The post Yin amp; Yang Principles In Fine Art is republished from Francesco Galle Fine Artist Do you know anything about Shiatsu? Its a massage technique developed in the 20th century in Japan by Tokujiro Namakoshi but it has its roots in a much older technique from the 700s ad. I studied the art in 1995 and a big part of it was learning about the yin amp; yang sign. This was a symbol I had seen all over the place but never really understood it. One of the most important elements of the yin amp; yang symbol is the idea that there is no light without darkness and no darkness without light. Light is the absence of darkness and darkness the absence of light. Its a harmonious dance the two form a pair. There are many harmonious pairs like this you can find. There can be no sky without the ground no happy without sad no peace without conflict no speed without stillness no good without evil. Each of these is a part of its partner and cant exist on its own. At the same time its not just a hard line split down the middle. Its a curved line showing that the difference between light and dark isnt always clearly defined. Theres also a dot of white in the black and black in the white. This is to remind us that we need a bit of everything in our body soul and mind. At its most ecstatic peaks your life is not without sadness and in your darkest moments there are always bits of joy to be found. You can never be 100 rid of one side or the other and you wouldnt want to. Theyre both necessary in order to live. I found this concept profound in its simplicity and when I create art I try and keep it in mind. Take this illustration below of a bike done in ink brush. The first thing you might notice is that theres a lot missing from this painting. You may not even notice right away what this painting is supposed to be. But your mind fills in the blanks pulling the missing pieces out of your memory and piecing together what this person riding a bike should look like. What I like most about illustrations like this is where your mind goes when you try to invent this bike rider which youve never seen before. This man with a thick moustache and hat who is he what does he look like? Is he Japanese Italian Spanish? Is he tall short? Young old? What did I have in mind when I created this piece? It doesnt matter. You can look at this illustration and see someone completely different than I did. Thats what makes art like this unique and personal. The lesson here I think is to trust your instinct. It can take you to a place youve never been before and allow you to fill in the missing shadow pieces with something familiar to take you to the next step. But at the same time remember that that bit of darkness is an essential part of every tranquil moment. Contact Francesco Galle If you enjoyed this fine Toronto modern art print there are many more to see at the link here. Feel free to browse around at the rest of my art for sale on my site. If youre interested in contacting me for commissioned work or with any questions feel free to do so using the information below. [raw] Until next time Francesco Gall Francesco Galle Art441 Montrose AveTorontoONM6G 3H2 - https://goo.gl/maps/WaVgeKK2ynr Francesco Gall is an established painter illustrator and graphic artist in Canada and his native Italy. Contact him for more information on his work. [/raw] Get additional tips about world artisits art and the beauty of art visit: Toronto artists and painters

Italian Art Prints As A Way To Preserve The Past is courtesy of Francesco Galle Fine Art

The nonnas and nonnos of Little Italy are my roots.

They’re my past and my present.

They’re why I am who I am today.

I see a nonna in the neighbourhood, and feel right at home, as though that’s where I belong.

Maybe she’s wearing an old coat she’s sewn up dozens of times.

Maybe she’s pushing a grocery cart to the store to fill with fresh produce.

Maybe she’s alone, or maybe she has a nonno with her, an old gentleman who somehow manages to still look dapper despite the old, faded shirt and slacks he’s been wearing since the 70’s.

These nonni have been fixtures in Little Italy, in my hometown Serra San Bruno in Calabria, and anywhere else you can find more than a handful of Italians. They haven’t changed much for as long as I can remember. Take a look at the above two photos. Both were taken a few weeks ago, but if you compare them with one taken fifty, or even a hundred years ago, would you even notice the difference?

At the same time, these nonni are a vanishing breed, and that makes me sad. I use their presence to remind me who I am, and without them I’m afraid I’ll forget.

My hometown, Serra San Bruno, is a tiny village a thousand feet up a mountain, and the place was full of nonnas and nonnos walking around, so in essence they are my village both physically and spiritually.

This is part of why it’s so cathartic to paint these people for me.

By creating this painting, it’s a way to preserve their memory and the feeling they instill in me. It helps keep me grounded in a world of increasing uncertainty.

The photograph you see above is part of another project of mine as well – taking photographs of nonnas and nonnos on the street through my rear view mirror to symbolize their vanishing.

These people will never know how much they meant to me, someone they’ve never met.

Contact Francesco Galle

If you enjoy this work, there’s a lot more like it available in the custom Italian art prints to buy online section of my website. I’m also available for commissioned work.

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Cesaria Evora’s Voice Inspired This Toronto Art Print was first published on Francesco Galle Fine Artist

Have you ever listened to Cesaria Evora sing?

Born in 1941 in Mindel, Cape Verde, she was raised by her father, a part time musician who would play in local sailors’ bars. When her father passed away, she was sent to live in an orphanage. After living there a few years, someone persuaded her to start singing in the sailors’ bars, which she did throughout the 60’s and 70’s. In 1985, she was invited to sing in Lisbon. While there, she was discovered by an international record producer, and, well, the rest is history.

Cesaria’s voice is a windy day, the gentle breeze brushing against your face and body. She’s the calm before the storm, her voice one moment as high as a mountain, then next as low as the shells on the beach under your feet. Like many of the musicians I love, her poetry and music can be found quoting Rimbaud or James Joyce, but at the same time would be right at home in the back alleys of any city.

It was her beautiful voice that inspired me to create the piece you see below you, which I called "Sezara Avora".

After a long night out, I arrived at home and sat for a while, listening to Cesaria. She brought me back down to Earth, but at the same time I was soaring through the air. She calmed me, making me feel as though I were on a mountain slow dancing with the one I love in the moonlight.

I felt the music playing beside me, and it met with my soul. I let it take the lead, and it drew me into this painting and this moment.

Listen to the song below, and if the mood strikes you, take a look at the painting while you do. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did creating it.

How To Find Your Creative Muse In A Portrait was first published to http://francescogalle.com/

When it comes to creating art, one of my favourite processes is that of creating a portrait from a photograph. Studying someone else’s features, becoming familiar with every millimetre of them, is a shockingly intimate experience. You really feel like you know someone better than ever after such a process, even if you’ve never met them before.

You’re left alone with only your creative soul and the space between your eyes and the photo of the person you’re painting. Suspending any other thoughts, pushing aside the day’s worries, you enter a meditative state.

When I’m not creating art, I teach meditation, and when I’m helping someone find their ground and slow down, this is the place I try to lead them to. This is where everything creative lives. Muses, fairies, forms, whatever you want to call it. This is where you find that creative spark. To open the door, all you need to do is slow down, and be aware of your breathing.

You can get this sort of experience with all sorts of painting in general, but most of my favourite work is done in portrait. Take the portraits below; one of Mick Jagger, the other of Mr. Thomas J. Bata.

Portrait of Mick Jagger

This portrait of Mr. Jagger was done with espresso and ink, which is a style you’ll find common to my work as a Toronto portrait artist. In this, I tried to portray Mick as loose and fun, which is what we all know he’s like – at least as far as his public persona is concerned.

Compare that one with the portrait of Mr. Thomas J. Bata of the Bata Shoe Company, below.

Do you notice the difference? With Mr. Bata, I focused more on some finer details in his face, showing him as a more respectable, traditionally business-minded person, in contrast with the classic idea of rock ‘n’ roll freedom and debauchery we all know and love from Mick. You might also notice a little pair of shoes in the espresso splash – shoes were Mr. Bata’s life, after all.

To come to these conclusions, though, I had to sit down and feel the very subtle nuances of life and personality in each portrait.

Contact Francesco Galle

If you like these portraits, I’m available for commissioned work. You can find more of my work on this website, and my prints are available on my other website, linked above.

Feel free to contact me using the information below.

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The article Why Do People Like Art? was first published to Francesco Galle Fine Artist

Why do people like art?

Why do you like the art you like?

These are questions everyone interested in art has contemplated at one point or another.

As an artist, I’m faced with a similar question – why do people like MY art?

I’ve gotten a lot of interest in my illustration work over the years, and while I appreciated it, I never quite understood why. I’m hardly the only person doing Toronto canvas illustration art prints, so why is it that people love my work in particular? What was it that gave my illustrations more appeal than some of my other work?

After considering this for a while, I came to the conclusion that it’s the simplicity.

For example, take a look at this piece below. I call this “Aggie’s Bike”, because my sister Aggie has always loved this particular piece.

The drawing is fairly rudimentary, and the colours are simple, but through this it manages to get to the base emotion behind the scene.

I think that’s why I love working in black and white as well. Simple art can say as much as more complex work. Sometimes a complex piece can be nice, but simpler art can remind us that the space we give ourselves in life is as important as the things we use to fill our life. This is true with any art, whether it’s music, food, or visual art.

My good friend Chung Gong, a Korean brush painter, taught me to recognize this. His paintings are incredibly simple, sometimes just a few brush strokes, but are filled with so much emotion. I’ve always admired that about his work.

Art like this can have an important lesson for us in life, as well. In the modern world, we try to fill every spare second we can with television, the internet, or checking our phones for the latest update on whatever. But if we can take some time to exhale, calm the hell down, and just appreciate life for a moment, we might be healthier and happier.

Contact Francesco Galle

If you like my work, you can find a lot more of it available on my website. You can purchase it in many different sizes and on many different types of media.

You can also contact me for commissioned work, or if you have any questions about anything.

Find additional info about world artisits, art and the beauty of art, visit: Toronto canvas art by Francesco Galle

The post Italian Icon Series: Sofia Loren was originally published on Francesco Galle Fine Art

There’s nobody like Sofia Loren. Not before, and not since. I’ve always had a thing for the period in time where she was at her height.

She’s been a frequent theme in my art over the years. I don’t know how many times I’ve painted her, but I always find myself coming back to this one. It shows her sexy, sophisticated nature.

Here I’ll show you some of my process so you can see the transformation from outline to finished work.

First, I drew Sofia on paper and used a projector to project it onto the canvas. From there, I slowly start to draw it with pen until it looks like a finished pen drawing.

Next, I start with ink and a brush.

If the mood strikes me, I’ll use a bit of coloured ink as well. I generally enjoy the feel of black and white drawings though, as you can probably tell based on the rest of my work.

Seeing Sofia in black and white on such a grand scale, to me, is beautiful. I think that’s why I like to paint in this manner and in this size. I’ll probably be painting Sofia again, just saying.

Contact Francesco Galle

If you like this painting of Sofia, there are many others like it on my Toronto art prints store website. Feel free to look around, and contact me with any questions, concerns, or if you’re interested in commissioned work.

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Canadian Tree Art Prints: Pine Tree On A Rock is courtesy of http://francescogalle.com/

Most landscape painters do their paintings based off of a photo. Or in person, after a long trek up a mountain or along a river.

I’m no different, usually. But this piece today is unique in my collection, because it’s the only one of all my Canadian landscape art prints that I painted entirely from memory.

I’ve always loved the landscape up north. Most plants thrive the best when they have soft dirt with lots of sunshine, and yet somehow the Canadian shield, covered in thick, dense rock, manages to provide a home for millions of enormous trees. They manage to find a crack in a giant rock and make it their home, sprouting up until it grows to become an old tree.

The rock itself, other trees, and even the wildlife can affect how it’s shaped, but what strikes me most is the wind. The tree grows as though caressed by the wind for many years, guided into shape like a bonsai tree is guided by the wires its caretaker wraps around it.

Painting in this style is kind of the same. Laying the canvas on the floor, I quickly painted the general shape I’m looking for using water only. From there, I poured ink and coffee on the area with the water, and then, like the wind and rain pushing a river, I let the ink and coffee mix together and flow across the page. The result is what you see below.

Contact Francesco Galle

If you like what you see here, feel free to browse the other work on my website. You can purchase this print itself, as well as many other Canadian art prints I have available.

You can also feel free to contact me directly for commissioned work or if you have any questions.

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The post The Story Behind The Print: The Church Of Serra San Bruno is courtesy of Francesco Galle Fine Artist

I took a trip to the Art Gallery of Ontario with my mom recently. Being a deeply religious person (as many Italians of her generation are), many of the older works affected her profoundly.

In particular, it reminded her of our hometown, Serra San Bruno, and of one of the pieces I had created (you can find this piece for sale as part of my website featuring art for sale in Toronto).

The artwork transported her to another time and place, when she was younger and more carefree. The stress and pressures of life hadn’t yet weighed on her – I was glad she had an opportunity to experience this.

Comparing this with much of the art of our times, I couldn’t help but feel like something was lacking. What we see today is often about creating an installation in a gallery, accompanied by a full explanation of what we’re supposed to feel and think about the piece. This is art a la carte, spoon fed to us. Instead of using it as a way to explore our own feelings, we’re told what to think and feel.

Now think of some of the beautiful art passed down to us from the old masters. We’re left to contemplate what this art can mean and how it can affect our lives, which creates a more personal experience. And it has nothing to do with how accurately art recreates reality – some of my favourite artists, like Willem de Kooning, do their best work in abstract. You’ll find several abstract pieces in my own body of work.

When creating my own work, I look to the feeling created by these old masters. Hopefully you get a taste of the feeling my mom did at the AGO when you look at this piece. It’s an illustration of the church in our hometown, Serra San Bruno.

Contact Francesco Galle

To find out more about the prints I have available, browse this website. You’ll find a variety of prints inspired by Italy, Canada, love, and much more.

You can also contact me using the information on this page to find out more about my process, as well as to talk about a specific commissioned project you may have.

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Story Behind The Print: The Polar Bear Canadian Flag was originally published on www.francescogalle.com

I’ve spent my life surrounded by Italian culture. Having been born in Calabria, I moved at six years old to Toronto’s Little Italy, where I still live today. As Toronto has one of the biggest populations of Italians outside of Italy, you could say I never really left.

But that doesn’t mean the culture didn’t change. Life in Canada helped shape the artist I am today. Especially the landscape – you’ll find one of the most consistent themes in my art is the Canadian art prints. As a Toronto artist, I love the city, but it’s the natural landscape of Canada that has really touched me.

In particular, the polar bear has always struck me with its beauty. You can find polar bears in Greenland, Russia, Alaska, etc. but to me there’s something so distinctly Canadian about them. It was this that inspired me to make this piece.

Taking the colours of the Canadian flag, I sort of inverted it to create a theme that’s both expressive of the beauty of the polar bear combined with a dash of national identity.

You can find this print for sale on my website, as well as many other Canadiana art prints.

Contact Francesco

If you’re interested in commissioning me for your own project, or to find out more about what I do, feel free to contact me using the contact form on this site.

You can also feel free to browse my site for an overview of the prints and originals I have available.

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The article Italian Art Prints: Commissioned Work For Tutto Pronto is available on Francesco Galle Fine Art

Aside from the Italian art prints and other prints you may know me for, I also do commissioned work.

A few months ago, I was commissioned by Tutto Pronto, a lovely Italian restaurant in North York, to do a piece of unique artwork.

The owner, Anna Maria, had a special connection with and love for doors, so I thought for a while about how to incorporate doors into her piece.

She especially liked old doors, and I can understand why. They do give off a beautiful vibe. But how could I pick up on that in her piece?

After mulling over it for a while, it came to me. Why bother trying to capture the beauty of an old door in your artwork when you can use an old door as the canvas in the first place?

Sometimes the simplest answer is the best.

Anyway, I went down to the local Habitat For Humanity store, and picked up three old doors to use.

For this piece, I wanted to work like the painters of old did, so I set the doors against my garage wall and painted by firelight. You can get a glimpse into my process here:

The space in which I worked. Inspiring in its medieval feel.

The family beginning to take shape

Coming together...

The finished product on the wall at Tutto Pronto!

Other than doors, this piece is inspired by old posters from the 50s in Italy. These posters were used to advertise the food and liquor you see in a lot of restaurants today. I wanted to recreate that style without being too obvious, so instead of food I illustrated one of my favourite Italian moments – “Family on a Vespa”.

Starting with pencil on the doors, I then outlined it with pen and then slowly layered on the acrylic paint using a pastel version of the colours of the Italian flag.

Contact Francesco Galle

If you like this piece, you can get a print of it on this website on almost any canvas you can think of (except doors). You’ll also find many of my other prints available, inspired by Italian culture, Canadian landscapes, love, and much more.

If you’re interested in commissioning me for work, feel free to contact me using the information on this site.

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