Arts Challenge 2 – Same, same but different – Explore three ways

For the second arts challenge, I have decided to focus on the area of landscapes, specifically those incorporating the use of sunsets.

For this I explored various artworks that made use of a landscape scene while demonstrating a sunset within the background and to my findings I was pleasantly rewarded with a range of different styles, techniques and backgrounds.

The following pieces really captured my attention from the colours that were selected to create the piece and by the way each artwork made me think and feel about what was happening within the artwork.

This last artwork shown is the one that I chose to do my appreciation and appraisal on.

The above piece, ‘Sunset on the Sea at Livorno’, was created by Nikolay Gay in the year 1862.

The below words document my initial thoughts while looking at the piece.

“The artwork shows a sunset with the warm setting sun hidden behind the clouds above the ocean. Waves crash against the rocks which show the reflection of the above setting sun.

The use of colours include deep greens, blacks, yellows and orange tones mixed into the oceans colours near the bottom of the piece while the top of the artwork shows warm oranges and yellows with deeper shades of oranges and reds mixed in with the clouds so as to show that the sun is hidden behind and shining onto the clouds.

The artist has also chosen to include a blue colour pallet at the top of the piece which could be demonstrating just how far along the sunset is through the day by showing that the sky is already beginning to lose that initial warm glow and turn to night.”

I then continued to form a deeper analysis of the piece using the provided questions.

When I looked at the piece, I felt initially drawn towards the warmth of the setting sun shining through the clouds. Within this piece the artist has used a range of irregular shapes that would be seen within most pieces using rocks and clouds within and above the water.

When looking at the way the lines have been used, with the water crashing against the rocks or the clouds floating along the sky, there seems to be suggestion of action within the piece in terms of movement.

As for the colours within the mentioned artwork, it should be noted that the artist has used a complementary colour scheme with the use of the cool blue at the top or the work against the warm orange of the sun and surrounding sky. Given the scenario of this piece, there is a wide use of colour throughout that demonstrates a good mix of dark and light tones that have shades within the other. What this means is that the darker colours of the rocks carry lighter tones in white to show the breaking of the waves or orange along the reflection of the water.

When looking at the texture of this work, it is easy to see that there would be a rough and lumpy texture due to the materials used and the many layers it would have taken to create the artwork.

The first artwork was created using just a piece of artists charcoal and shading the different areas to try and give a sense of shadowing for the time of day that would be represented within the piece.

This second work I put as much effort as possible into and really worked on using my colours within monochromatic means as well as a complementary colour scheme for the water against the orange sky created by the sunset.

For me I am very pleased with how the artwork came out, but I am definitely aware that the landscape is my strength and my ability with solid objects such as the tree require a better skill level.

I also used the same landscape image within a digital rendering program to create a digital image of the work that really works into the category of same, same but different.