Eye Candy for Today: Edith Hayllar’s Five o’clock tea

Five o’clock tea, Edith Hayllar (1860–1948), oil on canvas, 18 x 14 in. (46 x 35 cm). Image is from a 2011 Christie’s auction. I assume the original is in a private collection.

My eye imediately goes to the the almost sihlouetted woman sitting at the top of a small flight of stairs, her arm around a curled up dog (who I presume is waiting for her tea companion). I’m drawn by the contrast between her shadowed face and the brighter ground, as well as the contrast of the white flowers on her hat against the darker foliage behind.

Lines and Color

Posted at 2026-10-23 01:58:45 | Illustrations | read on

Eye Candy for Today: Andrew Wyeth’s Flat Boat

Flat Boat, Andrew Wyeth, watercolor, drybrush on paper; 22 x 29 inches (56 x 74 cm). Image is from Sotheby’s past auction. Original is likely in a private collection.

Another of Andrew Wyeth’s deceptively simple drybrush watercolors, singing with texture, harmonized with muted browns and grays, sharpened with striking value contrasts.

Just wonderful.

NOON by Alex Andreev

Concept art for the TV series "Noon," based on the Strugatsky brothers' novella
"The Beetle in the Anthill"

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NOON

Concept art for the TV series "Noon," based on the Strugatsky brothers' novella "The Beetle in the Anthill"

Eye Candy for Today: Rembrandt’s Sleeping Puppy etching

Sleeping Puppy, Rembrandt van Rijn, etching and drypoint, 1 1/2″ x 3″ (4 x 8 cm). This print is in the collection of the Morgan Library and Museum, NY. From their page, you can zoom or download the large image.

This tiny etching of a sleeping puppy, hardly the expected subject for a Rembrandt etching, has an intamacy and warm feeling, leaving me to wonder if it was actually Rembrandt’s own dog.

Look at how Rembrandt’s seemingly casual hatching and cross hatching follows the contour of the dog’s body, and particularly the more sharply defined elements of the head.

The Village

Concept art for the TV series "The Village" based on the story by Kir Bulychev

Concept art for the TV series "The Village" based on the story by Kir Bulychev by Alex Andreev

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Debbie Tsoi

Debbie Tsoi is a concept artist based in Sweden. I don’t know if the exampl images I’ve shown here here are for specific projects, or for her own enjoyment.

Her work can be dramatic, but it often subtle, with a nuanced play of light and shadow. Her style has elements in common with certain genres of anime related art, and her environments in particular have a nice sense of some of the better anime background paintings.

Her subjects are sometimes fanciful, and she plays with unorthodox compositions, often placing elements and characters very much at the bottom edge of...

A few Autumnal paintings

OK, so I missed the 2026 Autumnal Equinox by two days, but I can still celebrate. Here are a few paintings of Autumn landscapes, mostly from the 19th century.

You can find many of them larger from this Wikimedia Commons page (scroll down and notice the link to “next page” at bottom).

Others you can look up easily enough.

(Images above, links are to Lines and Colors posts): Albert Bierstadt, Jasper Francis Cropsey, Ekaterina Junge, Frederic Edwin Church, H.A. Brendekilde, George Inness, Isaac Levitan, Claude Monet, Peder Mork Monsted, Alfred Smith, Tadeusz Styka, Frits Thaulow, Walter Moras.

Eye Candy for Today: M.J. Galt pencil portrait

Alex, by M.J. Galt, pencil on paper. I don’t know the size. Link is to image file page on Wikimedia Commons. Original is in the Library of Congress.

There is a character to this drawing, perhaps a feeling of confidence and definitive structure, that make me confident that it is an exacting portrait, an undeniable likeness.

I found the descriptions and accreditation confusing enough that I’m unsure; but I think the subject is the artist’s brother.

The face is both subtly modeled in the areas in light and sharply defined with value contrast on the shadowed side.

The artist...