Final Reflection

Use of color: I've made alot of progress in use my of color. My white objects painting was extremely challenging for me and even though i wasnt able to finish it it taught me alot about how to use color in oil painting. In my white objects painting i struggled alot with finding the finding the exact color of the objects, i tried layering colors and exaggerated colors but in the end was still not satisfied. After that painting however i was able to use both layering colors, and mixing colors to create the colors i wanted. Use of composition: I feel like i came into this course with a good understanding and ability to create good compositions. I was able to experiment more with different kinds of setups, types of objects, and textures,
My ability to create the illusion of different surfaces and textures: In my white objects painting my objects where very 2 dimensional. They were more outlined and My use of light was weak. As i went on my use of light and my ability to create 3 dimensional looking objects improved.In my second painting I was able to create surfaces that appeared transparent, and smooth, and fabrics.
My ability to create the illusion of space and depth: In my surface and texture painting I was able to create a very good illusion of depth. I came into the class with a good understanding of space and depth. I struggled in my white objects painting but after that i really got in the hang of oil painting in general which helped bring out my strengths

Critique Feedback

Use of Color: In my critique everyone really liked the way I created the reflection in the glasses in my surface and texture painting. They also liked my use of light and shadows as well as the color and illusion of transparency in the bow on the bear. But that I may want to differenciate between the black on the headphones and the black of the fabric. Also my group thought that it would be nice to make the edges of my clock sharper.
Depth and Volume: During my critique my group thought that i did a really good job creating depth of the objects, as well as between the objects on my surface and texture painting. We decided that the white objects painting looks more blocky and the objects are more outlined which is why they appear 2 dimensional. They thought that I had really improved from my white objects painting to my surface and texture painting.
Composition choices: My group loved the use of depth in my surface and texture painting. In both paintings everyone agreed that the objects flowed together to create a even composition. They thought i should work on sharper/softer edges to help to diversity of the objects.

White objects thumb nail scetches

finished white objects painting

Surface and texture set-up

Why Oil Paint?

Oil paint was officially invented in the 15th century in Italy/Greece. Usually paint was a mixture of pigment and egg. Jan Van Eyck was one of the first in Europe to add oil paint to pigment. When his paintings were first seen everyone thought it was an incredable invention. It trapped the light and increased the colors intensity. He invented it because he wanted to make his paintings as realistic as possible, with every little detail. Temera paint, which had been used before, dried much to quickly and didnt allow him to make the detail that he wanted. Oil paint dried much slower and allowed him to make better and smoother changes between colors and light making his painting more realistic. Later Leonardo cooked the paint and added 5-10% beewax, which made the color lighter.
Oil paint has been continued to be used by artists and painters because it allows them to rework their paintings to perfection, you can completely erase or paint over things and made extremely smooth gradients of color.

What Is A Portrait?

Sally Mann: Shiva At Whistle Creek
Composition is extremely important in this photograph. She does a great job depicting the young womans personality. The photograph catches her in the moment right before she jumps. The way the photo is slightly out of focus and how she casually peers over the slide of the water fall makes it seem like she is uncertain and vulnerable. Her eyes are closed and shes looking away from where she's going to jump. The artist also creates a dark tone with the colors, which adds to the personality of the girl and the moment.

James McNeil Whistler: Portrait of artists mother
I chose this photo because i really liked the set up. The subject of the painting is an old traditional looking woman, shes looking straight ahead and wears dark colors with her feet planted on the ground. Out the window you can see a big city with bright lights. I love how the two contrast, it shows change over different generations are well as contrasting two different cultures. The fact that the woman is not interacting with anything else in the set makes it feel like she is fighting her suroundings and doesnt accept the big cities and different ways of life. She sits firmly and upright, her stiff figure shows alot about her stubborn nature.

Annie Liebowitz: Whoopi Goldberg
I also really enjoyed the composition of this picture. When i first saw it I barely even noticed there was a person there, which i think is a major part of the reason the artist set it up like that. Not only is the person alone but the tree behind him is also completely seperated from its suroundings. The composition shows alot about the withdrawn personality of the subject. He also seems to have a shy or secretive side to him. At the same time the tree he is standing under is also the highest tree among all the others and has a very strong and important feel about it.

Where am i at?

The most challenging aspect for me so far was learning how to layer the paint in a way that was oil painterly but also in a way to make it so that the painting is built from multiple layers. This was really hard for me in the white objects painting because i wanted to be able to make each color separately right away, but couldnt make the exact color i wanted. I've gotten better at layering but I would not at all say i was good at it yet. 

I have become a lot more used to the media. How to mix colors, how to start a painting by using a medium tone or a overall color and working light and dark from that color instead of light to dark only. 

In the past I've always used other peoples art, and art from history, as a way to improve my art work, doing studies, learning from their styles and their uses of light or composition of media, big general areas or even there use of detail. In this class we've used historical art and famous artist work to explore an art principle like composition or texture and using what we learn and incorporating it into our art.

A sense of place

The top image is by Edward Hopper. He creates a sad, dark mood. The second image, by Pierre Bonnard has a very light and happy mood. The two main components of the difference in moods is their use of color and composition. Hopper uses cool colors with emphasis on the subject who is sitting alone. Bonnard uses very warm colors, the composition includes bright mountains and a blue sky and even a child in the bottom right.

Famous Painting

I chose American Gothic by Grant Wood as the most interesting of the famous because i love the personality that the painting has and the the portraits that are displayed. The composition is also very interesting because it uses depth of field, and also the color and tone change linked to the depth. The background behind the painting being very light and happy with a brighth blue sky. And then there are the two subjects in front are wearing very dark colors and harsh expressions. I love the contrast of the composition an think its makes the painting more interesting than the rest. The painting was made in 1930 and was modeled after Northern Renaissance art.

Creating the illusion of surface and texture

In this painting texture is shown mainly through lighting. The metal pitcher on the left has only a few long smooth shadows. The clothe also has very obvious shadows and highlights. If you look more closely at the objects that seem to have more texture, like the fallen candle stick next to the pitcher, each bump has a shadow and highlight of its own which is what gives the feeling that the bumps are raised. The bread also lookes textured because of the ridges (which are shown by shadows as well.) 

My banana:)

Composition

I chose this image  Lemons on a Pewter Plate, Henri Matisse, 1926 as having the most unique and and being this most interesting. I love his use of texture, it leaves the whole composition out of focus. I also like that the background splits and you can tell that more is going on besides the initial subject. I love the way the light falls on the plate and the amount of detail in the highlights and shadows and the reflection. I also really like the use of color and like how you can tell he mixed all his colors and didn't use any right from the tube.

Morandi Vs. VanGogh

Both artists choose not to use any complimentary colors in their paintings, creating very little contrast by and use colors similar to each other. However both artists use very different hues and tones. Giorgio Morandi uses only neutral colors in his paintings such as greys browns and whites. Vincent Van Gogh uses colors such as yellow and green and blue, which are all very similar to each other but give the painting alittle more life. They also use the space differently. Morandi places his subject directly in the center of the compasion leaving an equal amount of background space. Van Gogh has his subject in the center as well but leaves very little background space, making it clear that the subject is the only focus of the work. The artists seem to have very similar painting styles. Both artists place their subjects in the center of the composition, against a wall, with 3/4ths of the wall and 1/4 as the table or floor and the edge between the two goes right through the subject. Morandi uses light more directly than Van Gogh, with large shadow and highlight. Van Gogh seems to use almost no shadows or highlights in his work but his use of perspective and space give the subject volume and dimension.

What I know Now...

Primary colors: are the starting point of all colors. they can not be made and make up all the colors.

• Red
• Blue
• Yellow

Secondary colors: are the basic three colors formed by mixing 2 primary colors

• Purple (Blue+Red)
• Green (Yellow+Blue)
• Orange (Yellow+Red)

Complimentary Colors are colors that are directly opposite of eachother on the color wheel

You can emphasize different elements of a painting in many different ways, 2 ways include

• using complimentary colors
• using size

If i was trying to create a shadow for an object you would first choose or establish the dirrection of the light. The angle of the light determons where the shadow falls and the length of the shadow.

A highlight represents light on an object and is the opposite of a shadow. i would represent it as a lighter part of the object.

If i was trying to make an object look far away i would use size difference and possition to show where it fell in the composition. An object closer to you would appear larger.

When Building a painting i would first decide where i wanted each object to be in the composition. then i would establish there size, shape, base color, and depth. I would continue to build on each object. including details, highlights and shadows, textures,

A painting I remember..

One of my good family friends, Peter, has been very into oil painting for a long time. He has a very pixelized style and a few years ago did a portrait of my dog Casper. He displayed alot of detail and character without actually using small brushes or tons of colors. Even through he's a dog the picture displays him with a very distinct character. I love his painting style and really enjoyed the composition and use of emotion and figure.

My Skills As An Artist

• Observation drawing
• Proportion
• Detail
• Shadow
• Depth
• Positive and Negative space
• Composition
• Figure drawing
• Mixed media
• Cropping compositions, seeing the whole space

Why I'm Taking Oil Painting

I took Oil Painting as a way to build on my knowledge of still life, composition, and value. I already feel comfortable with pencil and charcoal drawings, proportion, and just simple black and white drawings. I wanted to take a course that would add the element of color.