Royal Paintbox

This little movie is a well produced gem of a documentary as one would expect it to be when the subject is the royal family. You get to see a rare view of the family's collection of personal items that consists of drawings, watercolors, and assorted craft items that go all the way back to Mary, Queen of Scots. It's as if we have been invited into assorted rooms in a palace to see some handmade items made by a friend's relatives. In this case, it's the hobby craft of an exclusive lot that reveals their private needs for self-expression, or in some cases, something to do before you get your head chopped off. But it's Charles, HRH, the Prince of Wales, who is our guide mostly, and we see this much maligned gentleman in his most relaxed and witty manner, chatting off the cuff and making us all feel very welcome. You see, they are humans too, much like the rest of us, but only slightly different.

Lovely, well-done documentary. I was impressed by several things: how good the artwork was by Prince Charles and several others in his family, the charm in his modest presentation and the filmaker's supportive narratives, the tracing of the artistic lines in his family coupled with his pointing out how this might crop up in others' family lines with encouragement and opportunity, his founding of a school for drawing and painting to encourage just that in Britain's children, the important lessons learned in deeper observation, etc.

I enjoyed this so much when I saw it on WCVE, I bought it to watch again. The ability to see and replicate is something I didn't learn until my twenties, as a scientist, and this video confirmed that children gifted with example and time can excel at the arts. Something not mentioned is that of course, the royals had time and resources to practice their art through the years. Other children (in earlier centuries) were working and struggling to eat. It's not good or bad, just what it is. The Prince of Wales, throughout the piece, is conversational, relaxed and interesting - quite open and even caring. A rare glimpse of something intimate in the lives of artists...highly recommended.

This provides a very interesting look into the art created by many generations of the royal family, on both sides, and I thought of how very fortunate they are to have sketches and watercolors of places known and loved 200 years ago, by their family members, who spent time at many of the places we read about today. It also provides a glimpse of Charles that's rarely seen--he seems relaxed, obviously knows and loves these works, and seemed to genuinely enjoy speaking of them. He's a "bit dry", but much more avuncular than his more public persona.

this video covers some of the members of the British royal family who have made art--aired on PBS previously, fun for art lovers

I was so elated to discover the artistic caring of Prince Charles, Queen Victoria, King George and other members of the British royal family. The prince emphasized how important it was to "see" and appreciate the beauty of nature. It showed him sketching the countryside at Balmoral and expressing the awe of nature. There was such an expression of humility the likes of which I never would have otherwise imagined. Very genuine and heart warming indeed.

Royal Paintbox provides an interesting view of Prince Charles's art, as well as some of the paintings in the British Royal Family's collection. Prince Charles is an accomplished water colorist, and many of his works really capture the light and atmosphere of places he's visited around the world. However, as with all interviews with royals, there's a certain distance involved here, so the viewer is left without much emotional understanding of the paintings.

I found this documentary very interesting. I knew of course that the Prince of Wales painted, but I didn't realize to what extent, or that he was such a supporter of the arts in general. He's quite talented. The history of the royal family and their individual works was also fascinating, bringing forward a lot of previously unknown (to me) info. Really enjoyable.

Das darf nicht wahr sein. Hier wird über Amazon Deutschland eine DVD verkauft, die in Deutschland gar nicht abgespielt werden kann. Nie wieder

A delightful DVD and one which I appreciate as it allows me to see the fine paintings and furnishings of these homes. The historical facts are very meaningful.

Excellent documentary on members of the royal family, past and present, with artistic ability.

Excellent.