Copying the Most Popular Paintings of the Last Decade

Wichita, Kansas is the home OverstockArt.com, the Internet leader in handmade reproductions of famous oil paintings. As it does every 10 years, the company has again released a Top 10 list of their most popular oil paintings from the past decade. Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night” tops OverstockArt‘s list of best sellers.

1. "Starry Night" – Vincent van Gogh
2. "Café Terrace at Night" – Vincent van Gogh
3. "The Kiss" – Gustav Klimt
4. "Poppy Field at Argenteuil" – Claude Monet
5. "The Mona Lisa" – Da Vinci
6. "Le Rêve" (The Dream in French) – Pablo Picasso
7. "Luncheon of the Boating Party" – Pierre August Renoir
8. "The Scream" – Edvard Munch
9. "Red Cannas" – Georgia O’Keeffe
10. "Persistence of Memory" – Salvador Dali

As our readers know, BINDERS Art Blog was created to keep you in the know, so read on.

OverstockArt claims that soaring art auction prices for paintings at Christie’s and Sotheby’s have made hand painted reproductions an affordable alternative. The company says over the past decade, it has become a portal for art lovers who want to enjoy the hand painted art of the great masters in their homes, even if the paintings it sells aren’t the originals.

It is not our purpose here to comment on the artistic value of such paintings, nor their prices and origins, nor to reveal who painted them. You can learn all that through Google or Yahoo.

Instead, let’s just discuss “copying” as a tool for teaching. We are mindful that just about every painter we know has their own favorite artist, a master whose work opened his or her eyes to art as a profession or avocations. And indeed probably many of us have probably tried to replicate at least one painting by the artists we love.

Historically, the practice of copying another’s work is actually a venerable tradition that goes back to Michelangelo and da Vinci. According to Smithsonian magazine, copying another artist’s work is a time-honored way for artists to sharpen their own painting skills.

At the Louvre in Paris, or instance, copyists, as they are known, have been allowed, even encouraged, to hone their skills by copying the masterpieces in its collections ever since the museum opened its treasures to public view in 1793.

Thousands have done so, including great classical painters from Turner to Ingres, Impressionists from Manet to Degas, and modernists like Chagall and Giacometti. “You have to copy and recopy the masters,” Degas insisted, “and it’s only after having proved oneself as a good copyist that you can reasonably try to do a still life of a radish.”

Today, fewer and fewer leading American museums permit copyists to paint in their galleries. The Smithsonian still allows it; but the High Museum does not. Which means, if you want to copy another artist’s work you’ll likely have to rely on photos or prints.

You be the judge. For better or worse, in the past decade OverstockArt sold more than a million hand painted copies of famous oil paintings.

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!

A Looong Coffee Break with Mona Lisa

It measures 20 feet high by 13 feet wide and took a team of eight artful collaborators three hours to complete. The Mona Lisa, one of the world's most famous paintings, has been recreated in Australia with 3,604 cups of coffee.

The java-based image was created for The Rocks Aroma Festival in Sydney, and seen by 130,000 people who attended the one-day coffee- lovers event.

Artists will surely note that only five values were used. Each coffee cup was filled with either straight black coffee with no milk or a little or lots of milk to create the different sepia shades of the painting.

“The Mona Lisa has been reproduced so many times in so many different mediums but, as far as we know, never out of coffee,” said one of the over-caffeinated baristas. “The result was fantastic,” she added with a jumpy jitter.

Mona Lisa, also known as La Gioconda, is the 16th century portrait painted in oil by Leonardo Da Vinci during the Italian Renaissance.

For the record, this 3,604-cup homage to the Mona Lisa masterpiece required more than six barrels of coffee (55- gallons per)! At Starbucks, 3,604 coffees (at $1.50 for a 12-oz. tall) would set you back about $5,406.

Take yourself a coffee break now to watch a two-minute You Tube video of how this giant Mona Lisa was brewed and served.

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!

This Week @ BINDERS - January 11-17

SALES • ART CLASSES & WORKSHOPS • ART HAPPENINGS

One of the best New Year’s Resolutions for Artists is a two-parter. Part 1: Set aside just 5 minutes a day to draw or paint or do something creative or inspiring. That’s right, just 5 minutes. Anyone can spare 5 minutes, right? Well, this Resolution really works because even when that time is up, you probably won’t want to stop! Part 2: Visit BINDERS more often, for the art supplies and support you need to be the artist you want to be. This week The ART School at BINDERS is in full session.

Monday, January 11:

Guided Open Studio with Kay Powell
10:30am-2pm • Every Monday
Fee: $15/session. No sign up needed. Please pay the instructor.

Calligraphy 2 with Anne Elser
6-8:30pm • Mondays, 6 sessions, Jan. 4-Feb.8 • Fee: $140
Advanced level for those who have taken Anne’s Copperplate or Italic class

Guided Open Studio with Kay Powell
6:30-8:30pm • see details above.

Tuesday, January 12:

Painting - Design and Technique with Charles Y. Walls
1-4pm • 6 sessions, Jan. 5-Feb. 9 • Open to all levels. • Fee: $140

Painting - Design and Technique with Charles Y. Walls
6-8:30pm • see details above

Bookmaking with Anne Elser
6-8:30pm, Tuesdays, 6 sessions, Jan. 5-Feb. 9 • Fee: $140

Wednesday, January 13:
Copperplate Calligraphy with Anne Elser
6-8:30pm, Wednesdays, 6 sessions, Jan. 6-Feb. 10 • Fee: $140

Thursday, January 14:

No special art events today.

Friday, January 15:

No special art events today.

Saturday, January 16:

No special art events today.

Sunday, January 17:
No special art events today.

Please note: Classes on this schedule are in our Atlanta store unless otherwise indicated. For more information please email or call Eli Pelizza at 404.237.6331 ext. 203.

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Check out the full list of our upcoming art classes and art workshops!

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EXHIBITS AT THE LIMELIGHT GALLERY

New exhibition coming soon!

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!

You Know You Are an Artist When . . .

Art students aren’t alone if they ever wonder what it takes to officially become an “artist.” Indeed, many life-long art veterans continue to ponder the same question.

Is there a reliable way to tell that you‘re an artist, some kind of a test or achievement or type of behavior?

For answers, we searched books and wikis, and gathered feedback from artists worldwide. The most common trait artists seem to share, we learned, is a brave sense of humor, especially about themselves.

So, to help you begin the New Year with a smile, here’s a humorous compendium of some of the many telltale signs that indicate you are, without a doubt, positively, an artist for sure.

You know you are an artist when . . .

• Your other car is a 1966 VW Bus.
• The colors in your sofa and your painting above it do not necessarily match.
• Wearing pajamas is optional for a typical workday.
• At the post office you insist on only Van Gogh stamps.
• You compliment people by saying “I love how the light hits your nose!”
• You own hundreds of brushes, and have nothing to comb your hair with.
• You arrange the cups and plates in your dishwasher in an artistic manner.
• You spent 4 hours carving your pumpkin on Halloween
• You drink retsina because it tastes like turpentine.
• You look at Ad Reinhardt’s Black canvases and say, “yeah, I could have painted that.”
• You forget to eat all day because you are working.
• You have at least one room in your house that would cause the Fire Chief to sound an alarm.
• You spend every non-drawing moment thinking "I should be drawing."
• You drooled on your work in progress.
• Your best is never "good enough.”
• Your favorite birthday present is a BINDERS Gift Card.
• There are Prussian blue fingerprints on your cell phone.
• You refuse to write an “artist statement.”
• You sometimes use the back of an expensive Kolinsky Sable brush to stir your coffee.
• You know that Manga is not an Italian vegetable.
• The fragrance you wear is eau d'linseed oil.
• When viewing a gorgeous sunset, you think in terms of cadmium yellow (light hue), salmon and gold, a tinted teal mixed with gold for the water."
• The carpet in your room looks like a Jackson Pollack painting.
• The carpet in your room IS a Jackson Pollack painting.
• You butter your toast with your fingers, just to feel its texture.
• You stay awake late at night wondering how to render on canvas the dimly lit shapes and shadows in your room.
• You have been known to get plastered and paint the town red.
• You look at certain cloud formations and think "that MUST be Photoshopped! It just can't be real."
• In art school, you managed to BS your way through a postmodernism class and still retained your sanity and integrity.
• You sneeze out colorful puffs of pastel dust.
• You stop thinking about being an artist and just get on with it.

What do you think makes an artist? Tell our readers your definitions by clicking "ADD A COMMENT" below this post.

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!

This Week @ BINDERS - January 4-10

SALES • ART CLASSES & WORKSHOPS • ART HAPPENINGS

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is make more art, BINDERS is ready to help. We’re jump-starting 2010 with a terrific line-up of new and ongoing Art Classes, lead by highly talented instructors. To illustrate, every Monday our esteemed Kay Powell welcomes you to join in her two Guides Open Studio sessions. Also, Anne Elser returns this week to launch three different levels of Calligraphy training, plus her popular Bookmaking series. For oil painters, Charles Y. Walls is back for both afternoon and evening sessions of his ongoing Painting-- Technique & Design series. Get the details and register now with our Quick Sign Up Tool! And please let us know if there are other kinds of art classes that you’d like us to schedule in the future.

Monday, January 4:

Guided Open Studio with Kay Powell
10:30am-2pm • Every Monday
Fee: $15/session. No sign up needed. Please pay the instructor.

NEW! Calligraphy 2 with Anne Elser
6-8:30pm • Mondays, 6 sessions, Jan. 4-Feb.8 • Fee: $140
Advanced level for those who have taken Anne’s Copperplate or Italic class
Sign up now!

Guided Open Studio with Kay Powell
6:30-8:30pm • see details above.

Tuesday, January 5:

NEW! Painting - Design and Technique with Charles Y. Walls
1-4pm • 6 sessions, Jan. 5-Feb. 9 • Open to all levels. • Fee: $140
Sign up now!

NEW! Painting - Design and Technique with Charles Y. Walls
6-8:30pm • see details above
Sign up now!

NEW! Bookmaking with Anne Elser
6-8:30pm, Tuesdays, 6 sessions, Jan. 5-Feb. 9 • Fee: $140
Sign up now!

Wednesday, January 6:
NEW! Copperplate Calligraphy with Anne Elser
6-8:30pm, Wednesdays, 6 sessions, Jan. 6-Feb. 10 • Fee: $140
Sign up now!

Thursday, January 7:

NEW! Italic Calligraphy with Anne Elser
6-8:30pm, Thursdays, 6 sessions, Jan. 7-Feb. 11 • Fee: $140
Sign up now!

Friday, January 8:

No special art events today.

Saturday, January 9:

No special art events today.

Sunday, January 10:
No special art events today.

Please note: Classes on this schedule are in our Atlanta store unless otherwise indicated. For more information please email or call Eli Pelizza at 404.237.6331 ext. 203.

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Check out the full list of our upcoming art classes and art workshops!

---

EXHIBITS AT THE LIMELIGHT GALLERY

New exhibition coming soon!

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!

This Week @ BINDERS - December 28 - January 3

SALES • ART CLASSES & WORKSHOPS • ART HAPPENINGS

Ring in the New! Wring out the Old! -- it‘s all happening this week at BINDERS -- with Clearance Sales, Bargain Offers & Special Discounts. We’re getting ready for another year of money-saving service to our art-making customers. So come in soon and save. And see our recent “Last-Minute Gift Ideas for Artists” for items you might have missed. For example, we’ve knocked 20% OFF orders placed online by December 31 - see full details and be sure to use the coupon code! From all of us a BINDERS, we wish you Joy, Peace & Art -- and a very Happy New Year 2010!

Monday, December 28:

Guided Open Studio with Kay Powell
10:30am-2pm • Every Monday
Fee: $15/session. No sign up needed. Please pay the instructor.

Guided Open Studio with Kay Powell
6:30-8:30pm • see details above.

Tuesday, December 29:

No special art events today.

Wednesday, December 30:
No special art events today.

Thursday, December 31:

No special art events today.

Friday, January 1:

New Year's Day! -- Our wish is that 2010 is the very best year ever for you and yours. Happy New Year! The store will be closed today.

Saturday, January 2:

No special art events today.

Sunday, January 3:
No special art events today.

Please note: Classes on this schedule are in our Atlanta store unless otherwise indicated. For more information please email or call Eli Pelizza at 404.237.6331 ext. 203.

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Check out the full list of our upcoming art classes and art workshops!

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EXHIBITS AT THE LIMELIGHT GALLERY

Winter Solstice Exhibition by Shadowline Artist Group, a coterie of Atlanta-area visual artists, runs through December 30.

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!

BINDERS Best Last-Minute Gift Ideas for Artists

Finding the perfect gift at the last minute may be difficult, but BINDERS comes to your rescue. Our experts in art materials, in consultation with countless artists have compiled this Top 10 Gift List for procrastinators. It proves you don’t have to spend lots of money to make an artist happy. (Even if that artist happens to be you!)

Lighting is a wide category that includes task lighting, light boxes and projectors, as well as floor and table lamps. An ideal example is this Naturalight Compact Lamp with its 13w Full Spectrum tube. This compact, lightweight lamp gives the best color rendering ever! Very simple to use, it switches on when opened. On Sale now under $40.

Sign-up for Art Classes and Workshops at BINDERS. To help artists continue their education we offer a variety of art classes and workshops for all skill levels. Daytime, evening and weekend sessions are available. See our list of upcoming 2010 Art Classes and Workshops. And be sure to sign-up now before they fill up. Also, every Monday at BINDERS, Instructor Kay Powell leads two separate Guided Open Studio sessions, no sign-up required.

Art Books. Books for artists, by artists, about artists -- BINDERS book selection runs the full spectrum of informative and inspiring art volumes. These great resource books teach about color, art techniques, anatomy, perspective, figures, framing, art business guides, and the lives of your favorite artists. And for kids of all ages there are Art Games and Art DVDs too. From $5 up.

Colour Shapers are useful, inexpensive, and highly versatile new painting tools, like a brush with a flexible tip instead of bristles. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and degrees of flexibility and you’ll want keep several on hand. Use colour shapers to move paint easily, apply pastel, carve images in wet paint, sculpt clay and creatively decorate walls and furniture. And because they do not absorb paint like a brush, you can simply wipe them clean. Assorted sizes $5-18.

Journals, Sketchbooks, Diaries. Since we never know where or when we’ll be inspired, it pays to keep at least one within easy reach. BINDERS has them in all sizes -- from large sketchbooks for drawing and watercolor, to blank and lined notebooks, to pocketsize journals with rounded corners that fit comfortably in your blue jeans. By famous makers such as Moleskine, Rhodia, Frabriano and Lama Li, many are crafted with imported papers and decorative covers. A gift welcomed by both artist and writer. From under $10.

Brushes. Whether they prefer the finest Kolinsky sables or the inexpensive economy kind, every artist would like to have more brushes. And BINDERS has every kind from natural bristle to synthetic, from tiny to huge, for painting in oils, acrylics, watercolors and tempera, as well as for lettering, crafts and calligraphy. Also look for Brush Sets containing several types in useful sizes. Cheap thrills from $1 up.

Manikins: Action Figures for Artists. With manikins you never have to worry about your models taking a break. They hold that pose while you learn more about drawing the human figure. Accurately proportioned and flexible enough to mimic many human positions, each is made of seasoned hardwood Choose from full male and female figures in various sizes, as well as hands, dogs, cats, lizards and dragons. Magnetic manikins can even do handstands or "climb" other metal surfaces. Priced $7 to $33.

Stylish Storage. An Alvin 10 Drawer Mobile Storage Cart makes a practical gift that is exciting to give. Drawers feature metal pulls with label slots. Glides easily into narrow spaces on 4 casters. Each drawer can hold up to 3 lbs. of paint tubes, jars, rags, bottles, brushes and more. The top is ideal for resting a palette on, or used as a palette. Come in to see our complete selection. Available with 3 to 20 drawers per cart, in Smoke $39.99 and up, or Multi-Colors $49.99 and up.

Flat File Drawers. This beautiful light oak flat file is sturdy piece of furniture. The fronts are solid oak and the tops and sides are an oak veneer. Each of the drawers is large enough to hold full sheets of artists’ paper. Inside drawer dimensions are 38.625 in. x 25.5 in. x 3 in. Shipped
unassembled. The 3-drawer Oak Flat File Package comes complete with a top cap, base and handles. Five-drawer and 8-drawer units also available. From about $350.

BINDERS Gift Cards. Art pros and amateurs alike agree that BINDERS Gift Cards are just the ticket for this or any season. These versatile little gems are available in values of $25, $50, $75, $100, $250 and $500. To give or to receive, everybody loves BINDERS Gift Cards.

Any way you picture it, BINDERS is a Dickens of a way to spend Christmas!

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!