Art History Journal

William Blake born November 28th of 1757 became an English poet, painter, and print maker. His paintings and poetry have been characterized as a part of both the Romantic Movement and “Pre-Romantic”. Like many other artist, the Bible was an early and profound influence on Blake, and would remain a source of inspiration. Blake began engraving because that medium became preferred to drawing. He studied works of arts from “The Masters” like Raphael, Michelangelo, Marten Heesmskenl and Albert Durer. His did not enroll him in ordinary school but sent him to drawing classes instead. He read on subjects that interested him and began exploring poetry all while working on his art skills. William Blake and his brother Robert opened a print shop in 1784. There Blake illustrated many pieced for radical publishers and writers. Blake worked as an engraver for pretty much his whole life. He loved art, any type of art. Engraving is a very strict type of artwork, the medium can be brutally unforgiving to mistakes but completed correctly can capture so much detail. He looked up to artist like Michelangelo and Raphael but to me many of his pieces kind of give of the impression of mannerist characteristics. He paints subjects the way he sees them not just the way they are naturally. He is a mixture of old and new. The word “fine” does not so much mean quality of the artwork but the purity of the discipline in which the artwork was created. An “illustration” is a visualization such as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that stresses subject more than form. He studied the masters, he was trained as an artist, and he worked as an artist his whole life. He had a passion for the visual arts along with the verbal or written arts. He combined the two things that he loved most to create an impact that would like our television for them. He used the skill he was taught to execute very extravagate pieces of art to go with his passion of writing. I wouldn’t call his pieces just illustrations but consider them to be fine artworks that emphasized the impact of the writing. Artist all paint to show something that others may not be able to see or express in the same way that the artist can. So I don’t know about all the labels, I just like Art for Art’s sake!

Just Ink It,
Danielle Parum