Painting Goya

My break from classes finally came to an end as of two weeks ago when I started taking a beginning painting class focusing on oil paints.  It's not really fair to say that I'm "taking classes" though, because all I do is paint for 2 1/2 hours a day.  But aside from its relaxing qualities, I've learned a lot about painting so far.  Most importantly, I've learned that you need to be a millionaire to be a painter.  $10 for a tiny tube of paint? COME on!  At this point we've only finished one painting of a white still life, and of course I took a couple pictures along the way, so here is the rough progress of my first oil painting:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 5 (night)

Final painting with still life in background

And here is the still life we had to work from.  As you can see, we just made up colors.  And I am now constantly looking for the cool and warm lighting in every-day objects.

Our next project is to produce a master copy of a famous work of art, and I am extremely excited because I am allowed to do one of my most favorite paintings in the universe:

Saturn Devouring His Son - Francisco Goya, 1819-1823, oil on canvas

We just started yesterday, but this is what I have so far:

I know it will never come close to the original, but I don't care.  Anything that gives me a reason to look at Goya's paintings is fine with me.

Since I am studying his work, it's probably appropriate to give you some info about this non-scientific artist rather than a scientific illustrator today.  Before he made extremely dark paintings like this one, Francisco Goya was actually the preferred painter for the Spanish court during the late 18th century, making commissioned tapestries, murals, and portraits of the royal family.  But even early on in his career, Goya's paintings showed subtle signs of his disdain for the corruption within the political system.  The unflattering Charles IV of Spain and His Family is a prime example of this, in which the family is not idealized in the slightest and appears to be completely unaware that they are posing for a portrait.  

Charles IV of Spain and His Family, 1800, oil on canvas

"The Black Duchess", 1797, oil on canvas

In 1793, Goya suffered from an illness that left him deaf and consequently led him to become withdrawn.  While he continued to produce commissioned pieces for the court, Goya began creating art that exposed his truer feelings about the society he lived in - specifically about the ignorance and vanity of humanity, the Spanish inquisition and the ongoing wars involving Spain.  In 1799, he published a radical series of 80 prints entitled Caprichos, which contained haunting images of witches, monsters and death.  He also made a series called The Disasters of War, which preceded war photography by over a century and is believed to be the first anti-war art ever made.

Until Death (Caprichos), 1799, etching

Out Hunting for Teeth (Caprichos), 1799, etching

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (Caprichos), 1799, etching

A Heroic Feat! With Dead Men! (Disasters of War), 1810-1820

For a Clasp Knife (Disasters of War), 1810-1820

Yard with Lunatics, 1794, oil on tin-plated iron

After the death of his wife in 1812, Goya became even more isolated, retreating to a house he called Quinta del Sordo, or "Deaf Man's House" with his maid.  During this later part of his life, Goya's full-blown insanity was finally revealed in his works known as the Black Paintings (including Saturn Devouring His Son), some of which he painted directly to the walls of his home.  Goya is believed by some to be the first prolific painter to portray human madness in their art. 

Two Old Men Eating Soup, 1819-1823, oil on canvas

(I should've painted this one ^^^)

A Pilgrimage to San Isidro, 1819-1823, oil on canvas