Too lazy to pick up a brush?
Well now you can create that masterpiece you’ve always wanted to, and you don’t even have to draw anything! This is my favorite kind of artistic computer interactivity- the kind which gives you a slew of little graphics and lets you creatively arrange them to your heart’s content.
The website is the National Gallery of Art, specifically http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/stilllife.htm. Don’t let the “kid’s zone” title fool you. It’s for all ages, like coloring books, and enjoying old book illustrations from your childhood.
You can:
- Choose from a plethora of objects with categories like fruits, porcelain bowls or vases, sheets and cloths, flowers, miscellaneous objects like busts and dolls, and backgrounds.
- Adjust light levels, shadow intensity, resize objects, and modify the tilt of the table.
- Save and print your picture when completed.
This kind of program is excellent because:
- It lets your creativity run free, without the need to touch anything in real life.
- You can set up a still life which you can use as a reference to paint without having to go to garage sales to get interesting props.
- It lets you create a picture without needing to draw. There is a “paint” feature which lets you use effects to modify your painting, and make it look impressionistic or “painterly.”
- You can rearrange the props until you have a perfect composition. Don’t like that bowl there? Drop it off the edge of the table and hear it shatter.
Cezanne couldn’t dream of having this kind of fun with still lifes.
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