Alyssa D. 16x20" Oil Praque'

For this project, I decided to do an architectural landscape painting
of Prague, Czech Republic. I chose this particular subject matter for
a couple of reasons. The painting that I created prior to this project
was a scene in Florence, Italy. I had learned a lot about capturing
the structure of the buildings as well as their relation to the
surrounding space. The success of the painting inspired me to further
study this type of landscape. I chose Prague for my subject matter
because it represents my heritage. Because I have never seen the city
for myself, I wanted to stylize it realistically, but also give it a
dreamy, fanciful mood.

In order to do this, I incorporated a number of different techniques.
First, I started with an under painting to map out the basic forms of
the scene. The under painting also serves as a base to hold the piece
together as I later work color into each individual area. I used a
limited palette for this piece that consisted of ultramarine blue,
lemon yellow, cadmium red, raw umber, and white. The use of a limited
palette helps give the piece a sense of unity, as similar colors are
integrated throughout the piece. I mixed my palette to create the
blue-greens, oranges, yellows, and purples that were most dominant in
my color scheme. After blending each color, I added different amounts
of white to lower the chroma and make them lighter. I also used the
combination of ultramarine blue and raw umber to darken or neutralize
each color. The pairing of complementary colors, such as purple and
yellow adds life and excitement to the painting. This concept goes
hand in hand with the concept of warm colors versus cool. The variance
of warm and cool colors adds depth to the piece as a whole, and shows a
relation between the subject and atmospheric light. A wide range in
value also gives the piece depth, as darker values appear to push back
into space, and lighter values pull forward. This illusion can also be
achieved through color saturation. More muted, neutral tones will also
fade into the background as those of more intense chroma will pop off
the canvas. When blending different values and tones, I tend to use
the scumbling technique. This technique can smoothen surfaces and can
also add interesting texture. Texture is another element that was
important to my painting. In some areas, I used my palette knife to
scrape paint away from the canvas which created a texture that looks
similar to brick or stone. In other areas I put the paint on very
thick to allow the paint to project off the surface. This was useful
in the lights on the bridge because I wanted each one to stand out and
shine. Putting paint on thick and clean in certain areas also helps to
keep the painting fresh.

Keeping the paint fresh and adding clean, crisp finishing touches is a
new concept that I explored in this piece. I feel that it really
enhanced the painting over all and added vibrancy to it. Through this
piece, I also found myself paying closer attention to value and its
role in creating a sense of depth. I also focused on putting colors of
different temperature next to each other for the purpose of adding
visual vibration to certain areas.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the piece. I feel that I achieved a
realistic image of what the city of Prague looks like, but still gave
the piece emotion and mood. I feel that the color scheme was very
successful because it gives the piece a certain dreamy, imaginative
feel. I think that the combination of pale purples and yellow-oranges
create a romantic atmosphere; somewhere that people would like to
imagine themselves at. In some areas however, I feel that I could have
concentrated more on keeping my colors more fresh and unmuddled. I
tend to want to blend certain areas more than I need to, and
consequently, they appear to be over worked.

To me this piece represents my dream to one day visit the country of my
heritage. I feel that aside from the atmosphere and architecture, I
incorporated my own emotion into the piece. I hope that those who view
my painting are inspired in some way; if not to visit the same place
that they are seeing, than to one day visit the place that they wish
to.