Image Essay 14: Analogous color

An analogous color scheme pertains to colors that are adjacent on the color system. The painting done by Paul Cézanne “House in Provence (vicinity of L’Estaque) uses the colors blue, green, and yellow. The painting by Cézanne is classified in the impressionist period of art. Cézanne has a distinct way of painting. He outlines most of his images in a black outline compared to Claude Monet another impressionist artist who just lets all of the colors mesh together to create his images. With Cézanne using an analogous color scheme it makes all of the images look alike and unified. But if he had used more of a variety of colors the piece would contain more diversity. But with the use of the analogous colors in this piece the objects complement each other. I think that by using only a variation of the 3 colors adds more depth to the piece than if he had used a variety of colors. The perspective of this piece also helps the analogous color scheme. Cézanne seemed to use a darker variation of the colors in the foreground of the piece and then lighter colors in the background to help further the perspective of a full landscape painting.

Image Essay 13: Texture

Texture can be made in all different ways. First if the objects have their own texture. Second if a bunch of objects are put together to create a texture or lastly if the artist creates a texture on a surface. The piece by Douglas Smith “No turning” does an excellent job at portraying different textures. The first thing that I noticed when I looked at this piece was the detail of the bricks. The bricks actually look real. They have the lines in between them they are all spaced the same and as the picture goes back in space the bricks merge together to give it that three-dimensional look. The second texture that I notice is the wood on the truck. When looking at it one can even see the detail of the wood grain on the truck. The other thing that stands out is the texture of the granite on the ground. It actually has that grainy look to make it look real. There are also other minor details like the lines on the trashcans or reflections from the windows. All of these textures put together help make the piece look so real that it almost looks like an actual photograph instead of a painting.

Image Essay 12: color

For week 12 we were studying the use of color. With the use of color in a composition one can create a dominant structure just be utilizing a color’s symbolic meaning. In Jan Van Eyck’s the Ghent Altarpiece (closed) he mainly uses earth tones and reds for his main colors. The earth tones that are present in this piece are light browns, white, black, gold/yellow and a little bit of green. I find this odd for a religious painting because for me earth tones seem more humble than other colors. Unlike how most “kings” are portrayed in purple for the representation of a holy figure. And around the time the painting was made people of the cloth were not seen as humble but more as godly and powerful. Although, that may be the reason why Van Eyck clothed the two people in the bottom corners in red. It is not said who exactly those two people are but with the use of the color red they take on the connotation of power because of the colors meaning. They however are not seen as all powerful because they are still seen knelling with their hands together representing prayer. But just with the use of a little red it shows that these two people possible had more power than the rest in just plain earth toned clothes.

Image Essay 11: Narrative

Narratives tell a story. Some are more self-explanatory while others need background information to be understood. During week 11 we were working on our narrative paintings. Some were simple and needed little explanation while others needed to be explained. A piece that needs no explanation is Jerome Witkin’s “Division Street” [A story told in 3 panels]. He does a n excellent job at showing how the woman feels in the painting by her actions and the expressions on her face. In the first panel the woman is scowling as her husband puts on his hat and heads for the door. With the use of color in this first image it can also be construed that the woman is jealous because of her entirely green face. Then in the second panel we see the plates with food hit the wall that were intended for the man. In the first panel one sees that she is just holding the plates and her anger, then in the second panel it show how she let her anger go. Then in the third panel again her skin tone is back to normal and she seems calm and is just cleaning up the mess alone. This piece does an excellent job telling the story of the woman. It needs little explanation and little interpretation. One is able to see the action and consequences all at once.

Image Essay 10: Perspective

During week 10 we were doing a narrative piece that dealt with perspective. There are three different types of perspective. One-point, two point, and three point. One-point perspective is when the lines going back in space appear to meet at one point. Two-point perspective is when two lines go back in space appearing to meet at two different points. Three-point perspective is when the lines going back in space seem to meet at two different pints plus a third line that is above or under the eye level. Comic book artists as in the piece by Ely Itara Jr. “Pen and Ink” mostly use three-point perspective. Three-point perspective happens when one is looking at the side of an object instead of just straight on. In this piece three-point perspective allows the viewer to see from two sides at the same time what is happening to the building. This artist also decides to use a perspective as if the viewer was above the buildings looking down. This allows the artist to express more and the viewer to get a better idea of what is happening in the piece. Three-point perspective makes this piece very dynamic with the use of diagonal lines. Perspective allows the artist to express more and the viewer to see things from a different angle.

Image Essay 9: Figure ground reversal

Figure ground reversal is an arrangement in which positive and negative shapes alternatively command attention. When shapes change from black to white continually they draw the viewers eye around the composition. As in David McNutt’s “Master Harold’…and the boys” he uses figure ground to represent a servant, a master and the continent of Africa. For our composition we were to incorporate words into our narrative pieces using figure ground reversal. In this piece with the use of figure ground reversal the first thing that one’s eye is drawn to is the black head on top of the white surface. Then when one looks closer they notice the master’s head in white, which also happens to be in the shape of the continent of Africa. As the servant’s head merges into the master’s head it changes to all black so that it is not completely lost within the master’s head, which is pure white. The use of figure ground is so important in this piece because it also helps represent the relationship between the servant and the master. For example how the servant is depicted in complete black while the master’s head is complete white and it is what surrounds the servants head. It shows that the master has the power in Africa. The use of pure white value for the outline of the master also further increases his role of dominance in this composition.

Image Essay 8: Images with Text

Many of the projects that we have done this semester have had text incorporated within them. For my first project that I incorporated text into was my three shapes three times but it didn’t work so well. Then in the paintings project we were to incorporate text along with using figure ground reversal, and instead of using my own handwriting I chose an actual font and it helped my piece. A person that does a good job at incorporating text into her pieces is Barbara Kruger. In her piece “ you are a captive audience” she uses an individualized text to convey her ideas. Her text for this picture somewhat already says what the meaning of the picture conveys on it own. With the picture alone it is the type when you look at it and you see that the man is in pain and one wants to look away but they can’t help but stare. This is what her text conveys. She knows that people are drawn to it so she decided to blatantly put he idea in her piece. It also helps that the words are restricted by a black box because it further illustrates the idea that the words are also a captive.