I used google to quickly scan through many images and stopping at ones that caught my interest.
Ethel Sands
The Chintz Couch
c.1910–11
Oil paint on board
465 x 385 mm
This one caught my eye, it is almost monochromatic, I liked it because the way it led me around the image, I started off on the square in the centre.
This offered some good tonal contrast and then led me down the wall and over the chair, I was then directed up in a diagonal motion at the flowers. I think they are Lily’s, that offer the same contrasting tone but are detached from the main bulk.
It’s actually a pretty flat depiction, the light flowing over the chair is giving depth as is the darkness under the table. When I chose my viewpoint for the previous exercise, I wanted to get a diagonal line or too in there to break up the rigid square shapes and forms, but the artist here has actually created an interesting diagonal by using the light.
Douglas Fox Pitt
Interior with Maid
c.1864–1922
Graphite, charcoal and watercolour on paper
412 × 483 mm
I enjoyed the use of colour and bold lines on this one, I suspect if this was left as a linear work it wouldn’t have been able to portray this amount of depth. The weight of line seems to be pretty consistent throughout the structural parts of the room, changing for little details such as the objects on the mantel piece.
The warm walls against the cool purple and violets really offer a good amount of separation and create two plains. At first glance I thought the room had a walkthrough arch but this is in fact a reflection of the “maid” at the fire, and not figure at washing machine like I first saw. The angle of the mirror feels a little impossible, and gives that “fish eye” effect I noticed in my own sketch. The warmth reds on the cushion and throw seem to be leading my eye into the mirror, I believe that the figure and its reflection is the main focal point for the artwork, a diagonal trajectory across the image. the reflection being part of the focal point explains why some licence has been taken on the angles used. Maybe it was just more interesting that way.
Charles Joseph Grips
A Domestic Interior
c.1881
Oil on panel
380 x 300mm
This was another image that caught my eye, much for the same reasons as above. It was dark and at first quite flat, but it actually has loads to see and is very cleverly layered. the warm yellow silk sheet almost looks like a figure and is the first thing we see, as we look round we see many objects.
when we eventually arrive at the back wall we see a bird cage and a sculpted relief of a head, I really liked all the details, it created a lot of interest, especially the little cat exploring and conquering the mountain of objects, and maybe even having a sweep of that broom.
Roy Lichenstein
Interior with Waterlilies
c.1991
Oil paint and acrylic paint on canvas
209 × 4553 × 65 mm
This was another image that I felt did a good job of displaying depth. The use of colour separate the fields of depth, as do the diagonal lines on the back wall they seem to pull the drawing into itself. The perspective lines aren’t perfect in places but do offer that 3d box feel, without losing any personality and character. The focus here does seem to be the pictures on the left wall as the title of the piece would suggest, although the other pictures hung on the wall also catch the eye quite effectively.