Courtney Clinton Artist

It is fascinating to see how culture spreads and morphs as it is absorbed and reinterpreted! During my residency at the @rokebymuseum I found a direct connection between the Vermont illustrator Rachael Robinson Elmer and the Life Magazine illustrator Charles Gibson. Gibson(3) captured modern america in his art and specifically the female empowerment. In an earlier blog I talked about how Elmer absorbed his ideas and made art that celebrated her own vision of modernity - one t...hat spoke to rural life. I recently came across the work of Montreal Illustrator Edmond-Joseph Massicotte and discovered that he too was a follower of Gibson. In the early stages of his career he even created his own varient on the Gibson Girl (1,3). Again it's fascinating to consider his work in the context of Gibson. Already in image 3 we can see how early Quebec culture is seeping into Massicotte's interpretation. Notice his 'Gibson Girl's still wears a prominent cross. Massicotte is best known for a series of images he created that captured the historic folkloric culture of rural French Canada. So it's interesting to think through his connection to Gibson and Modernism. Massicotte's recording of the old culture wasn't one of nostalgia but of preservation. He was inspired and in contact with the important Quebec ethnologue Maurius Barbeau who recorded folk songs and stories of the culture. His approach to the past speaks to a modern French Canadian identity that was aware and actively countering the threat of cultural assimilation imposed by English Canada. It's interesting to think of his vision of a modern Quebec (one of cultural preservation) in contrast to other popular illustrators of the day - ie the Group of Seven. For them modernism meant forgetting the past and creating a new uniquely Canadian pictorial language. To study art is to really engage and try and understand culture. Art can act as a window into another culture and help us better understand outside perspectives. . . . #art #arthistory #fineart #illustration #illustrator #charlesgibson #gibsongirl #quebecart #drawing #lineart #inktober #canadianart #artlover #artnerd #artblog #dailyart #tbt #throwbackthursday See more

Looking back at the #RokebyDistanceDrawing course, correspondence emerged as a central idea. Going forward I am developing a project that builds on the #postalart tradition. My next series in a first phase will be shared through the mail. Back in the 1960s Canadian collectives like #GeneralIdea and #ImageBank used postal art to subvert the gallery system and create more democratic art networks. In a contemporary context postal art takes on a new purpose. Right now we are faci...ng a prolonged period where we may not have access to not only art centres but to places of gathering more generally. My next project will explore both what is loss in terms of community and how correspondence can act as a tool to connect us during this period. For my final @rokebymuseum exercise, I asked students to design a tourist postcard of a scenic view in their appartment. A kind of tongue and cheek take on the current limits to our mobility. The exercise was inspired by the #illustrator Rachael Elmer's postcard series of New York City. In researching her project I learned all about the 'postcard craze' of the early 1900s. Back than correspondence was a main leasure activity. The advent of the illustrated postcard was a big deal! It meant people could send images to their loved ones and was seen as a truly modern form of communication. The Montreal illustrator Edmond-Joseph Massicotte used a series of postcards to propose to his fiance - swoon! I've always thought of art in terms of language and this is an interesting example of people using images to communicate ideas. With this project I will explore how we can use images to start conversations. Does this non verbal form allow us to express more or different ideas? . . . #art #fineart #illustration #postcard #mailart #newyorkcorrespondenceschool #gatheredgram #penandink #drawing #draw #lineart #inktober #inktober2020 #artproject #cdnart #canadianart #artist #arthistory #artnerd #artlover See more

How has the economic uncertainty of the pandemic affected the Canadian art market? In May 2020, due to COVID regulations, the Canadian live auctions were postponed. Heffel Fine Art Auction House rescheduled their spring sale for July. Waddington's Auctioneers & Appraisers and Cowley Abbott postponed their sales until mid September. Going through the results of the three sales gives us valuable insight on the health of the Canadian art market. It makes clear that the Canadian ...art resale market (secondary market) has proven to be resilient to the negative economic effects of COVID. Post COVID auction sales averaged a sell through rate of 85% which is actually up from 80%, in Fall 2019. . . At the top of the market, Heffel sold a very impressive Alex Colville and a Jean Paul Riopelle. Waddington's sold an early Lawren Harris (image) well above it's estimate. . . Female artists from the Group of Seven era (1915 to 1930) did very well. At the Heffel sale, Yvonne M. Housser set a new artist record and Montreal artist Kathleen Morris set the stage at Cowley Abbott. . . I was surprised to see a David Altmejd sculpture at Heffel go unsold. Especially after the sensational 2015 exhibition, Flux, of his work at the MAC Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal in 2015! I thought for sure it would end up in a corporate collection. Unlike the United States, Canada does not have a developed secondary market for living contemporary artists (anyone who started working after the 1990s) so there are opportunities for a diligent collector. . . Kent Monkman was the only contemporary artist to bulk the trend selling at Waddington’s within its presale estimate. This is the artist’s third market setting sale in the last 12 months, following a big sale in June 2020 at BYDealers and November 2019 at Waddington’s. . . The next live auction cycle will take place in late November. See more

How do great artists unlock their creative voice? In this week's #RokebyDistanceDrawing lesson we will explore drawing from your imagination. I want to show artists a step by step approach to come up with original ideas and compositions! My inspiration for this lesson is a series of fine art postcards by Rachael Robinson Elmer. Produced at the height of the postcard craze in 1914, this series was Rachael's most famous project and is now part of the National Gallery of Art !Th...e project took a full year to complete and the Rokeby Museum has a series of letters that Rachael wrote to her mother during this period. In the letters Rachael breaks down her creative process! This week's lesson builds on the process that Rachael used to produce her acclaimed series and is available FREE on the Rokeby website! . . . #drawing #draw #drawingchallenge #drawingtutorial #drawthisyourself #drawthisyourselfchallenge #drawingideas #arttutorial #drawingskills #arttricks #artwip #workinprogress #howtoart #arttips #howtodraw #artshelp #illustration #arthistory #artnerd #artblog #artlover #artprocess See more

Great to be included in a fantastic selection of art and events at the Rokeby Museum!

The @royalacademyarts like so many cultural institutions has budget issues and will likely have to let go of staff (upwards of 100). Members of the organization have put forth the idea of selling a Michelangelo to cover these costs - the most expensive piece in the collection. It's a complicated question in a difficult time. What alarmed me was the kind of consensus for selling the work I saw online. In bold caps people screamed that the work should be sold, no questions. I t...hink there is reason to discuss and debate policy around selling an institutions art but what shocks me is how simple the decision seems to be for so many people in the culture sector. To me this reaction shows that the true value of this work is not understood. Beyond it's 100 million valuation this work has real cultural value to a public institution. The RA is a professional organization for artists and the Michelangelo was originally donated so that artists would have access to art of this level for study and research. For an artist engaged with the craft of art this sculpture is immeasurably valuable. First it's an example of the highest level of craftsmanship. By copying the work, artists can learn from the artists technique. What's unique about this work is that it is an unfinished example by the Michelangelo. We see not only his finished work but also his process! Adding to it's pedogogic value. As a historical object it is a testament to the renaissance. Michelangelo is a fascinating artist to study because his work shows both the humanist approach we associate with the renaissance and a certain stylization that separates it from later naturalist movements. Finally the work speaks to the role of cultural institutions. Before the end of the 19th C art was not available in public spaces. The public museum is a modern invention. At their core they are suppose to treat art like a public good. There are strict rules to what they can sell because they are meant to act as public custodians not private owners. . . . #art #arthistory #michelangelo #fineart #museum #museumart #artlover #artblog #artwriter #royalacademy #artcritique #sculpture #renaissance See more

Whenever I do a drawing I set a technical challenge for myself. I see art as a kind of research and I'm always looking to learn - even when I'm the teacher. This self portrait is part of the #rokebydistancedrawing course. For any long time followers you will know the #selfportrait is not a new subject for me. So coming back to a familiar subject was an opportunity to play around with style. The past couple years my drawing style has been quite tight or what some might call ac...ademic. With this drawing I wanted to loosen up and bring more line into the drawing. The style is influenced by the Russian Academic tradition and one of my favorite books by V.A. Mogilevtsev. The shadows were laid in with flat layer of shading but I used line to build up the mid toned or the transition areas from dark to light. Using more line means really thinking about the form. Ideally you lines should follow the form. This means you have to actually understand what the form is doing. No bluffing! Working in this seemingly looser method actually made me pay more attention to detail. The result was a more detailed and complete drawing! Also it's the first ear I've ever been proud of! ;) See more

@cowleyabbott has there live auction tonight including a beautiful selection of Canadian Fine art. They have a stand out Maurice Cullen in the exhibition, The Deep Pool. Cullen is known for his winter scenes in the Laurentien Valley and this vertical iteration is quite special. In this work he compresses space with a rock formations that crowds out the background. Cullen is scene as a leading figure in the Canadian Impressionist movement but the restriction of space could be ...an acknowledgement to the modern movement growing around him. Painted in the 1920s Cullen is a direct contemporary of the group of Seven (although a generation older). Furthering the link, this work does a lot with paint! In person you can see the difference in the textures of paint. The dark tone defining the water is painted on with very thin paint. In contrast, the white snow is painted with a heavy loaded brush. The difference in texture communicates the difference in the fluffy verses glass like surface that define the two parts of nature. It also adds a beautiful aesthetic quality to the work. Seeing a variety of thick and thin paint reminds the viewer of all that can be done with the medium in the hands of a master! . . #arthistory #fineart #artauction #cowleyabbott #cdnart #canadianart #paint #painter #artist #art #artgallery #galleryart #canadianfineart #investmentart #artshow #artevent #artcritique #artwriter See more

What's wrong with this portrait drawing? Join me for week two of a two part portrait drawing exercise. This lesson is part of the #RokebyDistanceDrawing course, a series of free drawing exercises that I'm offering through the Rokeby Museum. In this week's lesson, I will show you how to use an artist check list to self correct your drawing. This course is ideal for artist's who are developing their craft on their own! . . . #drawing #draw #portraitdrawing #drawingchallenge #drawingtutorial #drawthisyourself #drawthisyourselfchallenge #drawingideas #arttutorial #drawingskills #arttricks #portraittutorial #artwip #workinprogress #howtoart #arttips

Wow! So honored to have such a lovely review about the #RokebyDistanceDrawing course by the blog Making A Mark https://makingamark.blogspot.com//the-distance-drawing-cou

Get ready for a total art history nerd post! The @rokebymuseum has given me access to their archive and along with @impressionist_lover I have been digging through the letters and images of Rachael Robinson (a 19th C illustrator). . . As a teenager Rachael studied drawing in New York with her teacher Ernest Knaufft. In one of her letters back home she writes about seeing an exhibition of work by Charles Gibson (image 2). From her letter we know that his work had a big impact... on her art! . . Gibson was famous for his images of 'modern womanhood'. At the turn of the century American women had better access to education and work possibilities than they had in the past. The role of the woman was changing and Gibson captured this evolution in his art. . . Rachael was still a student and drew sketches of her relatives. Image 1 shows her mother Ann reading the pages of her father's manuscript. Her author father was nearly blind at this point and her mother played a central role in his writing process. She corrected and re-transcribed his writing and corresponded with his editors. . . In a sense both artists recorded a modern image of womanhood. Yet they couldn't feel more different. Rachael's women feel old fashion compared to the "Gibson Girls". But given a little context, her image of Ann is a much truer example of a woman at work. . . Gibson's depiction of 20th C womanhood isn't necessarily wrong, but it's limited. He depicts the women he saw and knew in his affluent New York circle. Rachael's art helps broaden our understanding of what social change meant for a different part of the country. Of course neither artist tells us much about the condition of BIPOC from this period. For me this comparison highlights the importance of seeking out new voices from history. . . . #art #arthistory #artresidency #artcritic #artlover #artist #art #illustration #illustrator #charlesgibson #gibson #gibsongirl #drawing #draw #lineart #fineart #history #illustrationhistory #penandink #pencildrawing #tbt #throwbackthursday See more

Join me for part one of a two part portrait drawing lesson! Hosted on the @rokebymuseum website this free drawing course is open to anyone who wants to improve their drawing! . . This course is based on the letters of a 19th C drawing course that I discovered in the museum's collection. Each week I share not only a drawing lesson but also a chapter in the artistic journey of the 19th C illustrator, Rachael Robinson Elmer, who took the original course as a teenager. .... . This week I show students how to use a drawing made by Rachael (image 3) as a reference for a self portrait drawing. First we will make a copy of Rachael's drawing. To help guide our self portrait we 'copy' the position and the lighting of Rachael's drawing. The details are different but the general placement of features and shadow will be the same. In this way we can use Rachael's example to help guide our work. . . This course is designed for people who want to learn to draw but don't have the means or time to do a course. Lessons are designed for independent study. In each lesson I show students tricks to help guide and self correct their own work. . . The project is inspired by Rachael who learned to draw in the 1890s living on a remote farm in rural Vermont. Through a letter correspondence with a New York artist she learned to draw and went on to have an important career as a book illustrator. With this course I hope to inspire people to take up the challenge of pursuing their artistic dreams! . . . #art #artist #draw #drawing #portraitart #portraitdrawing #portraitdrawings #portrait #selfportrait #fineart #illustrator #illustration #arteducation #artprojects #instaart #dailydrawings #tuesdaythoughts #tuesdaymotivation See more