Master Artist Study

During the late 20th century, American artist Sylvia Plimack Mangold produced a variety of landscape paintings which adressed rural themes, but more specifically of leafless limbs and branches creating interesting silhouettes  My previous painting represented this theme in that I portrayed a winter tree with the grey winter sky background. In fact, when researching her work I found a shockingly close resemblance between our subject matters, especially the painting to the right. One interesting aspect of this painting which I love is the depth she manages to create using branch color. For my first painting working with branches, I visualized each limb as one mass with consistent color, but Mangold adresses the faded nature of branches in the distance by having the gray background color overlap. I also love the sky she construct using clear patches of white and shades of gray, giving the background a subtle animation. In my painting, I struggled to show the delicacy of the tree, and create such a wide variety of branch sizes and angles, however Mangold does it simply and effectively. Layers of gray were added simultaneously as the branches were painted, allowing them to sit evenly in the painting, and not appear too obtrusive. I also like how while certain portions of the tree are angular, the overall structure has gentle sloping to it. These are all elements which Mangold uses with expertise, and I hope to implement in future work.

Winter Tree, Winter Sky Painting

When it began to snow for the first time of the winter season, I knew that they grey sky would make for an excellent picture to paint. I walked down the sidewalk until I found a tree that had an interesting shape. I loved the silhouette that the two main branches in the picture below create, against the smokey sky, and chose it for my painting. My only fear was that the branches might be overwhelmingly complicated. Ultimately I only picked the most visible branches, simplifying the picture. Firstly, I painted the grey sky, mixing different amounts of white and black depending on the section, and variations in brush strokes which are more visibly seen in person. Something I learned from this project was the use of water with acrylics. Typically I avoid water because it tends to strip the paint, but for the level of detail required it was necessary. I chose an extremely dark brown, wanting to avoid black as usual. I tried to capture the character of the tree, including lumpy branches, and sharp angles between smaller ones. Overall I am happy with the final product, and look forward to including trees in future work, perhaps ones with foliage.

Edward Hopper Inspired Painting

After researching Edward Hopper and finding a lighthouse painting which particularly interested me, I went around my school's campus looking for some sort of architecture of similar nature that would be interesting to paint. On the Middle School, I found a very dramatic building face which, with the dark shadows and sun's glare, had an almost menacing quality to it. However, for aesthetic appeal, I enhanced the photos colors. From the beginning the sketch, I knew I wanted exact dimensions, therefore most lines were drawn or painted with rulers and tape. My first challenge for this painting was finding an appropriate shadow color to use throughout the piece. Thinking back to Hopper's use of dark-blue/gray on the lighthouse face, I mixed various colors until I came up with one that was neutral and versatile in that it was not overbearingly dark, but not noticeably bright. Admittedly in some regions it is more purple than others, but I left it as it was because of the additional dynamic it created. Next, I painted the large face with yellow, white, and the glare. I was worried that the gold haze surrounding the edges was too complicated and unnecessary, so I just focused on the color transition. Also, I chose a more vibrant green color for the sky and different sections. The final component was adding less-noticeable lines where rectangular shapes met, which I showed using a faint blue.

Green on Green Painting

For this painting, we were instructed to take a picture of a green object on green paper, or some variation of this arrangement. My addition was the yellow sheet, which I chose because of its close relation to the other colors used. In the painting based on the photo, I tried to evaluate the different shades of green by using a photo with a great variety, ranging from a bright lime to a rich forest green. In front of the cup, I highlighted this brightness, and transitioned into a darker color behind the cup. One challenge I found doing this painting was the accurately portraying the elipse formed by the rim. The perfect ovular shape was difficult to capture, therefore at points there are indentations such as on the right side. On the other hand, I am very happy with how the inside walls and bottom of the cup turned out. I picked a yellow-brown color throughout the walls, adding green and yellow highlights in various parts. The transition from brown to orange and finally to yellow was done over a few days, and I learned the unanticipated lesson of fixing uneven surfaces created when thick paint layers dry. Next, to avoid showing the shadow of the cup as a dark mass, but rather one that revealed the colors beneath it, I did the base colors, then painted the individual sections of the shadow. Finally on the face of the cup, I tried to show the brown, green, and yellow lighting created.

Edward Hopper Post

Similar to my process of researching and learning about artist Richard Diebenkorn, I am currently looking at work by Edward Hopper; my next painting will be based on his work. However this will be a transition in that Diebenkorn's work typically focuses on abstract arrangements and layers, while Hopper is generally associated with realist depictions of both urban and rural scenery. When I first came across paintings by Hopper, I noticed his strong emphasis on the shapes created by various structures and shadows, primarily in architecture such as city buildings, houses, etc. This is evident in his recognizable "Nighthawks" painting, in which he portrays the perspective of looking through a window into a diner, in the evening. Of his many paintings, I particularly like the one below. I love the way he evaluates the light on different faces of cubical shapes, such as the base of the lighthouse. Contrary to my initial perception of shadows as black, Hopper uses a blue-grey. For the areas of light, he uses a yellow/beige color. Another feature that caught my eye was the cylindrical walls of the lighthouse, which have a graduated shadow. It is interesting that he choses to show that shadow as a series of three values, with the middle line functioning as the transitional color. The angular composition of shadows and lights to construct the building itself is an approach I am currently using on a painting I am doing, which is based off a photo that was taken of the face of a school building. I will make a post of this photo and painting in the coming weeks. 

Word Sketch #3: "Sun"

For my final sketch in a series designed to illustrate the word "sun", I decided to photograph a pair of sunglasses. Originally, I had chosen two pairs and took sample photos of each, and came to the conclusion that because of the Ray Bans' reflecting yet extremely translucent lens, and the distinctive thin gold frame around the glasses, I would use it for my sketch. Some aspects I wanted to emphasize in this sketch include the tinted shading of the setting within the lenses and the darks and lights around them. In the photo I see an extremely bright foreground and dark background, and the glasses function as a bridge between the two. I am happy with the product, and how the shades of black correspond to different components. This picture contains what I would characterize as "irrelevant information" such as the the blurred sidewalk in the foreground and trees in the background; I decided that these components had little value and excluded them from the sketch. One element that was challenging to draw though was the "Ray Ban" insignia; writing letters in a half-inch space is harder than it looks! The photo and sketch are shown below: 

Richard Diebenkorn Post

The next artist that we will be studying is Richard Diebenkorn. Of all his art, I was really fascinated by the painting below. Firstly, I love his creative distortion of the table through the glass. He creates the idea of a tall vase by blending the shapes together, such as the rim of the table, to create the object, rather them simply outlining it. I also like the blood-red table color, which accentuates all components on top of it. This contrast between radiating warmth of the red table, and the deep blue/purple is noticeable. I am looking forward to working with paint/oil pastel to create a work inspired by this artist.