women renaissance artists

First of all, I'm glad I went yesterday to the National Museum of Women in the Arts. I had thought about putting it off today, but as I sit here with my cup of coffee on my couch, I look out the window and see sheets of rain pouring down.

So I finally had a chance to go see the exhibtion of Italian Women Painters from Renaissance to Baroque. I'd recommend going, especially just to see the inside of the museum. The entrance hall and grand staircases are incredible! In the exhibition, I will say I preferred the end of it, especially the different paintings of Judith. The reason I liked these best is because the colors were so vibrant. In the beginning, the paintings were dark, and that may have been because they were mainly portraits. I think the text said something along the lines that women made their commissions from portraits, unlike male artists who were able to do these great, elaborate scenes.

The paintings and drawings were very good though, especially the skin tone. I could get the shading on colors, but skin tones always tripped me up, so I love seeing how smoothly these great painters are able to do this. But I'm still partial to the colors that almost take your breath away (there's this painting that I love seeing at the DMA because the cloaks are incredible! The light blue on the cloak is so vivid, along with this deep, rich red).

I have more to say about what I've done this weekend, but I'll end here so this post doesn't drag on. If you're looking to escape the heat and humidity, I'd suggest checking out the exhibition. The other nice thing is that even though it was a Saturday afternoon, it was kind of empty. Since it's not really by anything, there weren't many (any?) tourists. It may also have been because unlike the museums along the mall, this one has a $10 fee ($8 if you're a student, and free if you're a member).

Back to writing. I love writing on rainy days, perched in the corner of my futon with my coffee. I tend to make large pots on the weekends, aiming to spend a lot of time sitting and writing.