Donald Pittenger writes:

Dear Blowhards --

Michael is the ace linker in these here parts, but I won't let that stop me from tossing in a link-post now and then -- especially right now.

The theme for this exercise is the bookmarks tab on my web browser. It's a pretty lean 'n' mean drop-menu because I hate computer clutter. So I have only a few art-related bookmarks at present, a few of them in the experimental stage. Given that there must be somewhere between a bazillion and a gazillion web sites devoted to visual arts, I make no claim that mine is definitive. Rather, they mostly relate to a couple of my interests -- illustration and traditional painting.

I'm reluctant to have a lot of such sites bookmarked. I gave one reason above; another is that I spend more time on the computer than I really ought to, and need to restrain temptation. If you want to build or expand upon your own bookmark collection, try these and then take a look at what's on their blogrolls and then the blogrolls of sites mentioned, ad infinitum.

Here goes:

* Illustration Art is David Apatoff's fine blog on, well, illustration -- though he sometimes strays into other art-related topics. He doesn't post daily, so I check in once a week or so to see what's new.

* 100 Years of Illustration by veteran illustrator Paul Giambarba gets additions every so often, so I drop by once every couple of weeks to see if he has posted anything. His older posts are well worth looking at if you haven't visited his site before.

* Today's Inspiration, is by Leif Peng, an illustrator in the Hamilton, Ontario vicinity. As the title implies, Peng somehow manages to provide a torrent of posts about (mostly) classical illustration at the rate of four or five items per week.

* Another prolific site is Gurney Journey by "Dinotopia" creator James Gurney. He covers a wider range of art-related subjects than illustration, providing a good deal of information I find useful. Gurney posts on an almost-daily basis.

* Art and Influence is another useful web site by a practicing artist, this being Armand Cabrera. Cabrera has a good knowledge of art history, so if you like the artist profiles I post from time to time, you might well enjoy Cabrera's site. He also offers instructional tips and other grist for art amateurs. Posting is generally Monday-Friday, though he does take breaks from time to time.

* Lines and Colors by Charley Parker ranks high on frequency and interest. As is the case with the sites already mentioned, one has the potential for sinking hour after hour into reading previous posts. Parker more than the others is hip to computer-based illustration, so I found his posts on that field instructive, naïf that I am.

I also have bookmarked a few sites containing reproductions of paintings; I might cover those another time.

Later,

Donald

Speaking of illustrations, does anyone know if it's true that Congress has banned the sale of all childrens' book published before 1985, because of lead pigment in the illustrations?

Posted by: Lester Hunt on February 24, 2009 1:47 PM

I loved "Today's Inspiration" - thanks a bunch.

Posted by: Dino on February 24, 2009 9:24 PM

Ad infinitum is right. I have found more cool sites from other people's blogrolls, which actually makes perfect sense. Usually, they are superior links or resources because people felt strong enough about them to include them in their blogrolls. This is a nice list to start with--I'm sure I'll hold on to a few of these.

Posted by: Chris on February 25, 2009 12:52 AM






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