Analysis of picture by clyfford still

The picture and the artist The above portrait depicts a painting with oil on a canvas whose actual size approximates 6’ wide by 10’ tall though not indicated. The dominant colors characterizing this artwork’s objects include red, white, yellow, black and grey besides their varying shades. Color shades in this artwork dominate the left side of the portrait where the illumination seems to emanate and in the sky. Consequently, these shades actualize the portrait’s diverse objects via giving them the necessary illuminations in relation to both the viewer’s position and light’s source. This is evident from the main object’s piece protruding piece from the right and casts shadow just beneath it in relation to both the man and machine like forms found in the background.
Diverse forms comprising this artwork their placements occupy the background whereby most of them seem to concentrate in the right side corner. This creates a negative space between the viewer and the main objects. Besides, there are scattered snow like objects characterizing the space between the viewer and the background. These objects and those forming the portrait’s ground do not appear as if the painter utilized brush, but formed them by “ ripping off” technique after applying paint. Hence, revealing underlying paints but via forming patches, which gives the ground snow like forms, scattered in the entire forefront space. The background objects’ colors exhibit bold and heavy brush strokes giving them their true colors except the protruding piece that has a grey color. The protruding image seems as if the painter after applying paint embarked on “ ripping off” method, which he utilized to create the forefront objects.
In this image, Clyfford still’s portrait via his painting offers the audience adequate information meant to predict the time and season of the day. The snow-like objects confirm this was a summer day and in the afternoon whereby the latter depiction is evident from the long object’s shadow cast beneath it. The entire artwork’s objects and incorporation of colors gives a feeling of an ordinary atmosphere in the countryside with its normal on goings. This is evident from the busy man undertaking his activities. In addition, the depiction of varied agricultural machines emphasizes society’s daily on goings.
About Clyfford still
Clyfford despite being born in Dakota, he spent 35 years of his early life in Eastern Washington and Alberta (Wünsche & Crowther 135). Clyfford’s parents were farmers while staying in Alberta, whereby these settings influenced his later works (Wünsche & Crowther 135). Primarily, Clyfford in his works extensively utilized expressive figurative style coupled with abstraction, which depicted people working in their farms besides other agricultural activities. Besides, his artworks’ objects comprised of agricultural machine forms characterizing large farming landscapes, which is evident in the above figure. The depicted activities were essential in depicting the then Americans’ daily life tasks that continued to characterize Still’s artworks before his death in 1980. This is especially via his unique use of chiseled planes of intense color though in certain circumstances he resulted to employing “ rip off” technique evident in the above artwork (Wünsche & Crowther 135).
Work Cited
Wünsche, Isabel & Crowther, Paul. Meanings of Abstract Art: Between Nature and Theory. United Kingdom: Routledge, 2012. Print.