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.