In my discussion of light and color I will be analyzing Rembrandt van Rijn’s painting, The Mill. I choose this image because I believe it reflects a broad range of techniques that it talked about in the textbook when dealing with light and color.
When I look at the image The Mill, a few things standout to me instantly; first it is the windmill itself and then it is the light in front of the windmill and the darkness behind it. This is a credit to Rijn’s use of chiaroscuro. By this I mean the viewer can easily tell that the sun is either peaking out or setting on the right side of the image due to the shadows casted upon the water and cast shadow behind the windmill. Modeling is used on the bottom-left side of the painting as well with the hill sloping downwards into the area where the people are standing near the water. The windmill of course is the centerpiece and purpose of the image and it is rightly highlighted by the light source (sun) in the painting. The second major use of light the artist uses in the painting is atmosphere perspective. Using atmospheric perspective, Rijn shows off the mountainous background as well as the clouds above and beyond the mountains. He does this by making the more of a cooler color; in this particular example it is that the mountains are what seems to be a light grey, a tremendous amount lighter than that of the trees along the bank of the water.
When reading the textbook and looking further into the concept and light land color in art I have learned many important aspects to the concept. Most of which can easily be explained through the terms and definitions throughout the chapter on light and color. The two main concepts I feel are most important when dealing with light and color is atmospheric perspective and chiaroscuro, both are greatly represented in The Mill.I believe that atmospheric perspective is extremely important due to the fact it deals with depth and can portray to the viewer the distance of background objects, with mountains being a common use. The other main concept has a few elements to it and it is called chiaroscuro. Chiaroscuro as a whole is the balance of light and shade in a picture and there are several terms used when talking about chiaroscuro, modeling and highlights just to name a couple. There are several different techniques when focusing on light and color but I feel these are the most important and prominent when discussing Rembrandt van Rijn’s, The Mill.
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ReplyDeleteIt is very clearly picture to tell "Chiaroscuro". Could you tell more stories about this picture? -Li-
ReplyDeleteHi Cody, I think that your essay is so interesting. You have applied all we have learned in that chapter to your analysis. You noticed how the artist uses ligth and colors in this painting and which methods are used. This essay has helped me to be more specific and look at the details while looking some paintings. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteHi Cody, you did a nice job describing your experience seeing this piece while using some of the term. It didn't feel that your essay benefited from outside readings and research about the piece and the artist. Next time invest more time in research.
ReplyDeleteThe history of film is intetesting as it is deplicted in the book.
ReplyDeletethe fact that artist went through all the time and effort to put their visions in a medium that is not only visually syimulating, but causes the viewer to in part become part of the experiance as they try to determine if the film (which were in the begining silent) is metaphoric or actual, meaning if the work is an play on words or if it has an deeeper meaning.
Yancey Tarver