Painting Comparison Essay

other colors since it is doubtless the most intense color. Jonas’, “new perception of the color he

Most people do not see color as simply the way something looks, however. They tend to associate certain colors with specific feelings, emotions and memories. (Dmitrieva) For instance, blue is most commonly associated with “feeling blue” meaning one feels upset or depressed, however, blue is

Then there are also many psychological lines to be seen in the work. One such line is of the woman and the floor, where she is staring down towards it. Another is from the young child and the store clerk, showing a defiance between the two. Next, light and value are not very contrasting in this painting, with only the basic highlights and the shadows seen. It isn’t completely contrasting or contradicting since the colors blend well together with close to the same value ranges, dark colors seen throughout except for the people’s pale faces. There also seems to be a variety of light sources since the woman’s face along with the shop clerk and the young boy’s is lit up by what seems to be a light bulb since they’re much brighter and highlighted and then the men and women in the back aren’t really as bright, except for the ones who close to the open door, creating a blue tinge from the outside light. The shapes shown through the painting is shown to be either very round or very geometrical. There are organic shapes in things such as the umbrella or even the back of the chair, but mostly it is either straight lines and geometrical shapes. The volume shown in the painting is very much implied, correctly showing the

The painting that I chose to write my formal analysis on is called “The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, At Night”. This piece was created by Vincent Van Gogh in Arles, France and was completed sometime in September of 1888. This painting is oil on canvas, and it is currently housed in the Kroller-Muller Museum located in Otterlo, The Netherlands in Europe.

As we all know, color is the voice for the artist 's sentiment. It makes up the appearance of a picture. Color is the decisive factor in depths of the two-dimensional plane of the artwork, making the viewer feel physically and mentally attracted, or the context of things - the phenomenon the author wants to present. Colors have been around for a long time, but there is not a common definition for colors. And perhaps humans are one of the luckiest creatures that can identify colors. Often, the recipient 's eye knows a myriad of colors and colors that always change based on the relationship between light and perspective. In art, color creates a sense of

Secondly, the light and colors help to enhance the piece. Due to the oil painting,

The composition I chose was Dorothea Tanning’s painting Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. This painting depicts two girls alone in the hallway of a rundown hotel, playing with the larger than life sunflower which lays in the middle of the hallway, reaching which the stairwell. What intrigued me first about this painting was its use of color. The color scheme that Tanning employs is complimentary. As we know, a complementary color scheme means that two colors that are directly across from each other on the color wheel are primarily used. In this case, the complementary colors represented in the painting are red and green. Tanning shows a rich, blood-red color in the carpeting as well as on the shirt of the girl leaning against the frame of on of the doors. Those deep reds complement the ivy green color of the hallway walls, the leaves on the large sunflower, and the vines from the flower as well. Another aspect of color in the painting that pulled me in was the balance of color temperature that is featured. There are many warm colors featured in this painting which makes the slight pop of cool colors stand out against each other. Of course, the warm colors Tanning uses in this painting are the deep reds in the carpeting and shirt, the dark brown of the doors, and the wooden stair flooring that run down the hall, as well as the eerie yellows featured in the sunflower and mysterious lighting leaking out into the hall from a slightly cracked door. Meanwhile, the warm colors are met with the cool whites in the young girls’ dresses and skirts. Plus, the frigid greens popping out from the walls along with the enormous vines and leaves. The greens stand out against the sunny yellows in the flower and three petals that have fallen from the sunflower, coupled with the deep warm reds that line the floor.

painting are blue, white, gray, brick red, brown, black, and lavender. The colors of the

Cooler colors can be more soothing and calming, but can also invoke thoughts of sadness. Many people see colors differently though. If someone had an experience with a certain color, when they saw that certain color, it could trigger them to think about the experience. In The Book Thief color

Colour schemes are used to unify artworks and it consists of three common schemes: warm, cool, and neutral. The warm colour scheme is vivid and energetic and tends to advance in space. It consists of red, orange and yellow. Cool colours give an impression of calm, and create a soothing impression. Blue, green and violet are a part of this colour scheme. Neutral colours give a feeling of calm and quiet atmospheres and it consist of grays, blacks and whites. The monochromatic colour scheme is based on several values of one hue. The analogous colour scheme is made up of hues that are next to each other on the colour wheel. Complementary colours are

One of the most important observations anyone could make while viewing a painting is the artist’s delicate choice and use of colors. In paintings, colors serve two different but equally important purposes. One purpose is to draw attention to the painting, while the other purpose is to display emotions. An artist that understood the importance of color in paintings extremely well was the late talented Vincent Van Gogh. In his painting Café Terrace at Night, Van Gogh incorporates a vast array of colors to arouse emotions from within the audience. In order to assess which colors aroused which emotions two important questions must be answered. What emotions do the specific colors used within the painting give off to the audience? How have the emotions behind the colors been learned through normal human experience over time?

The biological processes of colour perception which happen in the brain are innate and contribute towards the way in which individuals view colour. Cones and rods work together in order to create the colour that is perceived. The psychological processes are related to the way each individual person perceives colour, and thus may be different to the next. Colour perception is different for everyone, something that is light blue to one person, may be light green to another person. Both the biological and psychological processes work together. A range of processes will be discussed throughout this essay and will demonstrate differences in the

Woman and Bicycle is an abstract expressionist painting created by Willem de Kooning in 1952-53 as part of his collection of Women paintings. It roughly measures 6ft. by 4ft. in size and is an oil painting on canvas. The image can be understood to be figurative, however the figure is difficult to decipher on account of the haphazard style in which it was created. It appears that the picture has been altered a great many times, as if it is just one picture deposited upon the remains of or intentions of ones prior. It is easy to decipher a pair of large jaunty eyes with their gaze intently directed back towards the viewer over a pair of particularly large breasts. The

“Under”). One could mistake that the focal point is the little figure under the birch tree who is a priest. However, the main point in this landscape is all about the birches. The reason why one could say so is because of all the visual elements such as: the birches are in the middle of the painting; they are also the most lighted objects in the painting (light is shining in the form of an oval) (National Gallery). Due to the levels of lightning one can see that the picture is divided into three horizontal parts: the top (dark, but not as dark as the bottom of the painting); the middle is the lightest; and the bottom is the darkest. This means that he used what he learned about the Dutch style and mixed it with his personal style thus we have a whole new way of seeing his point of view.

There are many different emotions associated with every color, by different people. Why do people associate these certain emotions with different colors? Associations with color are caused by objects, language, senses, and personality characteristics.(Hallock) A language connection could be connected by expressions in one’s language that are associated with color. Colored objects could be associated with people based on what other objects could be colored. For example, blood is red. Since blood is red, people could associate red with “death” or even “pain.” Roses are red also, so someone else who likes flowers could associate red with a nice smell or even beautiful. That’s where personality