"By using the word 'nocturne' [in the title] I wished to indicate an artistic interest alone, divesting the picture of any outside anecdotal interest which might have otherwise attached to it. A nocturne is an arrangement of line, form, and color first." -- Whistler
^{Quoted in Still Looking by John Updike, p92.}

When looking at a painting, what order do you look at the artwork itself, the title, the artist's name, and any statement about the painting? I like to first look at the painting itself, to consider what I make of it faced with nothing but the manipulated paint.

A title very definitely can guide or manipulate what is seen in a painting. Take, for instance, Mattise's Red Studio. While it's evidently a painting of an interior, without the word "studio" in the title would you see it as an artist's studio, never mind the studio of the artist who paint it? Knowing it's a studio changes the way you see the paintings in the room; they become works in progress or works to be shown rather than works collected by someone unknown.

The statement by Whistler quoted above was made in court in 1878 when he sued British art critic John Ruskin for libel for having said Whistler was "flinging a pot of paint in the public's face" in his painting Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket. Certainly in that instance the title didn't help guide the critic's viewpoint...

See Also:
• Ruskin v Whistler (From Tate Britain)
• Tips on Giving Titles to Paintings (From Robert Genn)

^{Image: © Marion Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc}

Inspiration for a painting can arise in all sorts of unexpected places, but a charred plank from a BBQ is definitely a first for me. But that's what Vicki Hertz used. She explains:

"I got a brand new grill and have been very inspired to try new methods of cooking and various recipes on this new grill. So when we were done with the green beans on the cedar plank, I thought the plank was so interesting looking that I had to find something to try and paint on it ...

"I thought the charred plank would be enough as a background. ... I'm not sure if I should varnish or leave well enough alone as I have no idea how the paint chemicals will react with the carbon in the long run."

My feeling is that not every painting needs to last 100 or 200 years, so while this specific one likely will have a limited life it's already earned its place through the enjoyment of painting it. Take a closer look...

Other New Additions to the Project Gallery:
• Tulip Glow by Elaine Laue
• Tulip by Derek John
• Freesia by Maddy Buckman
• Rose by Kathy Godshall
• Portrait of a Rose by Christy Michalak
• Carnation Still Life by Buff Holtman

^{Paintings: © Vicki Hertz (Detail) & Christy Michalak}

This week's painting tip is from Mickey Oberman and is about how useful an old, expired credit card can with when oil painting. (Just be sure to deface the information on the card before you leave it lying around in your painting box!) Read this week's painting tip...

Got a great painting tip to share? Use this form to submit it.

See Also:
• Painting Techniques: Sgraffito
• Lots more Oil Painting Tips

^{Image: © Marion Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc}

Even if you're not immediately familiar with his name, if you've done an Art 101 or an intro to modern art course then you're almost guaranteed to have come across the mixed media piece involving a stuffed goat and a tire. The artist is Robert Rauschenberg, the artwork is entitled Monogram, and is part of what's called his Combines. These were "big pieces in which worlds collided and disparate things were surrounded by drippy swathes of paint that tweaked the heroic brushwork of the Abstract Expressionists" (Time magazine, Appreciation, 13 May 2008).

I admit he's not on my top 50 favorite artists list, but I do realize he has such a prominent place in 20th century art because of the impact the art he made had in the 1950s and 60s. With the "anything goes" art world we live in today, it's all too easy to forget the elements that were introduced relatively recently in the art timeline.

It's been interesting reading various tributes to him in the newspapers to see what aspect each emphasizes. Here's a sample:

• "Rauschenberg was irrepressibly prolific. He didn't care about consistency. His appetites were omnivorous; he devoured ideas in the way that modern-day Americans knock back Big Macs." -- The Times, by Chief Art Critic Rachel Campbell Johnston, 14 May 2008

• "He discovered a way of making art that was richer, meaning more personal, literate, honest and alive, than many of the movements and strategies that came pell-mell in its wake. ... Rauschenberg's Combines tantalisingly mingle sensual, painterly painting with stuff collaged and assembled from found detritus." -- Guardian Art Critic Jonathan Jones

• "By any and all of the three main ways of measuring an artist's greatness—what the work looks like, its situation in art history, and the influence on younger artists—Robert Rauschenberg is at the top of the heap." -- Newsweek magazine, Peter Plagens

• "Rauschenberg was wildly prolific; the drops from the sprinkler landed where they would. Even he couldn't keep track of them all. ... But if you were to challenge anyone with a reasonable grasp of 20th-century art history to name some, I doubt they'd be able to come up with more than five or six. He was a very rare thing: the great artist who made few great artworks." -- Slate, Jim Lewis

If all the obituary praise and congratulations makes you nauseous, then read Puffing Rauschenberg by Jack Shafer in Slate), who says: "critics ... write as if toeing the correct line handed down by some cultural commissar."

See Also: New York Times, The Independent, Boston.com, Los Angeles Times

^{Image: © Marsaili McGrath/Getty Images}

The painting had been predicted to reach around US$35 million at auction, but while it didn't quite reach that Lucian Freud's painting "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping" did set a new record price for a painting by a living artist of $33.6 million (£17.2 million). According to the BBC, this record was previously held by Jeff Koons' "Hanging Heart", which had sold for $23.5 million (£12.1 million).

See Also:
• Lucian Freud Photo Gallery: The Painter's Etchings
• Book Review: Freud at Work

^{Image: Benefits Supervisor Sleeping by Lucian Freud, 1995. Photo © Cate Gillon/Getty Images}

Some folks may get tired of hearing about Van Gogh and sunflowers in the same sentence, but I think it's impossible to deny or overstate the influence he and his paintings of sunflowers still have. So I wasn't surprised when I saw in the statement accompanying the painting of the sunflower shown here that it was "inspired by Van Gogh".

The painter, Tanja, says: "I tried to understand his way of painting by adopting aspects of his sunflower paintings. I wouldn't say this a good painting though, I just tried a few things and think it was a useful exercise." Take a closer look...

Other New Flower Paintings:
• Japanese Iris by Papaya
• Rhododendron by Petrina Yuretich
• Still Life Flower by Mary Ann Heeb

^{Image: © Tanja}

"The mind of the painter should be like a mirror which always takes the colour of the thing that it reflects, and which is filled by as many images as there are things placed before it."

Leonardo da Vinci was a very prolific writer (to say the least!), so this book is useful because it concentrates solely on what Leonardo had to say about painting. No more scrabbling through his varied and extensive diaries, use the index to get straight to what he had to say about a particular subject. Find out what I thought of it...

See Also:
• 10 Intriguing Facts About Leonardo
• Artist's Quotes: Leonardo da Vinci
• Old Masters Techniques: Leonardo da Vinci

^{Image: © Marion Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc}

As a painter, you've likely used charcoal at some stage or other, not least to lightly sketch the composition of a painting on a canvas. But have you ever thought of making your own charcoal? Cindy emailed saying: "There are a lot of willow trees along the levee where I used to live and I have always wanted to try making my own charcoal. I know that it has to be cooked for some amount of time, but I don't even cook supper. Do you have anything on the subject?"

Making charcoal is not something I've ever tried, though at the price of good charcoal (sticks that spread smoothly, rather than scratching) it's probably worth a try. Read what I've found out about how to make charcoal...

See Also:
• Tips on Buying Art Supplies
• Top Picks: Drawing Charcoal (From About.com's Drawing/Sketching Guide)

Imagine an optical device that allowed you to see what you wanted to paint or draw as if reflected on your piece of paper. All you'd need to do would be to trace the subject, no more struggling to get the perspective or someone's features accurate. Sounds too good to be true? Well, a camera lucida does do this.

Of course, it a camera lucida can't teach you how to choose what to put in or leave out of a sketch, nor what kind of marks to put down. But, by eliminating the need to measure to get the perspective accurate, it will increase the rate at which you work and free you up to experiment more as you haven't invested so much time in one picture. Find out how a camera lucida works...

See Also:
• Art Equipment Review: A Modern Camera Lucida
• David Hockney's Theory About the Old Masters Using a Camera Lucida
• Book Review: Secret Knowledge by David Hockney

^{Image: © Marion Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc}