Etching Figurative Paintings

In Japan, they are known as Nishikigoi, or living jewels. These brilliantly colored varieties of the Amur carp have been selectively bred by family owned fisheries for generations. When I began this series of Gyotaku (Japanese fish printing) I studied the many varieties of Koi, each with their own unique colors and patterns. To create these pieces I print common carp I catch myself with sumi ink using traditional techniques used by Japanese fisherman...

Wonderful 18th century English gouache on paper of a 18th century English scene of a groom with a horse in a landscape. One of a set of five all framed in Hogarth frames. L.Green ...

Wonderful 18th century English gouache on paper of a 18th century English scene of a man on his horse with his dog in a landscape One of a set of five all framed in Hogarth frames. ...

This is drawing made with pen, pencil and watercolor on wood done from life of donkeys the artist observed in Mexico, and cacti, and a woman holding up the hoof of one donkey. Whims...

The Anatomy of a Horse by Robert Ladou (French 1929-2014) original drawing stuck on card in blue folder/ thick paper, unframed top drawing: 7.25 x 9...

Dame Elisabeth Frink. English ( b.1930 - d.1993 ). Hawk, 1969. Watercolor. Signed & Dated Lower Right. Image size 25.4 inches x 19.5 inches ( 64.5cm x 49.5cm ). Frame size 34.4 inches x 28.1 inches ( 87.5cm x 71.5cm ). Available for sale; this original painting is by Dame Elisabeth Frink and is dated 1969. The painting is presented and supplied in a glazed frame and mount dating from June 1997. This vintage watercolor is in very good condition, commensurate with its age. The watercolor is signed and dated lower right. Previously with Beaux Arts, London and Bath in 1999. Dame Elisabeth Frink was one of Britain’s most important post-war sculptors, an accomplished draughtsman, illustrator and teacher. She was part of the post-war school of expressionist British sculptors dubbed the Geometry of Fear, and enjoyed a highly acclaimed career that was commercially successful, broke boundaries and contributed greatly to bringing wonderful sculpture to public places. She was born on 14 November 1930 in Thurlow, the daughter of a cavalry officer, and brought up in rural Suffolk near to an active airbase. She was brought up a Catholic and educated at the Convent of the Holy Family, Exmouth. She then studied at the Guildford School of Art from 1947-1949 under Willi Soukop and Henry Moore’s assistant, Bernard Meadows, and then at the Chelsea School in London 1949-1953. She taught at Chelsea School of Art 1951-61, St. Martin’s School of Art 1954-62 and was a visiting instructor at the Royal College of Art 1965-1967, after which she lived in France until 1973. Frink first came to the attention of the public in 1951 at an exhibition at the Beaux Arts Gallery, London. In 1952 she represented Britain at the Venice Biennale, being described by Herbert Read as “the most vital, the most brilliant and the most promising of the whole Biennale”. The same year the Tate bought its first work by her, and she began to enjoy commercial success. Thereafter she exhibited regularly and was for 27 years associated with Waddington’s, London. The subjects which Frink was most concerned with were man, dog and horses, with and without riders. Interestingly she seldom sculpted the female form, drawing on archetypes of masculine strength, struggle and aggression. Her work has the recurring themes of the vulnerable and the predatory, in the spirit of an authentic post-war artist. It has been said that she was more concerned with representing mankind that portraits of individuals. The appeal of her work lies in its directness, provoking a frank statement of feeling. The anatomy is often exaggerated or incorrect; the impact growing more out of her interest in the spirit of the subject. Her animals and birds may be drawn from nature but verge on the abstract, conveying raw emotion and character rather than a realistic depiction. Her unique style is characterised by a rough treatment of the surface which embeds each piece with vitality and her personal impression. In her later work even the distinction between human and bird figures becomes blurred. Commentators have noted that the often rugged, brutal and contorted surfaces of her work reflect the destruction and terror of the six-year world-wide conflict that she witnessed as a child. Frink was an active supporter of Amnesty International. In the 1960s and early 1970s Frink produced a notable series of falling figures and winged men. Later, living in France during the Algerian war, she began making heads, blinded by goggles which had a threatening facelessness. Frink produced many notable public commissions, including Wild Boar for Harlow New Town, Blind Beggar and Dog for Bethnal Green, Noble Horse and Rider for Piccadilly, London, a lectern for Coventry Cathedral, Shepherd for Paternoster Square beside St. Paul’s Cathedral and a Walking Madonna for Salisbury Cathedral. In the early 1980s she produced a set of three larger than life figures The Dorset Martyrs which stand on the edge of the old walled town of Dorchester on the site of the old gallows, as a memorial to those who had been executed there ‘for conscience sake’. Frink’s Canterbury Tales was a collection of 19 etchings drawn directly on to copper plates and etched by her. The ‘book’ was issued in three limited editions. Her illustrations have been praised as “amongst the most successful illustrations of the century, encompassing the mood of the text in concise delineations and disarmingly ribald humour”. She illustrated other books with colored lithographs or drawings. Frink was on the Board of Trustees, British Museum from 1976, and was a member of the Royal Fine Art Commission 1976-81. CBR (1969), DBE ((1982), Associate of the Royal Academy (1971), Royal Academy (1977). She was made a Companion of Honour in 1992. She died on 18 April 1993, but not before completing her last commission, a monumental but unusual figure of Christ for the front of the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool, unveiled a week before her death. For several decades Frink exhibited widely in the UK and abroad. In her later years she lived and worked in Dorset where her home and garden became an arena for her work. In 1985 she had a retrospective at the Royal Academy. She died on 18 April 1993, but not before completing her last commission, a monumental but unusual figure of Christ for the front of the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool, unveiled a week before her death. There was a memorial show at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Bretton Hall in 1994. Today Frink is venerated as one of the great twentieth century British sculptors. Her unique work is represented in the Tate Gallery and major public and private collections world-wide. © Big Sky Fine Art This original watercolor on paper painting of a hawk by Dame Elizabeth Frink...

Circle of Sunqua (active 1830-1870) Two Mandarin Ducks pith paper (rice paper) gouache c.1830-1870 China Also close to: Chincqua, Lam Qua, Youqua. Compare ...

Bright and lively etching colored with watercolor, pastel and acrylics of an anthropomorphic cat-woman by Mexican artist Ana May, 2012. Signed lower right. Original artwork on paper...

Fox amidst the Hay Bales on a Misty Morning in a Field in the English Countryside, by British Artist Andrew Hutchinson Art measures 22 x 10 inches F...

A red ibis perches on a red armchair in this contemporary surrealist painting by New York artist, Thomas Broadbent. The long legs of this water bird complement the design of the cha...

This Watercolor drawing shows a noble hunting society. The duke (?) on horse and several noble ladies accompanying the soctiety. The duke (?) gestures towards a group of hunters on h...

"Almost Dachshund" a sentimental dog painting by Robert Zakanitch a founder of the Pattern and Decoration movement of the 1970's believes in painting subjects of beauty with delicate...