Activity #2: Write About It: RE-EDIT #3

Online Museum Visit

Vincent van Gogh "Wheatfield" Ink Drawing on paper 1889

I chose Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853-1890) "Wheatfield" in ink drawing for my first work.

JPEG Images from the National Gallery of Art, Online Museum, Washington, D.C.

Vincent van Gogh "The Emperor Moth" Oil Painting on Canvas 1889

For my second work of art, I chose another work created by Vincent Willem van Gogh entitled, "The Emperor Moth," an oil painting on canvas.

JPEG image from Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation) Copyright 2007 Historical Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Gwendolyn Lane

Visual Elements

By choosing two works of art created by Vincent van Gogh, I compared how he utilized the same visual elements differently to express the attributes of his distinctly opposite compositions. The first entitled, "Wheatfield" Ink Drawing on paper 1889 and the second entitled, "The Emperor Moth" oil on canvas (1889). Created by the same artist, [Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853-1890) - Wikipedia Online, 2007] which are constructed in different mediums, ink drawing on paper and oil on canvas, respectively. While Van Gogh uses many of the same basic design elements in creating both of his compositions which include, color, line, space, texture, value, mass, shape, and light, in each he portrays two opposing exhibits of artistic impression. In "Wheatfield," Van Gogh employs color combinations to imply light, texture, and intensity by applying black straight lines in combination with yellow-orange straight and diagonal lines representing wheat laying on the ground at the bottom edge and directs your eyes to move to the top center foreground of the piece. With a mixture of yellow-orange hue that looks light to medium tan in color which adds the value of light throughout the composition giving it a warm appearance of a late summer season. Van Gogh uses the same colors throughout the piece not only to represent the sky, but also, depicting wheat by using pure primary color yellow blended with the secondary color orange depicting sunlight in this landscape piece. Van Gogh was one of the artists who "pioneered a change in the Post-Impressionistic period known as the birth of modern art between 1886 and 1892." Van Gogh using black ink drawing on paper created the somber feeling of a day's labor working in a wheatfield. And, by employing an upward swirling motion of wheat represented by thin and broad black ink lines in the center of the foreground, our attention is directed to the wind blowing the wheat toward the top of the composition.

Van Gogh uses a variety of color elements to evoke emotional effects differently in the oil painting of his composition of "The Emperor Moth." The figure of the moth is positioned in the center and is viewed in scale proportion of the normal size as the main focus of this work. The artist employs a variety of a thick black line that leads the eyes upward and away from the moth. This piece appears to have a smooth texture with the application of a thin black contour lines outlining the main figure that has three irregularly-shaped and colored with tertiary yellow-green leafs next to the moth, pointing upward within the area of thick cooling green and green-blue colored foliage. This is a distinct opposite comparison in contrast with the warm colors in "Wheatfield." In the "Emperor Moth," Van Gogh uses the contour lines outlining the figures of geometrically-shaped leafs in hues of green-blue and yellow-green next to the moth directing your attention directly to the moth. This combination employs movement in this piece as our eyes are drawn up to the center toward a cluster of vividly-colored red wild berries. This causes our eyes to shift our focus from the cool colors near the moth to an intense, colorful effect of the vividly-colored red berries at the top, away from the cooling effect given by the tertiary colors in the foliage between it and the moth. Also, the brightly-colored red berries provide an emotional effect of light captured on the oil canvass.

In conclusion, both pieces exhibit Van Gogh's reputation for dynamic brushwork and use of broad and thin contour lines depicting different types of atmospheric perspectives exhibited in both compositions I chose in Activity 1. Overall, I enjoyed my visit to the National Gallery of Art Online.

Gwendolyn Lane

WORK CITED

1. Getlein, Mark. "Getlein's Living with Art" Ed. 8. (McGraw-Hill, New York, N.Y.) Copyright 2008. (pp. 81-1200.

2. The National Gallery of Art Online. Located at http://www.nga.gov/.

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