Note from 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.