Ruth's World

Yes, Adolf Hitler...that guy who played the pivotal role and was the center of Nazism, the start of World War II and the Holocaust. Can you imagine him spending his day off in front of an easel?...with his paintbrush horizontally held between his teeth, beneath that infamous moustache while carefully filling his water holder before placing the blank canvas on his tripod stand? Apparently, he painted hundreds of works and used to sell them to earn a living during the lean years of his youth. He also used to colour and sell postcards featuring scenes of Vienna. He aspired to becoming an artist but it was felt that he had very little talent and was rejected on two occasions by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. He later served in World War I at 25 years of age and brought his paints along with him. He spent his inactive hours at the front painting. During World War II, he used to paint watercolours of war-torn buildings.  I wonder what type of a man he would have turned out, and

So here it is...King John's Castle...finished at last! As I said in an earlier post, it's a present for my mother-in-law and I really hope she likes it.  I enjoyed painting this as it was my first attempt at painting an old building.  I hope you like it too. It's an acrylic painting reproduction of W.H. Bartlett's drawing, originally titled "The Castle Of Limerick" and published in 'The Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland'  circa 1884; a publication illustrated with 120 engravings by Bartlett.  Read on for more interesting information that I researched about Bartlett and King John's Castle. William Henry Bartlett W.H.Bartlett 1809 - 1854 Bartlett was born in London in 1809 and became one of the foremost illustrators of Topography of his generation.  He travelled extensively throughout Britain, Europe, The Balkans, Middle East, Canada and the USA.  He is best known for his numerous steel plate engravings.  He produced Sepia