Five Great Artists

From the time I could hold a pen, I have been drawing. As my attention span widened, I would spend hours drawing pictures and making up stories about the characters in my sketches. This passion for art drove me to take several drawing and painting classes in my teenage and college years. Now it fuels my deep appreciation for the skillful artwork of others. Below, I've selected five of my favorite paintings from five of my favorite painters. I hope you enjoy gazing at them as much as I do!



David Heath is a contemporary painter from the central Virginia area whose breathtaking landscapes and detailed portrayals of the Appalachians feed my longing for the rolling hills and peaceful solitude of the Virginia countryside.



Christian Zacho is another of my favorite landscape painters. The peaceful clarity captured in his woodland scenes reminds me of my childhood blithely roving through the woods and splashing in the creek.



John William Waterhouse was a British painter who focused largely on romantic scenes from Greek mythology and classic literature. His languid, full-bodied subjects are often striking dreamy poses such as the one pictured above.



British painter Edmund Blair Leighton had a fascination for romantic, medieval themes and tender lovescenes from the Victorian era. Leighton especially loved depicting courting scenes as shown in the painting above, appropriately entitled "Courtship."



Lastly, the greatest American painter who ever lived: Norman Rockwell. Rockwell had an extraordinary talent for conveying emotion through the body language and sometimes comical expressions on the faces of his subjects. The picture above is called "The Window Washer" and is one of my many favorites.

Although I don't have the knowledgeable mind or the ample money of an art connoisseur, I enjoy keeping a little gallery of pictures that I can look through periodically to inspire, uplift and bring a smile. Who are some of your favorite painters?