Weekly Wednesday Feature: butterfly in scarlet by slightclutter

"butterfly in scarlet" by slightclutter

 This is a photograph by Katya Horner entitled "butterfly in scarlet." It is available at her shop: slightclutter on etsy. This listing can be found here.

Viewing this piece, I was struck by its color, pattern and subject.  Color is one of the main components that makes the piece visually appealing; particularly the saturation and contrast of color.  The eye is drawn to the contrasting tones of the butterfly: the lightness and saturation of the yellow, which contrasts with the darkness and purple tinge of the black. The eye is also drawn to the butterfly for the pattern of the color of its wings and body.  The eye then moves through this visual of color and pattern to the super saturated tones of the background of the image: where magenta mingles with hues of purple, puce, and sienna. And these background colors appear softer focus, with less articulation, which further emphasizes the pattern of the butterfly as the focus of the piece. It's a contrast between the intricate pattern and contrast of the butterfly juxtaposed against the soft focus and saturated color melding of the background that makes this piece visually appealing.

I encourage you to check out the rest of the pieces available at slightclutter on etsy.

Weekly Wednesday Feature: among the pumpkins by abbytrysagain

"among the pumpkins" by abbytrysagain

This is a photograph Abby Powell Thompson entitled "among the pumpkins." It is available at her shop: abbytrysagain on etsy. This listing can be found here.

Viewing this piece, I was struck by its color, character, and compositional element.  Color is one of the main components that makes the piece visually appealing; particularly the range of color. The eye is drawn to the super saturated tone of the orange of the pumpkins, and then the deep magenta of the stockings, and then through the softer red-washed tones in the rest of the image that dissipate into highlights of white. Color draws they eye in and moves it through the composition. Color contributes to the character of the piece.  The super saturated tones juxtaposed with strong light and therefore shadows that gives this piece an atmosphere. For the strength of the light in the image, the light of the scene seems very atmospheric in that the highlights aren't too severe or sharp in appearance, and neither are the shadows. There is a softness and embracing quality to the light in the piece, that in combination with the saturation of the color creates a mood of intrigue.

The image is, quite literally, a photo of what is presumably a female, wearing a dress or skirt and stockings standing in a pumpkin patch. Of course, while the details are quite literal, the cropping of the compositional elements makes them more figurative, more dreamy, more open to interpretation. The cropping focuses the viewer's attention on a combination of shapes and textures that act in concert with one another. The saturated areas of color contain the least textural shapes, where as the areas in the wash of atmospheric light have more texture.  There is an interplay between the planes of color and the segmented or sectional areas of light. All of which acts together to tantalize the viewer's eye.

I encourage you to check out the rest of the pieces available at abbytrysagain on etsy.

Weekly Wednesday Feature: festive balloons by FauxKiss

"festive ballons" by FauxKiss

 

This is a mixed media collage by Jean Cody entitled "festive balloons."It is available at her shop: FauxKiss on etsy. This listing can be found here.

Viewing this piece, I was struck by its color, character, and media.  The color is probably the first thing that draws the eye to the piece, particularly the way the bright, vivid colors of the balloons pop in contrast to the subdued beige tones of the background.  The color is bold and strong, and yet translucent in the sense that the aged page on which the image is printed shows through. Which leads to the character of the piece: colorful balloons juxtaposed on a page from the dictionary.  The playful overlays the technical. It's an interesting visual and conceptual dichotomy. Which of course brings the focus to the media and a consciousness about the construction of the image: it's an image printed atop what is essentially already an image. And yet the image created by this combination acts as a whole, as one singular visual.

 

I encourage you to check out the rest of the pieces available at FauxKiss on etsy.