Fine Art Resources

Art comes in all shapes and forms, from cave paintings to digital videos. One man’s art is another’s lamp shade. Here is a sampling of art DVDs broken down by category. Please search the catalog for many more selections that are available.


 Instructional

What is Plein Air and how do I paint it?  The following DVDs will help you along in whatever medium you decide to use to create art.

 

Acrylic Painting Techniques: Creative Textures

Learn how to prepare any surface for accepting acrylic paint techniques and products. This DVD covers 13 different techniques that explore ways to create texture in a painting, with instructor Chris Cozen.

 

How to Look At and Understand Great Art

This Great Courses DVD series features 36 lectures (30 minutes each) on 6 DVDs, delivered by Sharon Latchaw Hirsh of Rosemont College.  Some of the lecture topics are: Line: description and expression, the illusion: getting the right perspective, Portraits: how artists see others, Early Renaissance: humanism emergent, 18th century reality and decorative Rococo, and  Cubism: an experiment in form.

Introduction to Watercolors

Frank Clarke's self-effacing, engaging personality and simple techniques make learning the fundamentals of painting easy and non-intimidating. Perfect for parents or teachers that want to assist their children to learn at a relaxed pace.

 

Landscape Painting in Pastel: Plein AirLandscape Painting in Pastel: Plein Air


Go on location with Liz Haywood-Sullivan to discover how easy it is to paint a landscape en plein air. Discover how sketches and a value plan created on site are all you need to create a stunning landscape painting. Then you'll learn how to apply color in the studio for quick and stunning results.

 

Seascape Collection: Thirteen 30-Minute Instructional Guides


A collection of episodes offering instruction in Bob Ross' wet-on-wet painting technique, focusing on seascapes, including crashing waves, blazing skies, gentle breezes, and sandy shorelines.

 

Tim’s Vermeer


Tim Jenison, a Texas-based inventor, attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in all art: How did seventeenth century Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer manage to paint so photo-realistically, 150 years before the invention of photography? Once his research is done, he manages to re-create a classic Vermeer masterpiece on his own despite never having painted anything in his life.

 

 

Art through the Ages

People have been creating art since we lived in caves. Here are just a few of the ages of artistic expression that are available at the library.

 

Art:21: Art in the 21st Century

Meet diverse contemporary artists through revealing profiles that take viewers behind the scenes into artists' studios, homes, and communities to provide an intimate view of their lives, work, sources of inspiration and creative processes. There are seven seasons and counting.

 

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Director Werner Herzog follows an exclusive expedition into the nearly inaccessible Chauvet Cave in France, home to the most ancient visual art known to have been created by man. An unforgettable cinematic experience that provides a unique glimpse of pristine artwork dating back to human hands over 30,000 years ago, almost twice as old as any previous discovery.

 

Hermitage Masterpieces

After a brief history of the founding of St. Petersburg and a biographical sketch of Peter the Great, the viewer is taken on a tour of the galleries of the Hermitage Museum housing masterpieces from ancient China, Egypt, Greece, and Rome through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the 20th Century.

 

The Hidden Art of Islam

Muslim belief and tradition specifies that there should be no depictions of God or the Prophet Muhammad. In religious contexts, this constraint on what artists can depict extends to human figures and other living creatures as well. These prohibitions have inspired a rich visual culture based on calligraphy, Arabesque floral designs, and geometry, all of which feature strongly in the art and design found throughout Islam.


How Art Made the World: How Humans Made Art and Art Made Us Human

Reveals how the first big artistic discoveries were made and how they have cascaded down the centuries to define the look of the present day. Encompassing everything from cave paints to ceramics and pyramids to palaces, this film explores the global trend for unrealistic depictions of the human body; the secret powers of the feature film; how politicians manage to manipulate people so easily; visions of the afterlife; and why we use imagery at all.

Power of Art

Focusing on eight iconic works of art, this series reveals the history of visual imagination through the ages. A combination of reconstruction, photography and storytelling transport the viewer back to the intense moments when great works were conceived and born. In each place, a great artist is backed into a corner, facing a crisis, given a chance to confound his rivals, enemies and critics one more time.

Famous Artists

Whether holding a paintbrush, a camera or a rock, artists can bring out their imagination and emotion for all the world to see. The following are just a small sample of DVDs that your library system has available.

 

Andy Goldsworthy: Rivers and Tides

Follow Andy Goldsworthy's bohemian free spirit all over the world as he demonstrates and opens up about his creative process. From his long-winding rock walls and icicle sculptures to his interlocking leaf chains and multi-colored pools of flowers. Goldsworthy's painstakingly intricate masterpieces are made entirely of materials found in Mother Nature - who threatens and often succeeds in destroying his art, sometime before it is even finished.

David Hockney: A Bigger Picture

Filmed over three years, this documentary is an unprecedented record of a major artist at work. It captures David Hockney's return from California to paint his native Yorkshire, outside, through the seasons, and in all weathers. It tells the story of a homecoming and gives a revealing portrait of what inspires and motivates today's greatest living British-born artist.

 

The Films of Charles and Ray Eames

Charles and Ray Eames are American designers of the 20th century, best known for their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, industrial design and manufacturing, and the photographic arts. They were also prolific filmmakers. The legacy of the husband and wife team includes more than 100 short films that reflect the breadth and depth of interests and the integrity of their vision.

 

Finding Vivian Maier

Now considered one of the 20th century's greatest street photographers, Vivian Maier was a mysterious nanny who secretly took over 100,000 photographs that went virtually unseen during her lifetime. Vivian's strange and riveting life and art are revealed through never-before-seen photos, films, and interviews with dozens who thought they knew her.

A Man Named Pearl

Tells the inspiring story of self-taught topiary artist Pearl Fryar, who transformed his once-average yard into a wondrous garden. Offers an upbeat message that speaks to respect for both self and others, and shows what one person can achieve.

Roy Lichtenstein

A profile of American Pop Art artist Roy Lichtenstein's life and work. Lichetenstein talks about his current work, the Pop Art explosion, and the history of Western art.

 

Wassily Kandinsky

Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky is generally regarded as an originator of abstract painting and one of the most important innovators in modern art, both as an artist and as a theorist. This is a biography of the artist accompanied by images of his greatest works.