The artist loved painting in bright colours, and in this clever, vibrant painting of a young artist, he has used a multi-coloured palette. Yellow hue is the dominant and mother colour. He has added yellow to the other colours in order to soften the overall colour intensity of the painting. There is an equal mix of cool and warm colours, and this balances the painting.
The artist chose the vertical format for this painting, and he has placed his subject’s ankle at a point on the canvas, laterally, as close to the ‘Golden Sector’ line (8:5) as possible. This helps with the overall design of the painting and makes for a more pleasant viewing experience.
The ‘eye’ watching the girl as she is working on her painting, hints at surrealism. The artist placed ‘eyes’ in many of his paintings, and eyes symbolize many things, including an Omnipresent God.
There are other canvasses behind the one the artist is working on. This suggests that she is ‘practising’ how to paint flowers, or that the painting she is working on is one in a series. Her stance is quite formal, and she is approaching her canvas with caution as many young artists tend to do.
Her reddish hair is in contrast to the yellow canvas behind her. The reddish colour is repeated in the cleaning rag she is holding in her left hand and around the edges of her canvasses. This helps the viewer’s eye to travel around the painting and also keeps the painting ‘fluid’.
Attention has been paid to detail. The artist is wearing a bracelet, and she may be wearing spectacles. The colour palette, and choice of subject used in this painting, give it a youthful feel, and create a happy mood despite the presence of a watchful eye.
Perhaps the subject of this painting is the same person, as the one used by the artist in the painting, Walking the Dogs, found in Animals?
Compare this painting with Young Artist in this section and spot the differences.
Acrylic on Masonite, date unknown. (Cleaned and framed.)
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