Title: View from Afar
Size: 16 x 20 Medium: Painting Completion: December 2021 Exhibition Text For my 6th project, I painted a landscape a village during the day. In the painting, it shows a river a a bridge above on the lower right corner of the canvas, across the bridge is a small village with 4 buildings surrounded with small clouds in the sky during the day. I wanted to paint something like this because I love the idea of a small village out in the woods somewhere isolated from the rest of the world like a hidden village and I was inspired by "View of Delft" by Johannes Vermeer. |
Johannes Vermeer
The inspiration I chose for my project is Johannes Vermeer who was a famous Dutch painter during the Dutch Golden Age. Around this time was the beginning of the Baroque art movement in the 1600. One of Vermeer famous painting is "View of Delft." The painting the shows the town of Delft from across the river. On the right is the red eastern gate to the town. The bottom of the painting is a beach with a few people and a boat next to them. This painting was inspired to me because when I saw the painting, the river surrounding the town gave me the idea of an hidden village for my painting. |
The Process
First Step
Before I started painting, I drew out where I wanted the bridge to be and how big I wanted the river to be then afterwards I begin painting. I first started with the bridge. I was unsure what color I wanted at first and whether or not I wanted to do a simple color or paint red bricks on the bridge but halfway into painting a brick bridge, I like how it look so I stuck with my other decision and paint something simple with the bridge. I mixed a small amount of black and a lot of white for a light grey. After that I started with the river, I mixed white and blue for a brighter blue color for the river. |
The 2nd Step After that I went back to finishing underneath the bridge, that time, I mixed the same amount black and white for a darker grey color to paint the bridge underneath to make a shadow. Next, I begin with painting the trees and the town. For the trees, I did a simple green with a small mix of black. In the picture it shows the the tower in painted in a dark brown and blue color, this was a mistake, I meant to have a lighter color with the blue and brown and as for the trees I made, they turned out very well and in the background is sketch of the buildings I'm gonna paint. |
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The 3rd Step
After drawing out the buildings for the town. But before I painted them, I went back to the the first tower I painted. I started with the roof, I did the same color for the river then painted the rest a brown with mixing orange and black and adding white for a lighter color then lastly I painted the windows and chimney black. Then I worked on the sky. I used the same blue tone as the river and roofs of the building. |
Final Step
The final few things I did was add a few details in the painting, for the sky I used white paint color to add clouds in the sky, I put some more trees behind the buildings so it can be surrounded by trees, and some used black paint to add more windows on the buildings so it wouldn't be so plain. |
Reflection
This best part about this project are the trees surrounding the town almost like a hidden village in the woods which I wanted it to be for the mood and its also what I like about my piece, what I don't like about my piece is the color of sky. I made a mistake on the tone of the blue color, I wanted the much lighter blue similar to the sky from Vermeer's painting "View of Delft." I tried to fix it but I kept making it worse so I kept it as it was. Before, the clouds I made was grey and badly shaped, those pictures are what they looked like before. I thought grey would a good idea since the blue sky was dark and it wasn't so I changed it to white and fixed the shape of the clouds. There was still some big spot from the grey clouds so I had to cover that with the same blue tone I used for the sky but I couldn't figure out how to make the same blue tone color I did before so I had to make it to the closest blue and blend it with the rest of the sky. The lines are strong, the colors are warm and the texture is smooth. Though I made a lot of mistakes and its not perfect, I still like how it turned out. |
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Compare & Contrast
Similarities
The balance between these two are similar because lay out similarly with having buildings and bridge connecting the town and a river, therefore not only is the balance similar but the theme is as well. Differences Movement: Vermeer painting "View of Delft" is a Dutch Golden Age and Baroque movement painting while my painting isn't neither of those. I am uncertain as to what art movement could mine be but it isn't Dutch Golden Age or Baroque movement. |
Bibliography
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ACT Response
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause- effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork? I chose Vermeer because his artwork View of Delft gave me the idea for me to paint my final piece. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration? Vermeer overall approach of his work is expressing a sense of inner harmony within everyday life. What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? The central idea or theme of Vermeer work mixing of ethereal hues and his mixed his own signature utilization of light, shadow, and paint to evoke dept, texture, and emotion. What kind of (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research? What I learned about Vermeer is that he was largely self taught |