Thursday, January 31, 2019

Interview with a Russian Academic Master, Part 2

Today we continue the interview that we started yesterday with Professor Sergey Chubirko, who teaches the Russian Academic tradition at an art studio and atelier called “Chiaro-Scuro” in Florence, Italy.

Compositional drawing by Alex McCloskey
Gurney: How does the drawing instruction in the Russian Academy of Art differ from that of the other academies in Europe and the USA? 
Chubirko: As far as I know, in European and American academies the emphasis is placed mostly on optical methods, typically the “sight size” method of drawing, whereas for the Russian Academic method, a balanced combination of visual and analytical approaches are used. There is no doubt that we draw what our eye is able to see but we also add what our brain knows about the form, namely fundamentals of anatomy and basic knowledge of constructive drawing. In this particular case by construction I mean - translation of a very difficult language of the complex forms of reality, for example, the form of the human body, into the simple language of geometry.

Anatomy and structure study by Emanuele Capozza
Gurney: When you accept students into your academy who have been trained in Bargue-based ateliers, do they need to unlearn any habits or practices? What skills do they need to add? 
Chubirko: Usually students who studied in other ateliers already come with a well-trained eye and a good sense of tone. The skill they are lacking in is the analytical thinking behind drawing, to put it in other words - the constructive analysis and modelling of the form in terms of planes. So, this is something I try to teach them when they come to my studio. These additional tools allow the artist to be more creative, independent, and ultimately free in their own compositional endeavours.


What misconceptions do people have about French academic training? 
It is difficult for me to judge about misconceptions, but I can assume that they focus mostly on drawing from life and do not pay a lot of attention to drawing from imagination, which, in my opinion, is very important because it helps develop memory, thinking, inner vision and, as a result, it enables an artist to express thoughts, ideas and feelings of the artist freely in order to produce a compositional drawing.

Female portrait by Sergey Chubirko
You have said that when you're drawing from the model, "my personal vision as well as the image I would like to create is much more important than a model itself." How do you preserve your personal vision of the model and avoid being overwhelmed with alluring facts or details? How do you train students to develop their memory, their imagination, and their inner vision? 
Thank you, James, for remembering so well what I once said about drawing☺)!
Firstly, in order not to be distracted by different «alluring facts or details» during the work on a certain setup, we always start by making a sketch at the initial stage.

Main objectives set for a sketch are the following: capture and fix an impression from the model, capture movement and proportions, distribute general tonality or find a tonal solution. Even if while working on a setup something changes – drapes, face expression, hair, lighting, etc. – which is quite natural because the human model is never absolutely the same, then we should try and follow the initial idea fixed in the sketch. In this case the sketch serves as a stable reference and keeps us from being side-tracked during the long pose.

The second reason why I don’t explicitly copy the model is that each setup that I organize for the students should communicate a specific idea. For example, if the task is a portrait, the objective is not just to draw/copy the model but to create the character, to try and render the psychological state of the model; I also try to select some paraphernalia, attributes, accessories to match this character. Thirdly, to help students develop their imagination and inner vision I give a very simple yet efficient exercise – drawing from memory. We look at the model for 5 minutes attentively trying to memorise as many details as possible. Then the model leaves and we try to draw from our memory. This simplest exercise is also very good for learning to capture proportions quickly, correctly, and requires that the student understands reality.

Male portrait by Sergey Chubirko

What kind of work is the most important for students to do in their personal sketchbooks? Should they copy from other artists, or capture impressions from the real world? 
Copying of good sample works by old masters or contemporary artists as well as making daily sketches from real life is always useful! It should be done everywhere and whenever is possible! An artist should never part with a pencil and a sketchbook. Moreover, I would say one should develop a habit of recording their thoughts with a pencil in his/her hand!

Full figure drawing by Alex
McCloskey
Is there a danger in studying Art of the past too much rather than focusing on Nature? 
There is no such a danger! On the contrary, to study and copy the best sample works produced in the history of art is absolutely necessary for a proper art education, because any artist needs an ethical and an esthetical reference to follow. Apart from that, copying of the old master’s works helps develop good artistic taste and understand what “artistic selection” is.

How do you train your students to cope with the dynamic and changeable visual world outside the controlled conditions of the studio? 
Proper art education in a professional environment, and as well, the personality of the teacher is very important! However, we should not forget that there is an education and there is a self-education! I would say, for an artist self-education is not less important and is a lifelong process that never ends and continues even outside the studio, whereas work in the studio is only ideal, controlled, as you said, conditions for acquiring practical skills or professional tools. Those tools once acquired will serve an artist throughout his/her artistic career, but how these tools will be used after graduation is very much up to a person. It regards the choice of the subjects to depicts, the technique and manner to be working in etc.

Many of my former students managed to find their path in the world of art and I am sincerely happy for their success! Today at my studio “Chiaro-Scuro” I offer a tailor-made course on drawing and composition aimed at working artists – art teachers, illustrators, graphic/fashion designers, sculptors etc. - and all those who don’t have years to study in art academies but only have a limited time to improve their drawing skills necessary for professional purposes.

Male figure drawing by Alex McCloskey
What is the chief problem facing artists today who want to pursue realism or representational painting? 
The main problem, in my opinion, is that these days the commercial demand for realistic or representational art leaves much to be desired. But at the same time the situation is gradually changing for better: there is a noticeable rise of interest for traditional, figurative art – which is a good news for artists! It seems to me people are a little tired of destruction in art and, therefore, are eager to see the beauty and harmony of the human face and the human body again.

Actually, the human being is the most complicated and contradictory yet the most inspiring and beautiful subject to portray! Tell me what can be more interesting to depict? So, it is important to be able to portray this subject properly. That is the reason why we spend years to learn to draw and paint, don’t we?:))
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Previous blog post:
Russian Books on Academic Drawing and Painting
Part 1 of the interview with Professor Chubirko

Related Books on Amazon:


Fundamentals of Composition (English Edition
Fundamentals of Drawing (English Edition)
Fundamentals of Painting (English Edition)
Anatomy of Human Figure: The Guide for Artists (Tan cover, below left, Russian Language)
Academic Drawings and Sketches (Blue cover, below right, Russian Language)

For more info:
Chubirko's "Chiaro-Scuro" Studio 
Thanks, Shadrina Irina, for translating






Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Interview with a Russian Academic Master, Part 1

Sergey Chubirko runs an art studio and atelier called “Chiaro-Scuro” in Florence, Italy, where he still teaches the traditional Russian academic method of drawing and composition. A veteran of the Ilya Repin Academy in Saint-Petersburg he studied drawing under Prof. Mogilevtsev and has spent about 14 years as a classical art instructor in both Europe and China. 

He generously agreed to an interview.


Atmosphere at the Chiaro-Scuro art studio and atelier
Gurney: How would you describe the main types of drawings that you produce, and what purposes do they serve? For example, do you produce preliminary sketches, studies from the model, compositional layouts, copies from masters and candid drawings from life? 
Foreshortened figure drawing by Robert Calo
Chubirko: "There are different types of drawing made in various mediums. They are produced to meet different artistic needs and to serve different purposes.

1. Academic drawing from life – these are long drawings whose purpose is to conduct a profound study of form. Here it is especially important to attentively define the shadow line, which is typically the primary tool to describe form.

2. Compositional drawing or, so called tonal cartoon, is made as a preliminary sketch for an exact compositional painting. Its main function is to cover big surfaces with the right tonality considering tonal gradation.

3. Quick sketch from life. The main objectives set for a quick sketch from life are the following: to express one’s first impression from a model, to quickly capture proportions and movement, to develop in the maximum possible way at least one detail for the sake of which this sketch is actually produced.

4. Anatomy drawing is aimed at profound studying of the structure of the human body, its bones and muscles. Such drawing is oftentimes linear and quite schematic with only a minimal modeling of the form via the shadow line. Each of the above mentioned types of drawing can be performed with the help of line and/or tone. Depending on the medium chosen and the individual manner of performance, drawing can be loose (painting like) or more graphic."

Foreshortened figure drawing by Sergey Chubirko
Gurney: What tools do you use?

Chubirko: "At our atelier “Chiaro-Scuro” in Florence, Italy, we normally produce different types of drawing in various mediums and manners. For example, graphite pencil is very good for studying of the form at the initial stages of art education as it is more controllable and less smudgy. It also enables the artist to approach the correct tonality by gradually adding tone. While graphite is wonderful for small and middle-sized formats, soft mediums, such as sepia, sanguine, charcoal etc. are ideal for big formats because tone can be applied much faster. I only recommend soft mediums for more experienced draftsmen, those who already know how to model the form and develop the detail."

Gurney: How is your thought process different for each of these types of drawing? Do you regard some of your drawings as a means to an end or are they all an end in themselves? 

Chubirko: "The degree of completion depends on the purpose of the drawing. All drawings are important by themselves and are completed to the necessary degree. There is absolutely a different thought process for each category of drawing. For example, a drawing from imagination, which has an objective to visualise the idea of the artist, is different from, let’s say, a study from life, which is very much about depiction of nature as it is."
--- Part 2 tomorrow.
Chubirko's "Chiaro-Scuro" studio
Thanks, Shadrina Irina, for translating
Previously: 

Fundamentals of Composition (English Edition
Fundamentals of Drawing (English Edition)
Fundamentals of Painting (English Edition)

Related books:
Anatomy of Human Figure: The Guide for Artists (Tan cover, below left, Russian Language)

Academic Drawings and Sketches (Blue cover, below right, Russian Language)



Previous blog posts: 
• Russian Books on Academic Drawing and Painting



Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Virtual Salvador Dalí


An virtual CGI chatbot version of Salvador Dalí will welcome visitors this spring at the Dalí museum in Florida. "When I die, I won't die completely."  See the YouTube trailer, which nearly crosses the uncanny valley.
"The museum drew on hundreds of archival sources to teach an algorithm the artist’s mannerisms and appearance. Next, the team recruited an actor to deliver various monologues, most of which draw on quotes attributed to Dalí himself but also feature an array of what the statement describes as 'dynamic present-day messages.'"
Read the article at Smithsonian online.
Thanks, Susan!

Monday, January 28, 2019

Fête Galante

A fête galante is a depiction of a party where lavishly dressed couples in romantic poses enjoy each others' company in an outdoor garden setting.



"Fête galante" is really an art historical term that refers to a genre of painting.

Antoine Watteau, Embarkation for Cythera, 1717
It is exemplified by Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), whose images are full of delicate motion and fantasy.


A few 19th century artists such as Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891) took up the theme in a more realistic way.
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Wikipedia on Fête Galante
Images of Fête Galante on DuckDuckGo

Sunday, January 27, 2019

French Gouaches at Sotheby's

The upcoming sale of 19th century paintings now on exhibit at Sotheby's in New York has some interesting gouache paintings by French masters.

Jean-Baptiste-Édouard Detaille
(French 1848-1912), General Bonaparte
This portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte and his men by Detaille started out on a buff-toned board, with the figures carefully drawn first in pen and ink.

Jean-Baptiste-Édouard Detaille, 1901 
watercolor, gouache, pen and ink on paper  (29 3/4 by 22 in. 75.6 by 55.9 cm)
This close-up shows the level of detail and delicacy that's possible with gouache.

Eugène Galien-Laloue (French 1854 - 1941) La Gare de l'Estgouache on paper 7½ by 12¼ in.; 19 by 31 cm
Eugène Laloue painted this view of a train station using gouache with a relaxed, sketchy handling. Laloue was one of a group of Parisian boulevard specialists currently being previewed at Sotheby's. 

The show, which also includes works by Bouguereau, Dagnan-Bouveret, Mønsted, Alma Tadema, Montague Dawson, and Sánchez Perrier will be on view today through Thursday.

Saturday, January 26, 2019

Starting Loosely in Gouache




With gouache, you can start loose and find the drawing in the paint. (Link to video on Facebook)



Questions from my Instagram page:

Suzy asks: "Awesome ! I love how you’re brave to just paint no matter where you are! Are your gouache colors listed on your blog? I mix white with my watercolor."

My answer: I used terra rosa, yellow ochre, Rowney blue, and titanium white in a Pentalic watercolor sketchbook. You can use the white with the watercolor, too, but tube gouache gives you more "oomph."

Janet Lobardi asks: "Did she know you were painting her? Do you ask permission?"
My answer: She never looked over. If she had, I was ready to smile and say: "Hope you don't mind, I'm painting your portrait," and then show her. Whoever she is, she'd beautiful and I thank her.

Lisa Nelson says: "My biggest problem is that my water becomes cloudy and contaminated almost immediately, so I'd feel as if I'd constantly be spilling it out and needing fresh water in the field which isn't practical. With watercolor, the brush seems to release most of the pigment onto the paper, so the water doesn't get as dirty, but I don't find that this is the case with gouache. Or, perhaps it's just my user-error. Any tips to keep your water clean would be helpful."

My answer: My water gets fouled quickly too. Tip: When I want to change colors, I try to get most of the paint off into the rag so I don't swish all the pigment into the water. Problem was in this instance I didn't have a rag, just half a Kleenex. Had a big mess to clean up in the Grand Central bathroom, and they don't have paper towels there either!

Yay Mukund asks: "In gouache, is it typically easier to lighten dark colors or darken light colors?"
My answer: I'm not quite sure what you mean, but with gouache you can do either of those things, but the key is to try to hit the right value with each stroke, and use an absolute minimum of back-and-forth noodling with the brush, or you'll get a mess.

skyredoubt asks: "Who was doing the videography all this time? Could not have been you, being busy painting!"

My answer: My left hand was unemployed, so I just gave it a job.

Eliza asks: "I get lost between the part where you’ve practically darkened the whole figure and looks like there’s no way to recover from that, and then you bring out the details and all is resolved with the lights. My head can’t get round that. I think that’s what is stopping me from doing more painting. Scares the heck out of me!"
Gouache is so forgiving. You can fix any mistake and keep correcting. The only thing is you have to put down a stroke and leave it. If you want to change it, just wait until that last stroke is dry. 

Cavatroop asks: "Is that tube gouache that you let dry in a pan?"

No, it's tube gouache. I just squeezed it out on the side flanges of my watercolor set. I did use a touch of the transparent watercolor red over the neck scarf.
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Friday, January 25, 2019

Mixing Blue


I love mixing a cool pool of blue. (Watch on Facebook)

Having a range of pre-mixed oil colors, rather than trying to mix each stroke, saves time and allows for more generous use of paint. 

I just finished three studio paintings and I shot long-take ASMR-type coverage. Will share more in the spring.

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Deadline Today for Submitting to Spectrum


Today is January 24, the deadline for entering the Spectrum Annual of Contemporary Fantastic Art. It's a prestigious collection of fantasy and science fiction artwork, concept art, paleoart, comic art, and sculpture.

It's easy to enter because all you have to do is email them a digital file. And the fee isn't too much: just $20 for a single piece, and $40 for a series of five or fewer.

The jury is an impressive group of professionals in the field, including Kei Acedera, Wesley Burt, Bobby Chiu, Edward Kinsella III, and Colin and Kristine Poole

If your piece is accepted, they send you a large hardbound book with your work printed inside it along with the other accepted entries.
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More entry info on Spectrum's official site
On Amazon — Spectrum 25: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Matt's Questions

Blog reader Matt Jungmann had a few questions:


What are the biggest mistakes that novice artists make when starting out?
• Everyone makes mistakes. That's OK. The only mistake is not recognizing them.

What technical aspects of creating art do you still struggle with?
• Cleaning brushes. I run a death camp for brushes and they always end up stiff and dead.

Do you have a favorite instructional book or resource?
• The Andrew Loomis books. He delivered trainloads of gold from the Golden Age.

If you could offer a young artist only one book or resource to take them as far as it could, what would that be?
• The Famous Artists Course (mid-1950s). If you go through that and put it to practice, you'll go far.

What’s the one thing you wish you would have spent more time developing as a young artist/student?
• I don't worry about that. I got a good mix of experience early on, and I'm still always learning.

Who was your most impressive teacher?
Ted Youngkin, perspective teacher at Art Center, gave good info and set high standards.

Are there common mistakes you still see among artists at the highest level?
• I'm not looking for mistakes from my fellow artists. If anything, I'm amazed by the quality that's out there.

If you had only four weeks to train a young artist to win an art competition, and $1,000 of your own money was on the line for them to win, what would the training process look like? Would the training process look any different if you had eight weeks?
• Just alternate between 1. Sketching from life, 2. Working from imagination, and 3. Copying from masters.

Previously: How to Clean Out a Brush

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

What do you draw to loosen up?

Tom May, writing today in Creative Bloq blog, asked a bunch of working artists what they draw to warm up or loosen up. My choice is the "diner still life."

Tom writes: "When you're eating out, the time you spend waiting for your food is a great opportunity to get creative," says artist and best-selling author James Gurney

“Diner still life is my favourite thing to draw to get my mojo on,” he says. “With the variety of surfaces, such as chrome, glass and paper, it has all sorts of reflective and refractive qualities, which transfer to my imaginative work. Plus I'm working with a time limit, as it only takes them 15 minutes to bring the scrambled eggs.”

This involves a combination of drawing and painting in a Pentalic watercolour sketchbook. “I start with water-soluble coloured pencils, and add washes of watercolor and gouache, often with a limited palette. I generally add final accents and written notes with a fountain pen filled with brown ink, and sometimes I come back into it with the colored pencils, or even chalk. 


“With the matte surface of gouache, you can draw over it and get the best of all worlds,” he continues. “This combination of tools allows the linear marks that the pencils can provide, as well as the accurate values and light effects that you can get with paint. Also, unlike oils, this technique is unobtrusive, has no odor, is small enough to fit on a diner table, and is fast.”

Other artists say they like to start off by drawing: eyes, passersby, grasses, geometric blocks, and fan art.
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Read More: Drawing ideas: No more staring at a blank canvas: Struggling for drawing ideas? Leading artists and illustrators offer their suggestions by Tom May

Monday, January 21, 2019

A Baby Who Draws and a Horse Who Paints


In this video a baby appears to draw cartoon animals. Link to YouTube.

In my household I'm in the minority in believing this video is real. My wife and son think the video is fake, and that it's an animatronic hand with a baby propped up just watching the animatronic hand draw.

I disagree. I believe it's real. She has an unusual pen grip, but she makes micro movements with it, and she seems focused and deliberate, checking new shapes against the shapes she made on the other drawings. For a moment she's distracted by an onscreen noise and she pauses the drawing before refocusing. There's no way you could design an animatronic that sophisticated.

Most kids don't draw this well until they're five or six, but this kid appears to be two. It's hard to tell for sure. If you had a four year old who was precocious at drawing, and you dressed them up to look a few years younger, you could make people think she was just a toddler. What do you think?



This video tells the story of a horse who paints with the help of his owner / trainer. The horse was an injured race horse who was rescued.

He learned to hold a brush between his lips and make abstract marks. The sales of the paintings funded the horse's medical care and gave meaning to the man who cared for him. Link on YouTube

The video is beautifully produced on every level, well shot, with good audio and thoughtful editing. It gives us a window into the stories not only of the horse but also of the people around the horse.

Sunday, January 20, 2019

A Sunlit Interior by Carl Holsøe


Carl Holsøe (Danish 1863 - 1935) captured a remarkable feeling of light in this interior. 

Carl Holsøe, The Sunlit Room, 54 x 48 cm. (21.25 x 18.88 in.) ©Bonhams
What strikes me is that he did so with a very limited range of colors. There appears to be very little blue. Essentially it's just black, white, and brown.

The enlarged image below shows how impressionistic the painting is in its close-up detail.



 The light dissolves the forms in the window, on the table. And the light overwhelms the local colors on the rug and on the floor tiles. The base of the chair and the little table are soft and downplayed, and the darks are not too dark in the far room.


Holsøe was a friend of Vilhelm Hammershøi, who did similar subdued interiors.
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More about 
Carl Holsøe on Wikipedia
Thanks, Christa Zaat

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Simplification in Cartooning

The Famous Artists Cartoon Course uses a lawn mower to demonstrate the importance of simplification.


"Here is a photo of a power mower, straight from your morgue [photo reference file]."


"Here it is drawn in pencil and ink line. It has been simplified a bit, but it's still not as simple as it could be."


"Ah! This is what we have been working for—your reader will have no doubt as to what this is, even though we have cut out about seventy percent of the detail — and it will reproduce better."

"Of course you could spend hours copying every detail, putting in every nut and bolt. This would be great if you were selling lawn mowers — but you are not. All you want is to let your reader know that it is a lawn mower. Maybe you're the type that's just nuts about drawing lawn mowers — don't get carried away. Simplify, simplify and let your reader's imagination fill in the details. If you draw the lawn mower in complete detail, and the other props in the panel are simplified, your lawn mower will be out of key with the rest of the drawing."
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Friday, January 18, 2019

The Sad Fate of Konstantin Kryzhitsky

Konstantin Kryzhitsky (1858-1911) Early Morning in the Fields, 1897
A Ukrainian-born Russian painter named Konstantin Kryzhitsky (1858-1911) killed himself when it was found out that he copied from a photo.

Konstantin Kryzhitsky Early Snow
According to art historian Natalya Gorlenko: "It turned out that Kryzhitsky used a still [photo] in his painting called “A Whiff of Spring.”

Konstantin Kryzhitsky, A Whiff of Spring, 1910
"Another painter, Yakov Brovar, used the same still in his piece “A View in Bialowieza Forest”. The resemblance in both images struck the eye, and a debate in the newspapers ensued."

Konstantin Kryzhitsky Early Spring
"Kryzhitsky was accused of plagiarism and, unable to withstand the disgrace, killed himself." Wikipedia says: "His maid found him in his office, where he had hung himself and left a suicide note."

Konstantin Kryzhitsky Before the Rain
Gorlenko continues: "Usually, artists were disinclined to reveal that they made use of photographs in the course of their work on paintings, and even mentions of photography with respect to their art are hard to find. It became a matter of general consensus that the painter disgraced himself when resorting to photography. And yet photography was a permanent fixture in artistic activities, and painters could no longer ignore it."
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Wikipedia on Konstantin Kryzhitsky
Read Natalia Gorlenko's full article in Tretyakov Gallery Magazine: "Anticipations of Photography. Notes on painting and photography in Russia" 
The info about Kryzhitsky comes from Grigory. "The Fate of the Artist: Remembering Konstantin Kryzhitsky." Kiev, 1966. Pp. 62-64.)

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Skyfish Rods

"Skyfish rods" are strange visual artifacts that have appeared on people's digital photos. 


When you enlarge them, they appear to be some sort of multi-winged flying fish. Sometimes they appear to have a dark body and four or six diaphanous wings. 

In reality it's a familiar insect whose wingbeat action is stretched out along their path of movement.


Wikipedia says: "Some paranormal proponents claim them to be extraterrestrial lifeforms, extradimensional creatures, or very small UFOs. However, these artifacts appear naturally in video and outdoor photography as the result of an optical illusion due to motion blur, especially in interlaced video recording, and are typically afterimage trails of flying insects and their wingbeats."
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Rods (Optics) on Wikipedia
More examples and explanation

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Wilhelm Simmler's Paintings

Wilhelm Simmler (1840-1914) was a German illustrator and easel painter.

Wilhelm Simmler (1840–1914) Mountaineers.
Oil on canvas, 48 x 58 cm
Here, two hunters in the Alps pause for a smoke after shooting a deer. Simmler trained at the Düsseldorf Academy, which emphasized a theatrical, storytelling approach to picture-making.

Wilhelm Simmler, A Flower Seller in Cairo
He was known for military paintings, panoramas, storytelling illustrations, and exotic paintings of the Near East. This flower seller in Cairo wears a tight, striped dress and calls out her offer of flowers.

Wilhelm Simmler, A Sunny Day at the Beach, 1900
60.6 x 98.7 cm | 23 3/4 x 38 3/4 in.
Simmler was also a plein-air painter, and was skilled at capturing people in everyday situations. In this one a mother knits in the shade as her kids play in the sand.

Wilhelm Simmler, Poachers Surprised
Two mask-wearing poachers stop dragging a deer through the forest when they think they have been spotted.

Wilhelm Simmler, On the Tightrope, 1914, 11 x 11 cm.
This gem of a sketch, about 4.5 inches square, appears to have been done from life as a tightrope walker moves and dances in front of him.

The Crossing of the Curonian Lagoon, 1679. Fresco for the Ruhmeshalle Berlin
by Wilhelm Simmler, ca. 1891. 
Here's a mural painting of a sleigh ride across a frozen lake. Unfortunately, this painting and many of his murals and original works were destroyed by bombing in World War II.
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Wilhelm Simmler on Wikipedia (German language)
Wikimedia Commons on Simmler, including engravings of his illustrations