Note from past Pine Shores President, Tom Rutledge...
At the turn of the century from the 1800’s into the 1900’s the then famous artist, illustrator Howard Pyle, started a school of art along the Brandywine River in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Today, the style of painting he taught and the thinking involved is known as the Brandywine School, and one of the most important things he emphasized for artists is the use of imagination above all to create.
He advocated good composition through skilled use of abstract design and negative space. He also taught about observing the effects of wind or water in each composition and the important impact of light and how it affects the subject in the work. The artist, by focusing on these things, will be helped in how they portray what they observe. This in turn excites the imagination of viewers of the work and they see more in it than the artist ever knew it contained.
Even the great artist Vincent Van Gogh was affected in a positive way by Howard Pyle as he wrote, “His work struck me with admiration." As artists, we are always learning...who are we learning from? How important that really is in developing as an artist.