"One should absorb the colour of life."

I've been talking alot about John Everett Millais and his work, but one should give credit where credit is due. Many people who claim to be "art people" or "literature people" often do so to avoid being a "science person" or a "math person". In fact, we all often forget that all the subjects and intricately intertwined in each other. For example, one cannot be a "literature person" and brag about how many books/pages they've read, or use a particularily pretentious vocabulary due to the amount of words they know. I mean, that's math.

And art, oh art would be nothing without the advancements science has made in the art process. So, right now we're going to switch gears entirely and talk science (with a little poetry included so I'd better get some snapping) (Okay, not really).

The world is full of colors, and every day artists attempt to replicate these bright beautiful hues into portraits of our beautiful world with a little touch of creativity. But how to take the yellow gold of a sunflower and show the way the sun illuminates its petals on paper? How to take the deep blue of the tempestuous sea with the white, glistening foam of its waves and paint it onto a canvas? The answer lies in pigments, and the chemistry of paint.

Most paint is composed of four main components: liquid, additives, binders, and pigment. Each of these components plays an important role in achieving the smooth and finished look of the final product. In Chemistry, the liquid of the paint would be known as the ‘solvent’. The solvent is a substance in which other substances are dissolved. It is important to use the proper solvent when making paint, because with the right one, it provides the desired consistency and is responsible for allowing the pigment and the binders to stick to the desired surface.

So that was your chem lesson for the day, and I'll post more about the science behind art at a later date.

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But if you simply must have a history component as well I'll give you a quick one (with a little science involved, ha):

Nowadays you can find everything you need to become your own closet artist at your local art supply store. But it wasn’t always this way. The art of painting dates back to the days of the cave man, and what has affectionately come to be known as ‘cave paintings’. But what some of the art world dismisses off as simplistic and plain there is much more to then what meets the eye. Traditionally it has been assumed that the cavemen got their pigments from animal and plant sources. But more and more is being discovered about these cave dwellers every day, and though animal and plant pigments were utilized, the paintings that have lasted for thousands of years came from iron oxide deposits in the earth. The caveman must have known this, and continued to express himself with the ingredients that would not fade with the changing environment.

And a word to Geico:

Please, it's getting way past ridiculous.

Speaking of ridiculous, lets end this post on a reflective note:

1937:



2006:



These are both really bad pictures but to get a better idea of what I mean, go look at the Disney logo on "Snow White", and then check it out on the newest Disney movie you have and you'll see what I'm referring too.