Welcome to February! This is a busy month at The Art League, what with the Patrons’ Show Fundraiser, followed by the Student/Faculty Show. It’s a quick month, too, so take a short break with these quick artful links:

Look at this

Wanna see what a 10,000 year old crayon looks like?

Fast-forwarding a few millennia: If you’re looking to up your Instagram game — and really, who isn’t — take a look at these seven artists for inspiration, courtesy of the Abundant Artist.

A reminder: did you download the Google Arts & Culture App just for the selfie feature, then put it away again? Give it another look.

Read this

In case you missed it: back in October, the Obamas announced the artists who will paint their portraits for the National Portrait Gallery: Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald. Here’s the New York Time’s and the Washington Post’s takes on these portrait artists.

Wiley, based in Brooklyn, and Sherald, in Baltimore, will be the first black artists to paint portraits of a First Couple for the Smithsonian. The portraits are due to be unveiled in early 2018, so we’re keeping our eyes peeled for an announcement!

Nearby at the Renwick Gallery, if you’ve marveled at Wendell Castle’s Ghost Clock, we’re sad to share the artist passed away last month. This story about his most famous piece is a touching ode to the power of fooling the eye. For a more complete overview of his career, read this Hyperallergic article.

Watch this

Finally, here’s the brief story of the “stingy” man who wanted to become an artist without buying any art supplies. You might be surprised at his solution. Enjoy!