Galerie Verdun Art News

Issue for April 2, 2005

New Larger Images for Viewing Details

Do you really get to see what you are buying?

As you may have noticed, most art gallery sites don't provide images of their artwork much larger than thumbnails. When they do, it's often only a little larger. Well, if you're like me, that gets rather aggravating. I want to see the details of the painting and the texture of the paint! That's what we want for our visitors, so we added the option to view a high-resolution image (up to 1200 by about 960 pixels) of any artwork in our catalog. You're no longer limited in what you can see in those 'big thumbnails'.

In addition to the high-resolution images, we added the capability to 'click and pan' (Only for Internet Explorer 5 and above, Firefox users have only the scroll bars available). This allows you to see all the details across the entire surface of the painting - it's as though you are holding the painting in your own hands.

Giclee Prints: Coming Soon!

Fine art archival-quality giclee prints will soon be added to our online gallery.

The rich, vibrant color reproduction, the fine detail and the archival qualities of fine giclee prints will soon be available from Galerie Verdun. Check back soon because that painting you really liked (but was too large for the space you had in mind for it) may soon be available as a giclee. Also, we realize that some collectors prefer the look of matted and framed art.

Most of these prints will be signed and numbered limited edition prints but we may also offer a few open edition giclee prints as well.

What's up with the Thumb?

Trivial facts: Why does an artist hold up his thumb to his subject while painting?

Many people are familiar with this cliche and most have at some time or other mimicked an 'artiste' at work. Most of us, though, don't have a clue what the upheld thumb is all about.

Well, it's actually a crude measuring device for drawing! First the artist would hold his thumb up with his arm outstretched towards the subject. He would then align the top of his thumb with some part of the object he was drawing. Then he would position his thumb close to his canvas and mark it with the 'measurement' he took from the scene. He repeats the process with other parts in the scene. When an object is shorter, he might move his index finger up along the thumb to adjust his measurement. (Of course many artists get really 'high-tech' and use a pencil or a paintbrush to take these readings.)

As he progresses, if he always held his thumb at fairly the same distance to the scene and to the canvas, he will have faithfully transferred the subject to his canvas in the right proportions.