of art. One day this Still Life may be as famous as the other lesser works on this page.
Maybe with luck people will gather in wine bars and galleries to discuss the meaning of "Still Life" and how it represented an important next step in the rich cultural history of the Western world.
Admittedly that is a slim chance but hey - I'll take it.
Admittedly that is a slim chance but hey - I'll take it.
