Fire Trees

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on May 29, 2018 at 8:54am

Curator’s Comments:

 

Fire Trees can easily be overlooked because of its overall dark value pattern. I’m glad it came up randomly on the site, so I was able to view it apart from your other drawings with a higher degree of visual contrast.  The dark and warm sepia tones bathe the trees with shadow, allowing some of their branches to sink into the darker ground.  I appreciate the small amounts of blue light peeking through the tops of the trees as a color contrast.  The caption under the painting suggests a depiction of the majestic subjects at a point of natural light/sunset, but the lack of warm hues in the small bits of sky set a more surreal mood.  I find this effective, as I linger longer on the piece, wondering at the source of the warm glow.  The rooting of the trunks into the similarly warm ground enhances the smoothness of the close color transitions.  Lighter rocks punctuate the darker spots of ground and appear to float just above the surface.  Fire Trees is realistically painted, but the unusual choices of color set up a surprising and engaging mood.

Comment by Andrew Schlageter on July 28, 2012 at 9:04am

The color scheme of this is my favorite part (as was probably intended lol)