I was looking at an O'Keeffe book yesterday and trying to analyze some elements of her style, what makes an O'Keeffe look like one. Then I set out to do something in her style last night. I'm no expert on her, but the things I noticed and tried to follow were: cropping; asymmetry; boldness; curves; negative space; lack of detail on big color areas; and that each shape and even each little part of a shape, including shadow shapes, have an interesting "arabesque" (line that's never boring, repeated, or symmetrical).
One thing I didn't do, of course, that she did, was blow it up to an exaggerated size. Working alla prima, I had to stick to a manageable size.
It was a really interesting experiment--so different than the way I usually paint--and I plan on trying at least one more in this style.
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11 comments:
Beautiful in its simplicity and use of negative space. The top,left edge on the bigger leaf keeps my eye, it's gorgeous.
Oh Pfaff style if you ask me.
Your analysis of her work enlightened me.
It's impressive to me how you study and create something entirely your own, while teaching yourself to stretch.
The shadows on this one really get me. Love those lost edges too.
A fine piece here Jala.
Blorp!!!!!!!! You, the writer found a most succinct descriptive.
Merriam Webster definition of Blorp : org, Colorado, 2009, informal exclamation.
The act of causing indentations in objects due to increased intake of Meow Mix.
No, really, look it up yourself.......
There aren't too many things more beautiful than the simplicity of leaves, in my opinion. Beautiful shapes on the leaves and shadows - also love the negative space.
Oh, there's that kitty!!!
That gorgeous shadow...and the infinitely interesting negative space around it...and the way the stems interact with their shadows had me right away. Then my eye moved on down and took in the lovely layering of the leaves and shadows. Great color, composition and cropping!
Color color color. For me, it's all about the color.
That's quite the arabesque you've got parked on the back of your couch, dude.
P.S. Word verification for this is, "whoorose". Beats me, but I love it! Double Os always charm me; I am such a cheap date.
beautifully done and very interesting narrative. i love o'keeffe. she's one of those artist i've always meant to delve into. i love the use of color and composition. great idea.
also, a new word, thank you. blorp will be used quite frequently. and the photo is one of the best kitty snaps i've seen in a long time.
lovely work. suz
Nice job on the leaves. Love how you painted the shadow.
love the leaves, the post info, and esp the artistic picture of the cat...really neat.
that painting is very nice. I too, have been delving into other artists and trying new things. It's so freeing.
I am smitten with your kitten, Jala. I just want to put my face down him and sniff 'im :)
This is just lovely, Jala.
Thanks, all! (Mary, I do that many times a day. :D)
And a big blorrrrp from the Blorpmeister!
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