Civil
Oil on Canvas 91.4 cm x 61 cm September - October 2016 |
A city is a place of work and stress, but it can also be a place of leisure. Nonetheless, it is an area full of life, and life there seems to be moving quickly. Whenever I visit Milwaukee's downtown, the end of my day comes very quickly because I do so much, and everything I did that day combines into one big blur. Inspired by Hal Koenig, I created an interpretation of the urban landscape of Milwaukee showing the contrast between the activeness of the city to the calmness of the sky.
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Meaning/Description
My oil painting shows a part of downtown Milwaukee. This painting was based off of a photograph that I had taken and this place is located near the entrance of Discovery World in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The leaf-like structures in the painting are the Wind Leaves by Ned Kahn- made of 1500 stainless steel disk(Discovery World). In the light, they reflect light and look similar to static. In the back you can see Milwaukee's skyline and two towering buildings: The apartment building (left) and the U.S. Bank Center (right). Some other identifiable buildings are the Allen Bradley Clock Tower and the Wisconsin Gas Building. And around the base of the city, it's a fog of brown and black, with some orbs of light showing. I decided paint it like a haze/blur because I see downtown life as very lively and very fast. Impressionist paint their subjects in the way that they perceive see it, and I tried to keep true to that characteristic. Impressionism relies on the depiction of light and I try to show this through the sky. It goes from blue to white, to white to orange. The colors of the sky are quite soft compared to the hard colors of the city. This creates a contrast between the busied city and the clear sky.
Inspiration
When I went to the Chicago Art Museum for a field trip and there was an impressionist exhibit. I walked through it and was inspired to create an impressionist piece. A specific painting that I saw at the museum was "Waterloo Bridge, Gray Weather" by Claude Monet. I liked how Monet was able to show both natural and man-made structures in a contrasting matter while making it all blend together. His natural elements are the sky and water, and the man-made structures are the bridge and the city in the back. I also like how he painted the reflection of the bridge. Returning home, I did more research, but with a more narrow target. I looked for paintings that were impressionist urban landscapes. I surprisingly found a lot but I paid the most attention to the ones where the sky as a major part. One of these painting was "View of Paris to Meudon" by Vincent Van Gogh.
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A bit more than half of this painting is of the sky and the rest is of Paris. The sky is gray, cloudy and has brushstroke texture. The foreground of the bottom half of the painting is a clear representation of an urban landscape. Behind that, it is more buildings of Paris but it's immersed in fog, looks hazy, and there isn't as much detail. Both of these paintings were oil on canvas, and it inspired me to try oil paints. From friends, I heard that it was easier to blend and create colors, but it was messy and the supplies were a bit more expensive. Nonetheless, I bought medium-sized bottles of red, blue, yellow, white, and black oil paints from my local art store, Micheals.
Process
So my process started off by choosing a photograph of downtown Milwaukee that I had taken. Instead of making sketches, I wanted to choose a photograph since I have been getting more involved into photography and a photograph would be more accurate. I had several of them that were taken at or after sunset. I decided to use photos taken at this time of day because it is when the lighting is most dramatic (In my opinion), and there are multiple colors in the sky- not just blue and white. The photos below were some that I considered for painting.
In all of these, half of the photo is the sky, and the other half is downtown Milwaukee. The way these photos were taken show a contrast between nature and man. The photo on the far left features the Milwaukee Art Museum, a clear blue sky, some buildings, and some lawn/grass. I liked how the Art Museum would be the main subject and you can tell it's part of the city, but the lighting isn't that dramatic. The second one if of a bridge, and I didn't choose this one because it was too plain.
Finally, I had to choose between the next two. The third one is a good choice since the lighting is a bit dramatic, the lights of the city are beautiful, the reflection is cool, and the lights are dramatic. The fourth has the most dramatic lighting, greenery, the Wind Leaves (Milwaukee Landmark), the buildings and the most dramatic lighting. It has blue, white and orange/pinkish colors in the sky. I decided to go with the fourth one because it was simpler and since it would be my first time using oils, I wouldn't have as much difficulty. Next time I paint an urban landscape, I will probably use the third photo. After choosing the picture, I made minor edits like increasing the exposure and increasing the vibrancy, so that the pictures isn't as dark and the colors pop out more.
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Prior to the choosing/editing of the photograph, I stretched and gessoed a 3 feet by 2 feet canvas. So by the time I had the photo I wanted, my canvas was dry. Using a projector, I projected the photo onto my canvas and traced the outlines of buildings, Wind Leaves, and then the rest of the city. I first painted the grass at the bottom. I used three different shades of green, and using short, varied brushstrokes, I created texture to show motion. Right after, I painted the beams of the Wind Leaves white, and the panels of the Wind Leaves, gray, white and black. The panels of the Wind Leaves were also painted with texture to show movement, since they look like static when seen in real life. These were two only things drawn with texture, and the rest of the painting is smooth and flat.
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After painting the grass and Wind Leaves, I started on the sky. From the top I used a blue, and used different shades as I went lower and lower. I eventually just used white and that happened near the middle of the Wind Leaves. From the white I blended it with the orange/pinkish color that I outlined the left part of the city with. Using a soft white, I recreated the streaks of clouds. Then I painted the lower part of the city with a brown and dark gray color. I outlined some trees, and that was covered by the brown and dark gray. If one looks closely enough, they can see the trees that were drawn. Once I got that layer of dingy brown down, I added orbs of light that can be seen through the haze. I added the white between the grass and brown haze so that I could create a separation between the two, In that white, I drew the bench, and sign that is seen on the right side. I added the Allen Bradley Clock Tower, the Wisconsin Gas Building, a few tenement buildings, and the U.S. Bank Center. I outlined the windows, beams, and then painted in the empty space. The Allen Bradley Clock Tower was painted with a cream color with white for the clock faces. The big apartment building next to U.S Bank Center was outlined in black and then filled in with a dark blue. On the right of the U.S. Back Center is the Wisconsin Gas Building which was painted by a light brown and two other flat-topped building which are brown and white with black rows of windows. After getting all of the colors down, I went back and made sure that there was no white space and that all of my lines were crisp.
Conclusion/Reflection
I thought that I did not do a good job on this piece, but I did like how I painted the sky. I liked the idea of what I wanted to paint, but it didn't really go as I thought it would. I wanted to create a piece that would look hazy and blended in together like Van Gogh's "Waterloo Bridge, Gray Weather," but I ended up using colors that were contrasting and hard. Van Gogh's painting has a simple composition, soft colors, and lots of short varied brushstrokes. I could of also improved on trying to portray the light more through the use of the buildings. I could of added a reflection of the sky by using different colors for the buildings. If I were to do this type of painting again, I would make the Wind Leaves my main subject and have the rest of the structures be out-of-focus. My colors would be more similar, much softer, and I would use shorter brush strokes that don't blend in together.
This was my first time using oil paints and I enjoy them. I like how easily I can create/mix colors and the way they blend together is much easier than acrylics. They also take longer to dry (which is a good and bad thing) so I can take a longer time to blend the colors the way that I want. A negative is that they are harder to clean and usually require mineral spirits.
This was my first time using oil paints and I enjoy them. I like how easily I can create/mix colors and the way they blend together is much easier than acrylics. They also take longer to dry (which is a good and bad thing) so I can take a longer time to blend the colors the way that I want. A negative is that they are harder to clean and usually require mineral spirits.
ACT Questions
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
The paintings that I were inspired by were of landscapes with a contrast between nature and man-made structures with an impressionist feeling. This made me want to paint an urban landscape where the light was a major element. The medium of the paintings were oils and that wanted me to try using oils.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author said that impressionist focused a lot on painting light, air, and water and I agree with that statement because as an impressionist those were the things that he had to heavily rely on. The author also said that Monet has multiple series of a landscape but painted at different times of the day, and this is important to know because it really distinguishes the light that is portrayed, completely changing the mood.
(http://art-monet.com/1900_65.html)
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A generalization that I have discovered about urban landscapes is that it has to show people or be of a busy city to be considered an urban landscape. Another generalization that I discovered was that all impressionists painted with oils for the smoothness, but I found that a lot of painters like to create texture with oils by leaving dabs of it.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme around my inspirational research was on urban landscapes that contrasted nature and man-made structures with an impressionist feeling. The central idea that I wanted to achieve through my research was to learn more about the characteristics of the impressionist movement and see how I will be able to incorporate an urban aspect to it.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Some inferences that I made while reading my research was that I would be focusing a lot on a sky since I wanted to contrast nature to man-made structures. The sky is also an area where light is a major part and has to be done a certain way to show a certain time of day. I also inferred that I would be using a different type of technique than my inspirations because I am more accustomed to longer strokes than the short strokes seen in their works and everyone has their own unique way of painting.
The paintings that I were inspired by were of landscapes with a contrast between nature and man-made structures with an impressionist feeling. This made me want to paint an urban landscape where the light was a major element. The medium of the paintings were oils and that wanted me to try using oils.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author said that impressionist focused a lot on painting light, air, and water and I agree with that statement because as an impressionist those were the things that he had to heavily rely on. The author also said that Monet has multiple series of a landscape but painted at different times of the day, and this is important to know because it really distinguishes the light that is portrayed, completely changing the mood.
(http://art-monet.com/1900_65.html)
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A generalization that I have discovered about urban landscapes is that it has to show people or be of a busy city to be considered an urban landscape. Another generalization that I discovered was that all impressionists painted with oils for the smoothness, but I found that a lot of painters like to create texture with oils by leaving dabs of it.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme around my inspirational research was on urban landscapes that contrasted nature and man-made structures with an impressionist feeling. The central idea that I wanted to achieve through my research was to learn more about the characteristics of the impressionist movement and see how I will be able to incorporate an urban aspect to it.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Some inferences that I made while reading my research was that I would be focusing a lot on a sky since I wanted to contrast nature to man-made structures. The sky is also an area where light is a major part and has to be done a certain way to show a certain time of day. I also inferred that I would be using a different type of technique than my inspirations because I am more accustomed to longer strokes than the short strokes seen in their works and everyone has their own unique way of painting.