Medium Specificity

Bob Ross - Landscape painting

 

One of the most fundamental aspects of art is the use of color and mixing those colors to make a specific image, whether it be a literal representation of something, or an abstract piece.  Unique to two dimensional art forms, like painting, is the use of color in whatever way the artist seems appropriate.  Unlike photography where an image is captured in its natural colors and can later be manipulated, painting and drawing can alter color from the beginning.  As such, color plays a vital role in artistic works by representing either physical manifestations or altering reality.

I wanted to explore this notion of changing color and the effects it can have when compared to the same piece portrayed in natural colors.  I chose to draw (using colored pencils) an already painted landscape; however, I used the original piece's opposite colors on the color wheel in my representation.  For example, wherever there were blues in the original, I used oranges.  I also used a more detailed color wheel to get correct shades because there are so many blues and greens in the original.  By doing so, I wanted to show that because the medium of two dimensional art allows for complete artistic representation, particularly with color, the artist can portray something however they desire - even to it's most extreme, like opposites on a color wheel.

What I found interesting was how easily people could tell what I drew.  After showing my work to multiple people, not a one hesitated in what it portrayed.  I find this intriguing because although color is so important to a picture, it only changes emotion rather than the image itself.  That emotion is the basis of my take on this assignment.  Because a person can paint using whatever colors they desire, they have complete control on the emotion forced onto the viewer.  This art form then allows for the artist to insert their views onto others more poignantly than other art forms, like photography.  For instance, after surveying a group of people, all expressed they received a calm and peaceful feeling from the original.  Once I showed them my representation, the majority said they felt more overwhelmed, but also more interested in the picture itself.

Another important thing to note is that most people found the altered picture to be more compelling.  This shows how painting and drawing can be a great tool to cause awareness, create tension, and get audiences to think more than if they saw a normal photograph.  In a way, Van Gogh's Starry Night acts to create such an atmosphere.  He uses similar colors for an accurate representation, however he calls more attention to the colors and the brush strokes than he does to the entire piece.  In consequence, the colors seem heightened and the painting becomes more compelling because we can tell there is something unusual about his color choices.

Mark Rothko stated, "we are in a sense mythmakers and as such have no prejudices either for or against reality.  Our paintings, like all myths, do not hesitate to combine shreds of reality with what is considered "unreal" and insist upon the validity of the merger."  The manipulation of color is a wonderful characteristic of painting and drawing.  Because of it, an artist has the freedom, as Rothko states, to combine truth with fiction and present it in a captivating way that other art forms cannot.