Essay on Analysis of The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai

The narrator begins this story stating, “None of them knew the color of the sky” (338). He refers to the cook, the correspondent, the captain, and the oiler, the main characters. This quote means that all of them are focused on fighting for survival, paying all of their attention to the waves. They fight against the waves, trying to stay alive. However, the author states, “A singular disadvantage of the sea lies in the fact that after successfully surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it just as important and just as nervously anxious to do something effective in the way of swamping boats” (339). The waves are a symbol of the uncaring nature; it does not matter how hard the protagonists try to fight against the waves because nature continues its course; the waves continue to flow. However, the characters are determined to stay alive. They continue to face this external conflict that is nature, even when they realize that nature is

Red appears to dominate the painting and serves as an eye-catching color. The use of intensely saturated colors draws the attention to the front couple. Additionally, the red color plays with the mind of the onlooker without them thinking about it. It suggests deep passion, anger, and struggle. The artist intends to relay his feelings about the event to the viewer. His outlook consists of disgust towards the great depression that leaves many taken advantage of due to desperation.

According to Donald Finkel, describing his own speculations help the observer understand his interpretation of the artwork. In light of this, he shares the correlation between the different parts of nature and color in the first stanza by drawing attention to how “the sea is blue”(1). By starting his poem with this reason, repeated twice with other elements of the painting, it conjures the imagery of a chain reaction within creation. The land, sea, and people are linked as one- a commentary on the inclusiveness of nature. In addition to the color blue, a connection is created with the use of similes between the color of the men’s “white faces”, which was “like the snow on Fuji...and the crest of the wave” (3). It is not by mere coincidence that the three main objects in Hokusai’s work are alike in color. Once again, land, sea, and humanity are linked in a triangle, providing balance. Finally, a yellow neutral tone envelops the people, “an earthcolored sky” that is also “the color of their boats”(8, 4-5). Finkel, and the woodblock, are saying that nature is not the tool of humans, but rather that humans are just one part of a larger world that, as the wave shows, can just as easily overwhelm

Around the age of six years old, Hokusai began painting and even spent time as an apprentice wood-carver in his youth. He began the art of print making when he was eighteen. His most famous painting, The Great Wave, can be seen in museums all over the world even though Japan delayed it from catching on worldwide. Many believe that it was painted in the early 1800s, but Japan was not interacting culturally with other countries apart from trade with China and Korea. It wasn’t until 1859 when the Japanese were forced to open their ports that prints of The Wave spread across Europe. Originally, this piece wasn’t viewed as real art by Japanese politicians and art historians. Wood-block printing was used for commercial use and as a popular form of expression. The Japanese government wasn’t too thrilled “that such a seemingly lowbrow art form had come to define them” (15 Things). About five thousand to eight thousand prints were made but it is speculated that only a few hundreds of The Great Wave remain. The painting actually inspired music like Debussy’s La Mer.

The outline of the painting is contrast of dark dull depressing colors. These colors will help make the white pop out to show some symbols. The colors on the background and the people's clothing have a mixture of blue, light blue, orange, red, and brown. This helps enhances the pale skin, the background sky, and the flying soul.

Colors can invoke feelings for people. Certain colors are attached to moods. Red can represent anger, green sometimes represents envy and blue can represent calm or even melancholy. Much art, music, and literature is dependent on color to convey the intended mood of the artist. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, a man with wealth, power, and possessions is on a quest for the dream that he will never attain. He cannot have all that he already has plus the true love of Daisy. Fitzgerald creates his own unique motifs surrounding certain colors and uses these colors to emphasize the futility in Gatsby’s quest for this dream. Through the use

This is shown through the tree in the water; it is dark on one side and bright on another. Tom brings an object to look realistic 4 dimensional. The distribution of colors as widely varied across the campus but has a large amount of break color to call attention to different objects. For photography, the quality of color on print doesn't show the Deep saturation of the colors in the shades in the real painting they become unrecognizable compared to the original. There are no colors that are too bright or too dim.

As we all know, color is the voice for the artist 's sentiment. It makes up the appearance of a picture. Color is the decisive factor in depths of the two-dimensional plane of the artwork, making the viewer feel physically and mentally attracted, or the context of things - the phenomenon the author wants to present. Colors have been around for a long time, but there is not a common definition for colors. And perhaps humans are one of the luckiest creatures that can identify colors. Often, the recipient 's eye knows a myriad of colors and colors that always change based on the relationship between light and perspective. In art, color creates a sense of

We can observe the selection of blue color symbolizing melancholy in these scenes. Also, during the film, another color scene, this time yellow, can be seen, reflecting madness, insecurity, and obsessive by these scenes in the jury and streets. The catastrophic events, scenography and audio incremented the tension of every scene and complemented the facial expressions in the characters, creating a circle of the dramatic tension in the movie.

Almost instantaneously recognizable, The Great Wave off Kanagawa (woodblock, 10 1/8 x 14 15/16 in, c. 1830-32), created by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai in 1830, beautifully captures the graceful, swelling movement of a crashing tsunami. Because of the way in which line and proportion are utilized, this woodblock print gracefully portrays the sheer power of the ocean. Derived from the Edo period in nineteenth century Japan, this classic was the first of a series of works from Hokusai titled Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji, all of which effortlessly depict the mountain in a wide array of angles and scenery. Arguably, The Great Wave off Kanagawa is the most iconic and cherished piece of Japanese artwork in the world. Even more importantly, Hokusai is considered prominent father figure for both Japanese art, as well as Western modernization as a whole. The Great Wave truly displays how tiny and weak man is compared to the force of nature. Not only is The Great Wave a quintessential piece of art, but it established a piece in the comprehensive networks of art, trade, and politics, that has instilled a tremendous positive impact on the twenty first century.

We can also see the use of black shades to create a hole at the bottom part of the rock. With his excellent use of colors, we can identify the good, healthy and green grass from the bad, unhealthy, brown grasses. Looking beyond the main focus of the painting, he uses colors to separate the sky from the land in the background creating a solid form of perspective on the painting. He also uses colors to create water forms as seen behind the young character. Now, for the sky, he uses shades of white to magnificently differentiate the thick clouds from the light ones. He also uses this to create a source to light to the whole area. All these put together creates a splendid, realistic and familiar atmosphere for the viewers to relate with.

The texture of the painting itself is probably rough. The artist makes no great attempt at conveying implied texture to the viewer. It seems as though implying texture may detract from the overall attitude of the piece. Altogether texture doesn’t play a huge role in this work of art.

I think the artist is able to communicate the bad condition of the ship and its crew is in. The mood of the work is scary and gloomy. The design and intensity of the waves, the changing weather, and the ships in the ocean seem to make the scene come alive. It really conveys a since of naturalism in the painting the way it depicts the environment around the ship.

Claude-Joseph Vernet made a painting that brings your attention to the foreground. In the front, there is a boat being boarded. Some of the people that are not boarding the boat are standing by the sea. In the sea, some boats are sailing off in the distance. One of the boats in the distance is a large boat that gives the illusion of being three-dimensional. The form gives this illusion because of the reflection in the sea. If you look in the lower-right, you can see the light from the sun illuminating the sky. This light is hidden behind a large mountain that also has a three-dimensional form. There is also lots of texture in the painting. Some texture is seen in the mountains and ground giving a rough look, and some is seen in the sea in the form of ripples. On top of the mountain in the lower-right, there is greenery that has an illusion of being light and feathery. In that mountain, there is an arch that makes the other side visible. In the far distance, you can see a faint

misery of the loss of his family. They are both trying to suck him in