Painting fairies

A fairy is a creature from the world of fantasy, with human form and wings. They are normally small in size and female. They are related to nature, have certain magical powers and they are present in many mythologies throughout history. For this reason, in the history of painting they have been represented many times.
They are a subject of great attraction because they unite the beauty of women, innocence, the grace of a small being with wings, and also the charm of the forests, spirits and magic.

Pintura de un hada de Noel Paton

Fairies in Shakespearean literature. Study for the Quarrel of Oberon and Titania, painted by Noel Paton.

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Symbolism and women

The woman is an enigma. Contradictory and profound. A symbol in itself and an icon like no other.

The symbolists knew very well and they used the female figure to express abstract, complex, difficult and taboo ideas. For several important reasons:

  • The woman is always erotic and causes a certain attraction, if not attention.
  • You can’t know what a woman is thinking about and for this reason she is always “uncontrollable”, that’s why she’s united very well with the abstract ideas that are open to debate.
  • It is easy to convert ideas into women because the variety of figures that can be achieved is very wide and entertaining, like wamen are.

PAINTINGS OF SYMBOLISM WITH THE FEMALE FIGURE AS THE LEADING ROLE

Franz Von Struck’s work, “Sin”, from 1893, is one of the most famous and easy to remember.

A dark-haired woman surrounded by darkness that shows her chest illuminated by light, with a snake on her shoulders and staring at the viewer. The wicked woman was one of the central themes of symbolism.

Sin, by Franz Von Struck
Sin, by Franz Von Struck
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Portrait of a sleeping baby with watercolors

Step by step to learn how to paint a portrait with classic watercolor

In this exercise it is about painting a 2-year-old boy sleeping. This tutorial will work for any other similar portrait where there is a certain contrast of light and shadow.

Portrait  baby with watercolors
Portrait of a sleeping baby with watercolors
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Colored pencils on colored paper

One of the ideal techniques for beginners because you learn to draw at the same time as to tone and you can create good works on paper with simple jobs, which is why it gives great satisfaction.

If you want to learn to draw but you get bored with the graphite pencil, switch to colored pencils, so you can draw and paint at the same time!

Lápices de colores

The papers can be thin, medium and even very thick. A variety of textures will emerge depending on how hard or soft the colored pencil is.

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Painting a woman’s back

A sensual and luscious painting theme, which can be created with as many painting styles as there are. A theme that allows a lot of creativity due to the beauty it contains. A simple subject but at the same time complicated, because the muscles of the back have many lights and shapes that must be understood so that we can paint them well. The most difficult thing is to make the smooth volumes of the muscles without looking like lumps. Paint the vertebrae, the spine, and the directions of the muscles hidden behind the skin.

But this post does not talk about how to technically paint the back. It is about thinking about this pictorial theme. The back of a woman symbolizes many ideas. First of all, the woman cannot see you, as she is looking away from the viewer. Second, by being able to see her body, the theme adds all the sensual and pleasure connotations that a woman’s body brings. And also, the posture, what the woman does, other aspects of the portrait and the scene, all these aspects will add an extra symbolism to the painting.

THIS IS A COLLECTION OF EXAMPLES WITH GOOD PAINTINGS WHERE A WOMAN’S BACK HAS BEEN PAINTED

Observe in these paintings what ideas the painting inspires you, the composition chosen by the artist, and relate it to what surrounds the woman in the painting.

Christoffer Wilhem

Espalda de mujer pintada por Christoffer Wilhem, clasicismo
Woman’s back painted by Christoffer Wilhem. Light and chiaroscuro highlight the muscles of the back.
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Painting Freedom – Searching the highest expression

Painting the feeling and the state of freedom is one of the most important themes that can be found in the world of painting. Freedom is a very broad topic that connects with all people. In addition, there are many types of freedom: social, political, religious, of expression, sexual, etc.
Looking for some paintings to see how the idea of freedom has been represented in the history of painting, I have come across many old paintings that speak of specific historical moments. Freedom has had to be conquered for centuries.

One way to represent this idea of freedom is to paint it as a figure, often a woman. The two most famous symbolic representations with a figure representing “Liberty” are the Delacroix painting (with a woman and the flag) and the Statue of Liberty (a woman with a torch).

On the other hand, heroic actions, historical events and other scenes with human expressions are also ways of painting freedom.

In this post I present some ideas related to the idea of freedom, allegories and ways of representing the idea of freedom.

1- PAINTING THE FREEDOM OF SOCIETY

Society and people have the right to be free, to have a social well-being and to be able to decide for themselves their life and their future.

Painting titled Liberty Leading the People, by Eugène Delacroix

La libertad guiando al pueblo de Eugene Delacroix

This painting remains, in my opinion, the best artistic representation of the concept of Freedom. This is a key historical moment, the French Revolution. In the painting itself you can understand what is happening and you can experience the feeling of being free. It is a highly studied, analyzed painting and we can find thousands of explanations about it, but without a doubt, everyone recognizes the female figure as the key to the work, she represents the idea of freedom.

Thus, freedom has a concrete form thanks to this Delacroix painting. In this painting freedom exists, it has strength, it is alive and it comes towards us. A great and wonderful work. He even gives us advice for life: to achieve freedom you have to fight.

To claim this right there is the right to manifest.

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Paint the Joy of Life

Life is too short to let it pass quickly and not appreciate the moments of joy that we can have. The only break from so much work is only provided by those moments of joy that we feel when we are close to what we love or doing what we like. That’s when we recharge our batteries and we can continue. The painting shows us how to remember the joy of life.

Steen, The happy family
The merry family by Jan Steen.


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Paint laughter and smiles

Have you seen many paintings where laughter is represented? Especially the uproarious laughter, and the great burst of laughter. It is not a very common subject, really, but nevertheless it can become one of the most beautiful and necessary subjects. Painting a person who is laughing very happy or painting a whole group of people laughing, or simply a great smile, this can communicate a lot of peace, relaxation, optimism, joy and happiness.

Sonrisa de Jason Brooks

Illustration by Jason Brooks, a very cheerful illustrator who has created this splendid smile on a woman’s face and large sunglasses. His website: https://shop.jason-brooks.com/collections/original-artworks

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