In the painting Aqueduct by Paul Cezanne, the centers of interest are the trees and the bridge in the background. When you first look at the painting, your eyes look at the trees, and then they wander over to the bridge in the background. Since there is more than one focus point, it adds to the painting’s interest because it gives the viewer more to look at and gives them more information and detail. The centers of interest were placed towards the right side of the photo. Therefore the rule of thirds was used. Another eye control element that was used is contrast (color). The painter was close enough to the subject to include only what was important. There are no wasted parts of the frame that contain items that are not adding to the message of the painting.
The background in the painting is out of focus. This makes the subject stand out and catch the attention of the viewer. The subject is also a bit blurry, this makes the subject seem a lot closer. The background is included, but in some places it is simplified. The background adds to the message of the photo by not distracting the viewer from the subject.
If this painting was a photo, the focus would not have been the best, and the exposure could have been better. But since it is a painting, I like it for its simple look. If it was a photo I think that the subject should be more in focus. I can tell that it would not be exposed properly because there is not much detail or texture in the shadows and the darker areas. A lot of the shadow areas and the darker places are blurry and one single color or shade. There is no detail in the brightest parts of the print, therefore the contrast in processing the film or the contrast of the photo paper affected the highlights in the photo.
The craftsmanship of the painting is very good. The
photo does not have stains, spots, dust, or scratches. It is displayed nicely
in the frame and it is not just slapped in. The photo looks like care was
taken in making it, and there is no evidence that the painter just rushed
it. The painting is very simple which makes it interesting. When you look
at it, it tells you of peace and quiet. It is a very creative painting because
it is very simple and it also sends a strong message.
The subject is not unusual, it is common but it never gets boring because
every scene is different in its own way. I like it because it has a meaning,
and that meaning is to tell a story. This painting tells a story of a happy
joyful place that is peaceful and quiet. If I were a photographer and I had
had the chance to do the same painting, the only thing that I would change
is the focus, I would use depth of field to make the trees in focus and the
background a little blurry. This would make the subjects stand out more. Since
this is a painting, I like it the way it is because it has soft details. This
is a very amazing painting and it is the one that I am mimicking.
The painting that I am mimicking is the painting called Aqueduct by Paul Cezanne. The Aqueduct is a painting of a group of trees swaying in the wind with a bridge in the background. My photo also has trees in it that are swaying in the wind. Paul Cezanne’s painting and my image are related because they both use the same subject or main focus. In Photoshop, I changed my photo to a type of painting. I used a brush style to make it look like it was painted just like the Aqueduct. Both the images use dark lighting and they don’t have much detail in the shadows and darker areas or the highlight areas of the image. Both paintings use back lighting that makes them darker. The trees in Aqueduct have a lot of little bushes surrounding them, therefore I took a photo of trees with surrounding bushes. Both images are very similar but they also have their differences.
The compositional elements that the painter used in his painting that are similar to the ones that I used are rule of thirds, center of interest dead center and background simplified. The bushes in both images are on one of the lines for rule of thirds. The trees in both images are the centers of interest and they are also dead center. The trees all slant to the right from the wind. Also the backgrounds in both images are simplified. The images are sceneries and they both are similar. I chose to mimic Aqueduct because I liked the message it sends. It sends an image of peace and quiet, and of happy times that were long forgotten. Both paintings are beautiful in their own way and that is why I decided to mimic Aqueduct, because it is beautiful and I wanted to take a beautiful photograph.
By: Erika Warren