This painting is one in a series of Ned Kelly paintings.
Ned, (1855 – 1880), was an Australian bushranger, a folk hero. In this painting he is wearing armour made from farmers’ plough cultivators. The cultivators were hammered flat, forged and then moulded into shape. The pieces were held together with leather and bolts. He wore a long coat. Attention has been paid to detail, and the artist has taken time and effort to be sure the portrayal of Ned’s armour is accurate.
The artist has placed Ned’s gun, and its billowing smoke, in the central section of the painting. This becomes the point of focus for the viewer. From this point the eye can move around the canvas to assess other details. Trees have been carefully placed to shield Ned, and he seems to be close to the viewer.
The artist used bright, yellow-orange dabs of colour for the grass, and smoothly blended violet and ghost gum white colours, to paint the tree trunks.
An illusion of visual depth has been created. This is because the artist used cool colours to paint alternating ridges of yellow and green coloured grass and scrub that became blurred, as they receded into the mountain and softly toned sky.
There is a hint of a person/s on a horse in the mid-section of the painting.
Acrylic on Masonite, date unknown. (Cleaned and framed.)
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