A2 practical portfolio part 2

In this part of the painting, there is a fire on a stand and it’s slowly dying, with the carnation next to it. This depicts that along with the carnation, they’re going to both die out soon. The fire is still brightly lit but the height of the flame is slowly growing shorter, showing that life is short and you have to do everything before you die. Below the flame, there seems to be flutes; which could suggest that the death of the person enjoyed music but has come to end his life with the flame slowly dying out.

The single bubble that is floating in the air indicates how fragile life is. The bubble will pop any minute if you are not careful with how you live your life. The bubble is positioned near the flame of the fire and this indicates that it will pop before it could live to it’s fullest. It could also mean that once the bubble is up in the air, the smoke of the fire could pop it but as long as the bubble rose up into the air, it has fulfilled it’s duty and will eventually die along with the carnation, skull and fire that is placed upon the crevices of an arced window.

The Ambassadors, Hans Holbien 1533 Oil on oak, Large Scale: 207 x 209 Hans Holbien was a famous painter in the 17th century. He was a natural born German Artist and was known as one of the most talented portrait artist in the world. Whilst he painted, he worked for Henry VIII. He painted “The Ambassadors” in Oil on Oak (very famous in the Renaissance period), from the request of Henry VIII himself. He has done various of paintings and sculptors but his portraiture skills made him known in England during the 14th Century – 15th century. “The Ambassadors” is lifesized double-portrait of the wealthy landowner Jean de Dinteville (1504–55), ambassador of the King of France. The guy in the black standing next to Denteville is Georges de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur (1508–41). The objects within the painting all have hidden meanings and each one is all related to death in some way. The skull at the bottom of the painting is when seen from these angles, this anamorphic image is immediately recognizable as a human skull - the age-old reminder of death and the

De Selve was a priest and close friends with Henry VIII. This particular painting was commissioned by Jean de Dinteville, the young ambassador. The two men were on a tricky and ultimately unsuccessful diplomatic mission to heal the rift between Henry VIII and the Church of Rome (hence the name Ambassadors) to commemorate the visit to London of his friend de Selve - who, incidentally, is not wearing episcopal robes because he was not actually consecrated until the following year. Initially, the painting itself could mean that now matter how rich you are, you cannot escape death and you will die eventually. This man was born in 1508 and was from a wealthy family in France. (A French In this Pope). screenshot, De Dinteville is dressed in luxurious secular clothes - a meticulously rendered heavy black coat lined with lynx-fur, over a pink silk tunic. This symbolises that he is living the luxury and wealthy life. Above this screenshot, is De Selve.

His outfit is less flashy and more dull than De Dinteville. His posture is less assertive and its not as open as Dinteville and this could depict that he is just another normal person to Dinteville (like a colleague). If you look close enough, Dinteville's secular roots and de Selve's clerical roots as symbolizing the dysfunctional nature of the alliance between France and the Vatican, as well as the general conflict between the Church (pope) and State (Henry VIII).

The lute and the flute resemble similar depiction. The flute is from another Vanitas painting “Still life with Food”. The loot has a broken string if you look closely, and this could symbolise that there is conflict between Rome and England, reinforcing the fact that they don’t get along and could into a war.

The flute on the table itself looks un-used and its just there, useless as if it’s already dead. This could symbolise that either England or Rome has fallen.

The curtain has a dark emerald green hue with sophisticated patterns, the heraldic-style.

The globe resembles the amount of times that maybe Dentiville has travelled around the world, he is living his life before he eventually dies just like any other human being.

The flooring is created in Mosiac style pattern, showing that England is wealthy.

Tucked away in the top-left corner is a crucifix - a clear symbol that faith in Jesus Christ helps us to escape death and secure everlasting salvation. So not all hope is lost when you die.

Intention for my next project I am now going to specialise in Chiaroscuro, which means dark and light in one in a painting. I will focus on how light and dark tones are in paintings and how they give the painting depth. I have chosen to do Chiaroscuro because the range of light and dark tones within a painting depicts what the painting is saying. In some paintings, artists use Chiaroscuro tell a story, and by looking at the lighting and toning you can tell what the painting is depicting; is it loneliness? Death? Life? Depending if the tone is darker or the light is brighter, it has meaning in all.

Chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro is a type of painting technique that involves painting with light and shade. Majority of paintings always have chiaroscuro in them at times some only have light tones whilst others the darker tones dominate the whole painting. It’s an Italian origin and was found in the 17 th century.

Chiaro at the beginning means light, clear and bright whilst Scuro means dark, obscure and black.

When you join the two together, it creates a meaning of dark and light tones within a painting.

Starting with the light, it creates contrast within a dark shadow of a painting and throws detail to emphasize the subject matter.

Light and Tone Strong lighting creates contrast between the painting and the figures in the painting. In some paintings, the light is usually on the side and this is what we call “Side lighting�. Artists use this for mainly portraits to create a realistic look. The artist can show full tonal range with kind of technique as it defines shapes and tones of the faces and make them look realistically solid. Occasionally in some paintings, the light is coming from the windows creating a shadow below the portrait to create the dark tones, creating a contrast between the two.

The light and tones usually revolve in the European Union, but in some cases the Chinese use light and dark in a different way than the Europeans do. They have flat solid colours with a solid white and a solid black. The tones within a Chinese painting is one shade: black. They purposely do this to show the contrast within the painting or artwork that has been created.

The Arnolfini Portrait 1434 Jan Van Eyck 1930 Oil painting on Oak 82 x 60 cm

Jan Van Eyck (1390)

is a portrait artist that uses oil paint on oak to create his works. The painting “The Arnolfini Portrait” is actually a painting of him and his late wife who died, but drew them together. His works sometimes related to religious views and he was an important artist in his time. He’s Flemish and started his painting career in the Netherlands pursuing his career.

There is a common misconception, which dates back to the sixteenth-century Vite of the Tuscan artist and biographer Giorgio Vasari, that Jan van Eyck invented oil painting.

It is however true that he achieved, or perfected, new and remarkable effects using this technique. From the fifteenth century onward, commentators have expressed their awe and astonishment at his ability to mimic reality and, in particular, to re-create the effects of light on different surfaces, from dull reflections on opaque surfaces to luminous, shifting highlights on metal or glass.

The use of glass and mirrors were really helpful as it allows the artists from his time period to experience different lenses. The portrait shown on the left is off himself, he painted his own self portrait.

In the painting, a lot of things are happening; the woman's dress has realistic creases, with dark green tones to create the depth of a 3D image, making it look real. The lighting is coming from two different directions: one from the window on the mans left side and towards the flooring where there is a light area. The woman herself is illuminated by the light, this could mean that she’s pure and innocent. It also looks like she is pregnant but it could just be her dress being puffy. The man looks like he is blessing the woman, whilst holding her hand. A dog is seen below the two people, this indicates that they’re wealthy and having a dog means “loyalty”.

The figures are set in a bedroom, where it’s elegantly decorated. In the background, you can see a mirror, and a reflection of the two people in the painting. Looking behind the man, you can see oranges which could indicate that they’re rich as in Burges, Oranges The back of the wall writing above where were expensive and hard to obtain.

There’s a has chandelier Van Eyck wrote “Johannes de eyck fiur them only has one candle lit. hir” meaning “Jon Van Eyck was here”, as a signature for his painting.

In this close up, they’re overlapping each others hand, you can see the tones of their shadows overlapping and the slight difference in tone highlights the tenderness that is

Here you can see two other figures in the reflection of the mirror, so overall there are actually 4 maybe 5 (including the dog) people in the painting itself. The design of the mirror looks sophisticated and royalty like, making it seem they’re rich. It’s a convex mirror, so you can fully see what the reflections are. The tones on the outside of the mirror are darker and more intense than the inside area (creating the shadow of the mirror hanging from the wall).

Over here, we have the chandelier from the painting. One candle is lit, bright and alive whilst one candle is burn out, not alive as the one candle. This can symbolise that one of the people, who could possibly be Giovanni Arnolfini, is alive and his wife's after death, Constanza. The shadings and tones of the chandelier vary in different shades; as you go further to the top of the base, it gets darker and more golden than the bottom area. The spikes sticking out from the base gradually gets lighter in tone, and a more copper colour is now showing.

The background in general has that hue of dark and slowly blending in with the light area of the copper brown. These realistic details are typical of Northern Renaissance work.

Looking closer at the painting, and especially the dress of Constanza, we can see that it is completed in a way where from afar, you think it’s a Photograph instead of a painting. The emerald green dress has tones varying in different tones of green; at the bottom of the dress, there are creases and Eyck has painted the creases a darker shade of green. As you go up to her waist, he’s done more creases from where she is holding her dress, this includes more depth in tone and a darker emerald green appears.

On the other hand, the fabric on her head contrasts with her dress; pure white and little shadow to it. This On the other hand, wearing towards a darker her toneand of is because theArnolfini light isis shining clothes; a deep indigo, outlining his pale skin. His hat has illuminating the figure. hardly any tone, it’s just pitch black with a hint of white from where the light is hitting it towards the side. His shoes blend in with his shadows.

The tonal modelling in this painting creates realistic three dimensional forms. This type of modelling is almost chiaroscuro. Chiaroscuro is a type of technique that creates tonal paintings and creates depth within a painting. Furthermore. I will now be looking into more extreme Chiaroscuro from different artists.

The dog has shades of brown and caramel fur, and the dog represents loyalty. When you look closer you can see Van Eyck's individual brushstrokes.

Still Life painting

Flowers on a Table with Fruits 1865 Henri-Fatin Latour 18361904

Henri-Fatin Latour (1836-1904) is a French Artist specialising in still life paintings mainly flowers and fruits. He is also a lithographer and is best known for his luxurious flower pieces. One of the paintings I was analysing included flowers and fruits as the main focus. He has been in many art periods including Realism, Modern art and the most important part, Symbolism. Latour was talented in both still life and portraits; he has done some other works including historical documents of famous politicians in a group.

He was close friends with some of the most famous artists such as; Delacroix, Baudelaire, Manet and Whistler. They all have something in common and that is they can all paint still life. At one point, they all painted a group portrait of them to celebrate the contemporary painters. His still life paintings were exhibited at the Salon from 1866 and onwards.

In modern art simple still life arrangements have often been used as a relatively neutral basis for formal experiment, for example by Paul Cezanne, the cubist painters and, later in the twentieth century, by Patrick Caulfield with his weird and solid colours on photoshop.

In the 17th Century, still life was ranked low in the painting industry. As it is only objects, no one would think it’s unique talent.

However, the French Academy in France accepted it either way. Portraits were most famous back in the 17th century and was most looked at instead of still life paintings.

Still life paintings were famous in the 16th, 17th and 18th century. Still life always consists of basic objects composed in different ways; fruits, instruments, vases, cutlery etc are placed on a table or on the floor to create a visual outlook. Painters would usually paint with acrylic and oil pain on canvas and some on wood. Artists would accurately trace out the objects and where they are positioned before going in with paint. In this painting I have been analysing, Fatin Latour used oil paint to create depth and texture to the background, along with the fruits itself. The basket that is seen on the right hand side of the screen contrasts with the bright yellow tones of the pare, that is next to it. Latour used every shading with oil paint and light to gain a textured painting. The viewers eyes would go straight to the bright yellow pares and the fluffy peaches first, as they are brightly painted in

These flowers are bright and there is hardly any tones. The background is dark and it contrasts with the white and this makes the painting stick out more.

The bundle of grapes that have been spilled out onto the table depicts a symbolism that things in life will fall from time to time. The dark green in the basket brings out the grapes lighter round tones, contrasting the two different colours. The leaf that is sticking out from the grapes are withered and looks dead, making the scene look more gloomy yet alive, as thespecific grapes arepainting still there ripe.

This was created in

the Realism period, 1835. Within this period, everything was realistic and 3D. Painted the real world, truth to nature and the imperfections which goes against the traditional academic salon.the sweetness in life, and that when cut it The peaches on the table resemble open, it gives you a sweet smell as if you’re just starting your life anew. The dark crimson shade above the peach itself creates a 3D effect, making it seem like the light is only coming from the side where the bright yellow beige tone is shining and reflecting a light. The colours harmonize with one another blending beautifully. By a glance, it seems like you can touch it and you could feel the soft fuzzy surface of the peach.

The death and the darkness links back to Chiaroscuro

The Third of May 1808 (Execution of the Defenders of Madrid 1814 Francisco Goya (1746-1828) Oil on Canvas

Francisco Goya

is an artist that focuses on real life crisis just like the Madrid attack in Spain. Goya was an astute observer of the world around him, and his art responded directly to the tumultuous events of his day, from the liberations of the Enlightenment, to the suppressions of the Inquisition, to the horrors of war following the Napoleonic invasion. Both for its inventiveness and its political engagement, Goya's art had an enormous impact on later modern artists. Goya leveraged this experience to grow his connections within the Spanish court. At the same time he also began to work on a set of etchings after paintings by VelĂĄzquez in the royal collection. Goya would become a master of printmaking, which came to serve as the primary means by which he expressed his most personal feelings about the social and political events of his day.

As above, most of his works are all political based and that’s what makes his artwork important and special as he is the one who is letting the world know what is happening in the Spanish Embassy.

The Third of May 1808 (known as Execution of the Defenders of Madrid) is an art work painted by Goya in 1814. He witnessed this in 1808 but could not paint it until the 1814. If you look at the painting, a lot of blood and dead bodies on the ground. This could probably be because the people were going against the Spanish Royalty, and was executed by being shot. The man is wearing white, showing his innocence and purity. His hands are up, and if you look closely at his hands, there are red marks, which also could stand for a stigmata, like how Jesus has the cross to represent his stigmata.

Goya thinks that the rebels in the pictures will resurrect like Jesus does, and will rise again to rebel against the Spanish Royalty.

In the painting, there are a variety of Chiaroscuro happening; the man in the centre with his hands up is in the

In these two close up shots of the painting, you can see they’re all covering their eyes and ears; so that they won’t be able to hear the gun shots resonating in the dark night air. They’re body gesture tells them everything about how they’re feeling.

The shadows on their clothes clearly show that they’re going to die soon. The black outfit that the man is wearing on the left is pure black, not in between.

In this painting, he was instructed to paint Charles IV family in 1800. Due to King Charles IV weakness and wimpy personality, Spain fell into political and social corruption, leading Napoleon to invade Spain and take over. Goya’s skills are excellent; he managed to capture the tiniest details of the clothing and beading. If you look closely, in the background towards the left corner, Goya painted himself in the painting, to The use of Chiaroscuro in this acknowledge his presence. painting is big; the shadows below the figures create that realistic and haunting feeling. While it’s dark towards the floor, the figures in the painting are all pale blues and whites with hue of gold. King Charles IV is wearing a dark outfit,

The gunners are targeting the rebels, but they have their backs to us, showing the fact that they’re only concentrated on the rebels and killing them all off. The lantern is shining towards the rebels in the night, highlighting their rebellious behaviour. Their clothes are a deep dirty brown and no whites.

At this point in time, Goya was 62 years old when Napoleonic invasion of Spain started, and Spain was subjected to six years of war and revolution. Goya was in Madrid when the tragedy of 2nd and 3rd of May happened. As I’ve said in previous slides, it was in 1814 that Goya was able to paint these paintings.

This painting was also painted on a large scale, to show its historical context and monumental size.

He was instructed to not paint these whilst it was happening because of the new rulers of Spain. The painting itself is a confusion to the French and Spanish people; The Confusion of Battle. The lighting and shadows are all mixed up into one another, there isn’t a specific space where the light or dark area resides in. There are a lot of grey scale for the

The Wonderer above the Sea of Fog 1818 Caspar David Friedrich 1774-1840 Oil on Canvas

Caspar David Friedrich

was born in 1774. He painted the “The Wonderer above the Sea of Fog” in 1818. In the painting there is only one main figure, standing on top of a rock and looking down at the fog below him.

Friedrich uses a technique called “Ruckenfigur”, which means that the figure has it’s back to the viewer, blocking it’s identity. The deep fog beneath the man could symbolise the hardships and difficult life he’s been through, and the light blue horizon in the distance could become his hope to be free. Friedrich has said, “The artist paint not only what he sees before him, but also what he sees within him”. In the painting, Nature is beautiful in it’s own way.

The tones that Friedrich used vary; for the rock it has a dark burgundy colour to it, making the figure stand out more instead of using black to blend in. The rocks in the distance are painted The and sky above him that has different a lighter brown the way the fog shades of blue and hues envelopes them bring a sense of un-easinessof to orange. By combining these the man. colours, he is able to create a sky that is filled with hope and positive thoughts. The clouds are dark grey with a tint of white, to create a realistic feeling.

The figure is dominating the landscape and the man is centred in the middle, making hi man important part to the painting. His coat is pitch black and his hair is bright red making him stand out to the viewer.

As for his waist, it is matching the horizontal line I have created. The painting is the perfect measurement for the figure.

The back of his head has a lot of tone; the red orange hair has a hint of dark honey orange making the shadows.

Furthermore, the lines show that the figure and the rock are creating a pyramid, and if you look closely the tip of the pyramid leads all the background to that one spot (on top of his head). Friedrich created this painting to create a symmetrical and a neat painting. The figure is making the viewer see what he sees and what he sees. This is another part of being a Romanticism painter; instead of looking at the painting and the man, we as the viewers are with the man and staring at the same view that he sees, involving us in his paintings. Not Friedrich wanted thedoviewers to Friedrich be involved in many artists would this, but made the painting, making us view what the man it happen. sees.

The figure isn’t a anecdotal representation of the figure, it sends out real emotions to the viewers, just like any Romanticism artist would do; giving and creating emotions to the viewers, getting them involved.

Looking at the painting, the way Friedrich has painted the rocks create a sense of realism to

Landscape The background is simple yet effective; the sky has different hues of blues and tints of oranges. Further into the background, you can see a tall rock, a pale silver grey almost like a shadow. Next to it looks like a huge mountain in the horizon, which could mean hope for the man. Below that, it’s just endless fog, making it look like a sea where the water is splashing against the rocks. The man is staring down below the pyramid shaped rock, as if he is looking for something. In the foreground there are a few rocks emerging from the fog, or perhaps being sublime; thinking about the beauty and excellency of the view before him.

The landscape gives a mood of thought, loneliness and perhaps struggles from the man. The atmosphere is not bright or cheerful, its solemn and plain. There are tones, but it’s very subtle.

Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket 1875 James Mcneill Whistler 1834-1903

Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket 1875 James McNiell Whistler 1834-1903 Oil on Canvas 60 x 46 cm James McNiell Whistler was a controversial artist that painted scenery such as this. He creates nocturnal paintings, always painting in the night. In this painting he has created a rocket exploding into pieces with ashes and smoke lighting up the night sky. He paints this extremely well, and this depicts that he is trying to get the viewer to focus on the ashes. He manages to create dark and impulsive shades, ascending to the top of the painting. At the bottom of the painting, you can clearly see that he has tried mixing the dark and light tones together to create a river. The brush strokes are bold and thick, allowing Whistler to create darker lines and expressive dark tones towards the left hand side of the painting. The contrast between the light and dark harmonise with another. At the bottom a person is seen watching the whole thing traverse and he is painted in yellow/gold hues. The reflection of the water really creates a Chiaroscuro feeling with the tones all mixing with another and bringing the painting alive. Whistler painted the River Thames in England whilst it was night time to prove his painting skills to John Ruskin who was a critique to paintings in the 18th century. This painting was known as one of the most famous showing narrative with the rocket.

James McNeill Whistler

is a controversial artist who creates works based are on shading and black thick lines. He was born in 1834 and died 1903. In his younger days, he has been in a battle with one of the most famous artist critique in the 18th century, John Ruskin. In 1877, Ruskin viewed Whistler’s “The Falling Rocket” as a ‘flinging a pot of paint in the publics face’.

Whistler was angered by this statement and stated in court that the painting was not an unfinished descriptive view of subjective matter at hand. In the 1860s. Whistler made plenty of paintings of London’s River Thames (as shown above the previous slide) naming each painting “Nocturnes” meaning night or dark. The painting I am depicting was a view from his home in Cermorne pleasure gardens with fireworks blasting into the sky. The main reason why he named them “Nocturne” is relating to the homage of musical form.

Whistlers idiosyncratic Nocturne series, in which judiciously arranged blocks of harmonious tone and points of colour triumph the critique Ruskin and now the narrative perspective is set in motion, as the court praises Whistler and has gained his achievements proving Ruskin wrong to his opinion of his painting.

This screenshot shows the sparks and how each spot of spark contrasts with the dark and gloomy background.

Whistler was not one for slow paintings but his delicate spots and sparks prove his painting skills.

In this screenshot you can see two figures that are leaning near the water area. The tone of the figures are a copper yellow/golden yellow shade and it looks like the fading figure is a shadow of the darker figure. The navy blue tone makes the figures

In this screenshot is the centre of the composition. It catches the viewers eyes as it has the most dark and light tones out of all the painting. It is obscured by a swirl of thick smoke rising into the sky, blending in with the navy blue background. Even though the background is pitch black, the darkness of the night intensifies the sparks of light visible to create excitement and mystery.

These Chiaroscuro symbolism are all in his painting including one of his paintings “The River Thames�.

During the 1870s Whistler handling of paint became noticeably bolder and thicker. In this area it shows careful grading of the paint and with one brush stroke creating a darker shade of golden yellow.

The harmonious tones of the gradients which Whistler excelled. This style was central to his personal definition of Aestheticism.