Safe Haven Revised Analysis

By studying Andrew Wyeth’s work I have learned how to create colour balance and unity in my landscapes. I have also learned how effective the use of bright colour can be to portray emotion. William Kentridge has influenced my rough, cross hatch drawing style whilst Salvador Dali has influenced my approach to animalistic symbolism and unconventional composition. John Piper has inspired me to look at fine detail and taught me how to create texture with watercolour.

Whilst working on my water colour landscape, “Safe Haven Revised” I have looked at Andrew Wyeth for a lesson in how to echo colours throughout my composition. I observed how in “Concord River” the use of colour in the foreground is echoed in the sky and the water. On the land section of the painting colours are mimicked to create unity within the work. I tried to mimic this skill of Wyeth’s and use my colours so that they echo throughout the painting to create balance. Although you wouldn’t expect there to be deep green or yellow in the water, by placing it there the composition has been balanced. These colours are naturally there but one needs to train their eyes to see them. By looking at Wyeth’s work I have trained myself to find all the colours in a landscape, not just the neutral ones such as green and brown that one would expect. In “Safe Haven Revised” I have continuously tried to add the same colours to my foreground and background so that they don’t fight against each other with clashing colours.

They play off each other and create depth using colour. The unexpected hints of bright blue and yellow are used play off one another. The bright colourfulness of the painting conveys an overwhelming emotion in the viewer. I looked at Wyeth’s use of unusually bright colour and tried to do the same in my series of paintings “Iridescent River”. I used colour to express the emotion that I feel when I reflect on the