Activity #1: OnLine Museum Visit RE-DO(return)

Vincent van Gogh, The Harvest (1888), Pen and Brown Ink over graphite. Courtest of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C. at: www.nga.gov.

Vincent van Gogh, Emperor Moth (May 1889), Oil on canvas. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. (Vincent van Gogh Foundation). Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. at: www.nga.gov.

Gwendolyn Lane

Activity 2: Contrast Essay: RE-EDIT

In comparing my two work's of art entitled, "The Harvest" Ink Drawing on paper 1889 and "The Emperor Moth" oil on canvas (1889), I chose pieces by the same Dutch artist, Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853-1890). According to his biography in: www.Artcyclopedia.com, Van Gogh "suffered from bouts of recurrent mental illness"and originally, began his career as a draftsman and painter ten years before his death. He was known for dynamic brushstrokes in drawings and paintings of the landscape and women working the farmland. But, most remember his style or technique that pioneered a change in the art world known as Post-Impressionism or, the birth of modern art between 1886 and 1892. In the drawing, van Gogh uses a variety of design elements including vivid color, distinctive lines that are symbolic in dynamic brushstrokes which convey direction and movement through the vast wheat field. The thick application of paint within emphasizes depth of this representation of naturalistic subject matter. In conclusion, this piece of art appears to have a calming effect of the open field which van Gogh often captured on canvas.

This oil painting evokes life of the butterfly as the artist has captured this natural beauty of nature. The short life of the butterfly is viewed in foliage of vivid primary and secondary colors. It is in contrast to my first painting because of the absence of a horizon and straight lines which keep the eyes watching the butterfly's movements. With many contour lines within this painting, the viewer never stops to focus on the frolicking winged creature. Thus, with his innovative bold use of secondary color contrasts of green with a spot of red that brings it to life, along with different shading of tertiary colors including blue-green and green-yellow. Here, the artist creates life and movement to the image, therefore, it appears more life-like. This one transforms the viewer into a plush forest just looking at his painting gives a light, warm and playful impression, not like the monochromatic, somber colors which depicts laboring a long time in the fields. However, here we can also see how his reputation for dynamic brushwork adds contour lines to express movement of the butterfly fluttering among the foliage. This one is among his best as van Gogh completed most of his finest work during the last two years of his life.

In conclusion, the oil painting seems more exciting and life-like in contrast to the drawing that depicts the peasant work day, and the death of the wheat plant in "The Harvest." The colorful emperor moth is nocturnal and lives but a short while. It seems to symbolize the playful, brevity of life, quite the opposite of his apparent ill condition due to his deteriorating health.

Gwendolyn Lane

Creative Blog: Visual Elements

Creative Blog: Visual Elements

Vincent van Gogh, Emperor Moth, May 1889, oil on canvas
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Copyright © 2007 National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Intro Week One - Intro Essay

Dear Professor Brew,

I am very overwhelmed with amazement at the illustrations and information found in our course textbook. I thoroughly enjoyed our first reading assignment, Chapter 4 entitled, "Living With Art" by Mark Getlein. However, it was a great amount of knowledge to read and digest. It is under Part Two: The Vocabulary of Art, entitled, The Visual Elements and it describes the following: line, shape, mass, light, value, color, texture, and space as the essential elements the artists use, along with variations to depict motion, depth, mass, etc. to the work of art. Also, it serves as a supplement in order to communicate his inner feelings which involve evoking an emotional connection with viewers in many locations such as, private galleries, museums, town squares, or government office buildings, and private residences, of course. It would be fun and very interesting to attend our class field trip to the National Museum in Washington, D.C. on March 31, 2007. I am quite certain that an on-site visit would be in order by then. Knowledge of these basic elements will help us appreciate what the artist has created, even if our individual perceptions or interpretations of what we see may not be the same. Artistic perception usually differs from their audience especially when one individual may have circumstances which are different from that of another, even twins. This is where the use of other artistic components like style and medium are very critical in expressing or communicating how an artist decides to complete his final work, or series.

Peace,
Gwendolyn Lane