Eleanor Ray, Wyoming Window, June, 2018.ere are few artists I know about whose main subject matter is interiors, but since my interests have also moved in that direction, I have been having a closer look at their work. Two contemporary artists who stand out to me are Eleanor Ray and Vicken Parsons. There is not only the obvious similarity in their subject matter, but also a similarity in the way they handle paint.
Ray's paintings tend to focus mainly on how light falls on surfaces and how shadows form through windows.
In Ray's painting Wyoming Window, she has placed the window in bottom right corner and occupied the rest of the panel with light and shadow. To me, the contrast between the warm, orange areas of light, and cool, blue areas of shadow, reflects how light appears in the golden hour.I really appreciate the lack of detail in the landscape shown through the window, as this indicates that Ray is much more interested in what is going on inside this scene rather than outside. There is also a Eleanor Ray, Wyoming Window, June, 2018. contrast between bold, angular lines for the Oil on Panel, 16.5 x 20.3 cm interior, and the soft, natural brushstrokes for
the exterior. This creates a balance that draws me into this painting.
When studying Parsons' paintings, I think she is mostly interested in the composition of light.
Unlike Ray's painting Wyoming Window, June, there are very few angular lines. I am drawn to the simplicity of this painting in both the composition and the colour palette. This is clearly a study of light and shadow. I am fascinated by the way Parsons is able to depict a a corner of a room with very few brushstrokes. The three lines which indicate the corner, are the only thing we need to understand the painting. It appears that Parsons has avoided using a pure white for the Vicken Parsons, Untitled, 2014.
light areas and pure black for the dark lines, Oil on board, 20 x 23cm
which is something I also do in my own work,
to create a more naturalistic colour palette.
I want to reflect my findings from these paintings in my own interior studies.
Comments