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Art Comparison

Decent Essays

Art is an incredible medium when used to its fullest potential. What I mean by that is; it has the capabilities to surround the viewer with its imagery and play with the emotions. Paintings are particulary effective in doing this through the use of color tones and ‘temperature’. For example; El Greco used a lot of blue and green throughout his body of work. The outcome is that the subject matter comes off as ghostly and perhaps a little alien. This is in high contrast to Georgia O’Keeffe’s desert paintings, which utilise reds, yellows, and browns to create a ‘warm’ and appealing landscape.

Of course, these are not the only artist to make master works of tonality. Here are five artists (which you may recognize) who have harnesed the power …show more content…

Both Velazquez’s ‘Old Woman’ and Rembrandt’s ‘Prodigal Son’ are bathed in (or painted in) golden yellow tones. While both are wearing clothes of differing colors, each pigment is mixed with a little yellow, white, or light brown to give warmth to the figure. This helps them to contrast to the very dark background. I like how Rembrandt has figures in the background that are almost indiscernable. By being part of the opposing (darker) tonal group, we as viewers are shown that they are not the most important part of the portrait; that the son and father are. Velazquez, however, chooses to have all elements of interest in the lighter tones in his painting, leaving the back as a dark void of mystery.

Van Gogh is probably one of the most interesting painters concerning tonality. His purposeful usage of one color in a body of work is a strong reference to emotion (particularly in his portraits). His expressive brush work swirls the blues, and slight yellow and green, around his face. Even his skin has a bluish hue. These elements describe a somber or sorrowful state of mind. Its as almost if the troubles around him are seeping into his skin (like the blue).

That being said, tonality is both the friend of the artist and the art-lover. It is a wonderful story

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