Works of Art I know - Color

Frantisek Kupka, Czech 

MoMA, NYC

My First Impressions: This painting uses a mixture of different types of colors, such as cool, warm, and light colors. At first, you cannot even tell it's a portrait. The main focus seems to be the colors, and not the face of the woman. However, the colors could also be reflecting the mood, or even the personality of the woman he is painting. For example, she could be happy and funny and entertaining most of the time, but now she has big patches of sadness in her life, as represented by the big blotches of blue and cool colors. Whoever this person is, its apparent that the painter knows her well enough to know her personality and what is happening in her life. 

What I've Learned: The name of the painting is Mme Kupka Among Verticals. I think that that means that this is a portrait of his wife, who is someone who he obviously knows very well. It was painted in 1910-1911.

Works of art I know - Shapes (week 3)

Romare Bearden, American

My First Impressions:
When I first saw this painting, I thought that it made a peaceful setting, such as the woods, busy and full of life. Even though there are only a few animals in the scene, it makes everything else come alive, too, such as the snow and the trees. The artist does this by combining shapes and using them to make everything pop. They also make the whole thing busy and confusing, and you can look at it for a really long time, and keep discovering new things about it.

What I learned:
This was created in 1985, and it's called Winter (Time of The Hawk). I also discovered that winter was not one of Bearden's usual settings. He usually created tropical scenes, with a lot of vibrant colors.

I See The Light Drawing

Title: Coyotes

The story I'm trying to tell with this drawing is when, last year I was walking my neighbor's dog at night, around eight, and I heard a whole pack of coyotes howling really close to us, in the woods. I was alone outside with no protection except for a small dog. It was probably the scariest moment of my life, and the darkness had a big effect on why it scared me.

I used value in my drawing to make the area under the streetlight more prominent and what the eye focuses on first. I also made it the brightest spot in the drawing, so that it was clear that I was alone. The darkness in the background contributes to the mystery of the picture, because you dont know whats there or what might be hiding in the darkness. Even though the person who is looking at the drawing cannot hear the coyotes, the can see the fear in the darkness.

The most challenging part of this drawing was the changing from the light to the dark either gradually or abruptly, like I had to do with the streetlight. Also, trying to make it dark enough as to make it beleivable that it actually is nighttime.

I think that the most succesful aspect of this drawing is the streetlight and the darkness behind it. It looks like i wanted it to, and I think that it conveys the feelings that I was trying to display.

Works of Art I know

Edward Hopper, American

My First Impressions:
When I first saw this painting, the story that I immediately thought of was a lonely young girl, probably in her twenties, sitting by herself in a cafe. It made me think about why she was lonely, and if she had been left by her husband, or if her parents had died, or if maybe she misses a friend. It could be any number of things, but the most important part is that the painting makes you think about why shes alone. Hopper used the big, black space behind her to make her look smaller and a little bit helpless. She almost blends into the colors in the background, the greens of the wall and the yellow of the chair and the heater match those of her coat and hat.

What I've Learned:
It was painted by Hopper in 1927, on a medium canvas, about 3 feet long.
The painting is called Automat and it's on display at the MFA in Boston.
It was featured on the cover of TIME magazine in 1995.

Works Of Art I know

Georges Seurat, French 

My First Impressions:
When I first look at this painting, I see a crowd of people sitting on a riverbank, probably in the summertime. The darkness under the trees contrasts with the bright sun, and the people in the shade seem to be more relaxed and the people in the sun are standing up and moving around, generally being more active.

What I've learned:
It's a painting of the island La Grande Jatte, which is on the Seine in Paris, France. On the island, there is a public garden. He mainly focused on the color and the light. He used a type of painting called pointillism, which is the combining of many little dots to create one large picture.
It is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_Afternoon_on_the_Island_of_La_Grande_Jatte
http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/seurat/seurat_themes.html