Intro to Drawing
Weds. Class
Spring 2011

The first artwork that I have chosen is the painting of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci. The Mona Lisa was one of the most well known artworks in the history of Art. This artwork was also one of the commonly reproduced painting ever and it also was made available in a selection of sizes. The Mona Lisa has a reason behind that name and that is because it is named for Lisa Del Giocondo. The painting was very popular and other artists’ drew cartoon oil paintings, self-portraits of themselves as Mona Lisa, and many more. On August 21st, 1911 this painting was stolen at a museum where it was displayed. However, in 1912, the painting was then found. The Mona Lisa was a painting that was made out of oil painting, on a commonly used wood panel. The painting was painted around the time period of 1503 through 1506, when Leonardo Da Vinci was living in Florence. Leonardo Da Vinci was born on April 15th, 1452 and died on May 2nd, 1519. He was an Italian Renaissance painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, scientist, and engineer. “It now hangs in the Louvre, in Paris, where it remains an object of pilgrimage in the 21st century. The poplar panel shows evidence of warping and was stabilized in 1951 with the addition of an oak frame and in 1970 with four vertical braces. Dovetails also were added, to prevent the widening of a small crack visible near the centre of the upper edge of the painting.”
Frida Kahlo de Rivera a famous female painter was born on July 6th, 1907 –and died on July 13th, 1954. Frida was a Mexican painter that was born in Coyoacán, Mexico City. She is most popularly known for her self-portraits, Frida’s paintings were most known for what she went through and the way she out spoke herself in her paintings. “Kahlo's work is remembered for its "pain and passion", and its intense, vibrant colors.” She first began painting due to a major accident that she had which triggered her to her first goal in her life, which was to become a doctor; she suffered form health problems. For that reason, Frida began painting out of boredom because she had nothing else to do, due to the accident that impaired her from reaching that goal. Her lifetime goal changed into becoming a painter, out of boredom she brought out her inner talent that was painting self-portraits and this changed her path in which she once had before the accident.
Both of the artists’ have similarities in their artwork. One of the similarities that both, the Mona Lisa and the self-portrait with monkey by Frida, is that both of the paintings were made with oil. Both paintings are self-portraits of either themselves or someone else. In addition, both of them are females in the paintings and both have a serious facial expression. As well, both of the paintings have the same face posture in this painting and have long hair. They also both show a type of “gaze” into their eyes in the painting.
Moreover, both of the