Artist Analaysis

Mother Nature

Jared Nickerson

Digital Painting

Description

This digital painting is neither horizontal nor vertical but is more of an equal square shape.

The artist has used a mix of colours, both warm and cool. A variety of greys were used in the background which then highlight the use of greens, blues, yellows and other secondary colours in the main focus of the image. 

The subject matter of the image is in the title: Mother Nature. There is a woman figure in the middle of the image with a slightly green skin tone and green lips, suggesting that she is one with nature. Inside the shape of her hair is an environment scene filled with trees, fields of grass, streams, mountains and clouds. There is also the sun and the sky, butterflies and birds a rainbow in the centre of the sky and two balloons. The sun, clouds and bird all have big smiles on their faces, and along with the brightness of all the colours it suggests everything is good. However Mother Nature’s expression looks slightly worried, and surrounding her is the outlines of industrial buildings and factories puffing out smoke into the dark sky that is filled with what looks like alien creatures with tentacles hanging down.

The art looks quite simplistic and very cartoony. Especially the creatures inside the figures outline with the bold outlines and cheery smiles. The art in the background looks more serious and realistic with a sense of realism in there. It has to be more serious because of the real issue of pollution that it is demonstrating.

There doesn’t appear to be any textures in this painting as it is quite cartoony with a smooth, flat finish. The shapes used for the Mother Nature figure and inside her outline are all rounded and smooth. There are a few pointed objects but they are surrounded by curves so overall it looks very calm, and inviting. The background however has lots of edges and square, sharp shapes. This fits in well with that the image is trying to show.

The colours used are mainly primary colours in the main focus of the image, very bright and vivid with some secondary colours included also. The surrounding colour is all greys, a few shades of it getting darker the higher up the image you look.

Formal / Technical Analysis

The composition is arranged quite simply. The main focus is right in the middle of the canvas and the background information is placed mainly at the top of the canvas. I would say that it seems to me that there is no flow of the artwork, my eyes don’t get lead anywhere across the page unless I have a good look around myself. My eyes are immediately focused on the girl and I barely noticed the background stuff until I started analysing the image.

I think the artwork is pretty balanced; since the main focus is right in the middle of the canvas and there is nothing else solid around the woman.

I think the colours, lines and shapes are all related. The colours are blocked out into shapes and lines to make it look like factories and smoke, I think it looks a lot more effective being blocked out in colour shapes rather than drawn out and outlined because its more subtle.

I think the principles or art that have been used in this piece are movement in the smoke and the tentacles of the monsters hanging down from the sky, proportion in the woman’s body and then to the objects shown in her hair like the trees and birds etc. I think contrast was also used well in this piece; the contrast between the bright, cheery, happy looking nature and beautiful girl, to the dark, scary background filled with pollution and weird creatures.

Interpretation / Iconographic

In this artwork Mother Nature is surrounded by pollution and black smoke billowing out of factory chimneys.

The main focus of the artwork has bright, bold colours with a rainbow and a happy sun, so this section of the art definitely was meant to make people feel happy and secure. The background of dark greys however make the art seem not so perfect and happy, and slightly uneasy and worrying.

I think the only thing in the artwork that reminds me of my own life would be the cartoony look to the drawing and the woman figure in the middle is slightly similar to how I tend to draw. The little birds and other bits of nature that are outlined with a thick line is also how I like to finish off my drawings.

I think the artist is trying to convey that nature is a beautiful thing and that modern day life is not and has the possibility to destroy it.

I think the artist wanted to express how harmful and toxic pollution can be and what it can destroy and showed that by creating a thoughtful piece of artwork that shows how beautiful nature can be and how disgusting and almost scary pollution can be surrounding mother nature.

Aesthetic Level /Evaluation / Judgement

I have learnt that from analysing this work of art that I can learn a lot from a piece of art that I hadn’t realised before. I have also learnt how clever it can be to include hidden messages or issues in your work.

I don’t think I have learned anything about myself from analysing this work, but it has definitely made me think a lot more about the environment and how it can affect the beauty of nature. I never used to give it much thought but after seeing it illustrated in a way I can appreciate it has definitely made me give it more thought.

My feelings about this artwork did change after analysing it and writing about it; before I just thought it looked pretty and I liked the style and didn't think much about what it was really about. Whereas now I can see the message behind it and can appreciate it with more understanding.

I do like this artwork, I liked the style and the cartoony look it had to it and I like it even more now after really studying it.

Vector Fun Vector Death
Jonathan Ball
Digital Painting

 

Description

This piece of artwork is horizontal. The colours used are all quite warm colours. None of them are particularly bright or bold so they all blend into each other quite nicely without anything sticking out too much. Apart from the odd black triangle shapes that look like little floating trees. There aren’t a lot of primary colours in this piece so a lot of them are secondary.

In this artwork I can see some colourful mountains that have a big group of clouds ranging from white to dark grey floating above them. Coming out from the clouds is a big brown monster with one eye and lots of tentacles reaching out. This monster seems to be ripping out trees from the ground, where there are lots of holes. Amongst the clouds there are also small trees that are sitting up there as if it was the ground. There are some black, triangular shapes that are floating around that look furry and have a small face with also only one eye. Coming from these weird monster things is black rain. Black rain is also falling from the clouds, and there is a big rainbow in the background.

The art style is simplistic and likeable. It’s cartoony but it looks like it is aimed at slightly older audience such as young adults or adults. It looks a bit edgy and none traditional.

This is a digital piece of art so is not made up of any materials.

I see a lot of objects in this piece such as trees, clouds, a rainbow, raindrops, a monster, mountains, and seeds off of a weed floating through the air.

 

It doesn’t look like any textures were used to paint this piece or artwork, but the way it has been done adds a textured feel to it because of the detail used. There are a lot of shapes with harsh, pointy edges around the top and ¾ of the way down and then circular and rounded shapes around the bottom and 2/4 of the way down the artwork. It is a bit like a pattern and it divides the piece up nicely.

I would say the colours in this piece are quite subdued, especially compared to the first piece I looked at. There are some colourful colours in there, just none of them stand out and scream look at me! There is quite a wide range of colours used.

Formal / Technical Analysis

I would say the rule of thirds has definitely been used to help create the composition. There is a little bit of almost empty space on either side of the piece and a full section in the middle. Then the top part has the mountain tops, rainbows and the sky; the middle section has the clouds, trees and the monster; and the bottom part has the holey ground where the trees used to lie. So it is easy to imagine a grid on there dividing the whole thing up.

I think the artwork looks balanced, there is an equal amount of trees on either side, and there doesn’t seem to be a large number of any objects on just the one side and not on the other. It isn’t symmetrical but isn’t overly so, it doesn’t look that far off being pretty similar on either side.

I think the size of the artwork is good for what fills up the space and think it affects it in a good way. It gives lots of room to look around and see what is there without things being cramped up together.

I wouldn’t say the artwork is real but it isn’t exactly abstract either. The style is cartoony but not exactly realistic. But you can see what everything is and can get a general understanding of what is going on so it definitely isn’t abstract.

 

The principles of art that has been used in this piece is movement in the rain falling from the sky, it looks like it is falling. Variety in some of the clouds, but it is still obvious by looking at them that some of them have been repeated and moved over to a different place in the sky. Emphasis has definitely been put on the monster and the two big trees he is holding, as they are much larger than everything else in the piece.

Interpretation / Iconographic

In the artwork it looks like there is a one eyed monster in the clouds ripping up all the trees from the ground and storing them in the clouds. There are black tree shaped monsters floating around that seem to be raining on the ground where there are lots of holes of where the trees used to be. There is also a rainbow and floating by the rainbow are seeds blown off of a dandy lions.

Although there is a wide range of colours and they are normally seen to be quite bright, happy colours, I don't get a happy feeling from this artwork. The colours are all dulled down a bit and it gives it an uneasy feeling, like it should be happy but there is something wrong.  

The artwork does not remind me of anything in my own life, maybe only the monster but that is because of this course and having to create creatures and fantasy beings.

I think that the artist is trying to convey the deforestation and global warming. The one eyed monster could represent us as humans with one eye on what we want which could be energy. The black tree like clouds that rain out black raindrops could be toxic side effects to the deforestation. The rain, the thunderbolts, the dark clouds and the rainbow could also be side effects to the global warming with crazy weather changes.

I’m not sure what emotions the artist wanted to make me feel when I look at this piece, but what I do feel is annoyance. I feel annoyed when I look because I don't understand it fully and although I have some ideas what it might be about, it isn’t clear to me and that frustrates me.

Aesthetic Level /Evaluation / Judgement

I thought that after analysing the first artwork that I would understand every bit of art I looked at if I really studied, but I have discovered after analysing this artwork that that is not the case and that there will be some pieces of art that I will understand and be able to relate to, and others that I will not.

 

I thought I did like this artwork at first, but after analysing it I have realised that I'm not overly fond of it. I thought it looked pretty and interesting, but I realised I don't like the concept of it.

Funny Funny

Sebastien Feraut

Digital Painting

Description

This artwork is vertical.

The colours used are mixed between warm and cool. There are some nice red, orange and yellows in there that make it feel a bit warm, but then there are some cool blues and mint greens in there as well with a lot of black used for the main character right in the middle of the artwork.

The subject matter of this picture is 5 creatures that have been made into one being. This combined creature appears to be a giant that towers above buildings on the ground and has airplanes flying around the middle section of the creature. Each section of this creature has a small face with different expressions on. Only the middle section has arms and the bottom has legs. There are some tree like antlers coming out of the creature and one of them looks like it has fire on the end. A bird is flying close to this branch and is shooting fire out of its beak. This creature is holding a knife and fork in its hands and it has a small chimney on its “head” with smoke coming out with the words “oh no” inside the smoke.

The art looks very cartoon like, very attractive and bold. If each different section of the creature was on their own, I would say that they would be suitable for children as that is what they look like they were intended for. Yet when they are all put together it doesn’t seem as child friendly and it comes across a bit more sinister.

Surrounding the main character there are a lot of different objects such as trees, buildings, an airplane, a bird and some sort of music player.

The textures used on this piece of art make everything look like it has a shine on it, like it is either rubbery or slimy. However because of the subject matter and the patterns on the creature and the nature around it; it doesn’t feel like that would be their texture, it looks just like the style of drawing. On the body the only two shapes that are used are circles and triangles. Every detail of each face and pattern on each section of the body either has a point to it or a curve. However on the background the shapes are nearly all squares. This makes a nice contrast between the main focus and the background of the artwork.

The colours are quite vivid despite being faded and not as bright as on the other pictures. I think this is because of the black used and the light background, it makes the colours stand out a lot and seem more vivid than they actually are.

Formal / Technical Analysis

The composition has been arranged so that is more happening at the bottom of the artwork than the top. There is still pieces to look at, they just don’t seem as interesting or as important as what is happening in the middle and at the bottom of this artwork.

I would say this artwork is balanced. It isn’t quite symmetrical but it isn’t overly asymmetrical either. There are only a few differences on each side that makes the sides different that you have to look for to notice it isn’t equally balanced on each side of the art.

I don’t think the colours and shapes are related to each other, but there are definitely patterns within themselves. For example the different sections of the main creature; where there is a circular shape for that individual part, the rest of that section is also mainly made from circles. Similarly the parts that have points and sharp edges are mainly filled with similar shapes in that section. 

I think this piece of art would not be as effective if it was printed or made to be small, you wouldn’t be able to appreciate all the little details or patterns. So I would say size does affect this piece of artwork and it would need to be viewed on a large scale or in high resolution so you can look closely at every part of it and appreciate the time the artist put into it.

The work isn’t exactly abstract but it isn’t very realistic either. It is easy to understand what is what, it just doesn’t look like anything from this world.

Interpretation / Iconographic

In this artwork there is a giant creature made up from different sections like a totem pole. The bottom section has legs and the middle section has a long pair of arms holding a knife and fork. Other than that every other section is just a face on this long body of the giant creature. I say giant because around the creatures feet there are houses and trees that look tiny compared to the big body, and also there is a plane in the sky that only goes up half way to the body which makes me think the body towers high into the sky. Each section of the body appears to be some kind of creature or animal itself. They all have smiling faces.

The kind of mood that the colours express in an exciting mood. The contrast between the blues and oranges compared to the black make them stand out more and they seem to be more attractive and alive because of that. It also helps that there are a lot of smiling faces on the artwork so it makes it seem happy and exciting.

Aesthetic Level /Evaluation / Judgement

From analysing this work of art I have discovered that you can draw something or create something that doesn’t make sense when you think about it or describe it, but if you yourself want it to work and believe that it can work on paper then it can and others can learn to appreciate it as well.

My feelings did change after looking carefully at the artwork and writing about it. At first I didn’t like it and thought it was weird and unusual. But now I can see that’s a good thing and that I like all the different sections of it.

I do like this piece of artwork. It is quite unique and ends off a happy vibe when looking carefully at it.