Ways of Looking - Assignment 1

I decided to look at this painting as the content immediately drew my attention; as someone who loves nature, I was captured by this artist's depiction of what appears to be a jungle-like lake area. I was also intrigued by the fact that this was in fact a three-dimensional painting, as that's something I've never seen before, and I find the odd, irregular shape to be interesting, as it does something to the painting which I find really cool. If we observe the top of the painting, we can see that the jagged edges actually allow some of the lighting from the fixture behind to peek through, almost giving the illusion of actual sun or moon light peering through the canopy of the jungle. It also causes some of the top to appear quite dark, since the light isn't reaching it, much like in real life. I have no idea if that's intentional, but I find that to be really good use of lighting and it gives the painting this great sense of dimension. It made me feel like I was looking at something really fleshed out and alive.

In terms of the different ways of looking, I'd say this falls under Stylistic Analysis, as my observations concerning the light and shape contribute to what make this particular piece special and so immersive for me. 

I also partook in Formal Analysis, and this definitely became more and more evident the closer (and longer) I looked at the piece. At first glance, it was easy for me to say it was a painting of a jungle and be done with it. Upon closer inspection, however, I came to recognize all the little details: the ripples in the water, the snakes in the foreground, the variety of flora, the strokes taken to create the birds' wings. I didn't even realize the snakes were actually snakes at first, I thought they were some sort of plant or branch; it took me a good minute to realize I was wrong. I slowly began to grasp all the factors that went into making this, and I never would have gotten that by just staring for a few seconds. 

I'm glad I took the two minutes during class to actually appreciate this work of art. I even visited it again after class just because I enjoyed it so much! Seems a little crazy that I would just walk past paintings like this every day without so much giving them a second glance. 

-Nathalie