Painting Analysis of Snowy Day by Carole Spandau PDF

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Tamarra Bessa Nicole T. Tamarra Arra Katrina Villaruel Group 10 ART (TTH 10:30 12:00) March 14, 2022 A Winter Afternoon in Canada Carole piece titled Snowy Day Rue Fabre Le Plateau is one of many artworks that belonged to a series of winter city scene paintings that pay homage the beauty of everyday...

Description

Tamarra Bessa Nicole T. Tamarra Arra Katrina Villaruel Group 10 GE- ART (TTH 10:30 - 12:00) March 14, 2022

A Winter Afternoon in Canada Carole Spandau’s piece titled Snowy Day Rue Fabre Le Plateau is one of many artworks that belonged to a series of winter city scene paintings that pay homage the beauty of everyday in Montreal, Canada. This artwork showcases a painting of two children enjoying an afternoon stroll in the borough of Plateau Mont Royal on Rue Fabre during one of Quebec’s winter season afternoons. The dimensions of this piece are 14 inches by 11 inches by one inch and it was created using oil paint on canvas. This painting is an example of Spandau’s ability to utilize a variety of elements in art, such as the use of colors, lines, and space, to exude feelings of nostalgia for her hometown upon spectators, regardless of whether they had ever visited Montreal in their lifetime. The first attribute that catches viewers’ eyes around the artwork is the use of vibrant colors. With the prominence of red, yellow, and blue hues in the painting, we can distinguish a triadic color scheme that brings a harmonious and uplifting feel to the scene. In addition to that, various intensities and shades of the same color are used in different ways in the painting. Taking red, for an example, and observing how a deeper shade of red was not only used for the brick walls of the apartment buildings, but as well as for the folds in the children’s winter clothes. Yellow was not only used to capture the warm glow of the setting sun on the horizon, but also on the highpoints of surfaces, giving them more volume and shape. A variety of blue shades were used to accent parts of the painting, tying in the overall feeling of the winter season into the atmosphere of the scene. Interestingly, the artist chose to work with warm colors to portray a

Tamarra cold winter day. This choice resulted in a piece of work that captures the feelings of joy, playfulness, and comfort amidst a freezing Canadian winter. Furthermore, Spandau makes use of linear perspective in this painting to create a sense of spatial depth on a two-dimensional surface. She painted the foreground in great detail, with emphasis on the textures and shapes of snow piles, staircases and naked trees along the pavement, all of which can be seen up close. Yet, when these same items are compared to their counterparts painted in the background, where only an impression of these objects is made, we can see that a greater illusion of perceived distance was produced, giving the painting a more three-dimensional look. The children are also painted with emphasis on detail, from the folds on their puffer jackets to the flush on their cheeks. This was done to further enhance the feeling of depth in the painting, as if these children were viewed from the eyes of their guardian or loved one who could have been walking in front of them on that day. Moreover, the usage of lines in the painting help accentuate the linear perspective of it. This phenomenon can be observed from the implied lines of the trees, pavements and apartment buildings appearing to move further into the canvas, eventually vanishing into the horizon of the subdued, warm twilit sky. The strokes of Spandau’s brush can be appreciated on the canvas when looking at how she uses lines to imply the different textures of materials and surfaces viewed in the painting, from straight lines composing the red-brick walls of buildings and the dark metallic fences to the squiggly lines that simulate the illusion of reflective surfaces on cars and the rough bark of tree trunks. Additionally, Spandau uses jagged lines to recreate the shape and structure of naked trees during winter season. Her curved lines in the snow bring forth the softness and fluffiness of the snow’s texture, which can be seen similarly done to the children’s thick and puffy clothing, making them appear comfortably and warmly clothed. This soft texture of snow that was created is further brought into emphasis when contrasted with the straight lines of the staircase steps and pavement pathway, both of which are surfaces that snow is seen to have fallen on. These contrasts between the different types of lines that were

Tamarra created by Spandau’s brush strokes give the painting a sense of balance, as well as scale and proportion. Overall, it is evident that Spandau is a skilled artist. Much of her work are depictions of typical events that happen in everyday life in Montreal. The scenery that Spandau represented in this painting is one of many that were created with the same style, from the similar usage of contrasting lines that create balance, to the harmonious color schemes that depict a rather warm and welcoming Canadian winter. Because Spandau is very well-versed with her skill in using the elements of art, she can capture these mundane moments and transform them into something that seems sentimental, almost like taking a peek into a life once lived before....