An excellent collaborative work, Phoenix
has many strengths. Two I particularly enjoy are (1) the amazing illusion of
texture and (2) the complex and varied us of colorless value, especially the
blacks and whites. |
This is a mixed-media work of a nearly-photorealistic bird that is deceased.
The sensitive treatment of the unusual subject suggests the preciousness and
complexity life. Recognizable shapes are created by smaller elements and lines in a way that
their edges are blended realistically into each other. Highly experimental use
of whites and blacks, arching lines which are imitated by the feather textures
and delicate use of browns create an image that places into the mind what it
would feel like to touch the subject.
Some space is created through the stark value contrasts present; the dense
values are overlapped by the white ones. A consistent light source is provided,
finishing the strong spatial depth of this work. Pictorially, this work is stable, but asymmetrically so.
This is a strength; without the lines and moments of force created by the
direction of a handful of shapes, it would be less captivating, but this would
provide a more static composition.
Blended, natural forms and soft textures dominate. Beyond that, this work
possesses the kind of balance that creates contrast: Dark and light values
adjacent to each other, and refined and vague edges. Placed at optical center is the creature’s head; it faces to the left, and
compounded by objects to the right pushing in the same direction, the eye
follows around and down to the looping feather stalks at the bottom of the
canvas. A beautiful texture pattern cradles the center of interest.
The view is compressed, but not to the point where the subject is abstracted;
just enough to give the impression that the viewer is inspecting an animal that
recently died. This is a strong, unified work created by a pair of artists and a handful of
media that above all else inspires a sense of texture. This, the subject matter
and directional thrust create a beautifully believable composition.
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