Schematic Design: Art Analysis and Diagramming

Analysis of Painting      

       The oil painting titled “Lighthouse” by Alexander Lyamkin is an abstract oil painting done on a 19.7”x23.6” canvas panel. The painting is very realistic known as surrealism. Surrealism is a style of art and literature developed principally in the 20th century, stressing the subconscious or non rational significance of imagery. The emphasis of the painting is the human face because everything else around it is abstract and has nothing to do with the human body. It’s kind of like a puzzle the more you stare at it the more you try to piece it all together. The painting is called lighthouse but when you look at it, it doesn’t resemble anything of a lighthouse.  The objects do resemble things you would find at the beach.    

       The painting illustrates many elements of design such as line, shape, color, space, and composition. The different types of lines used in the painting are vertical, diagonal, curved and contour lines. These lines are used in such intricate ways that it also represents the different kinds of textures given to the objects. The lines that are used to form the shapes are also very interesting. The shapes used for the face are so detailed which helps make it look so real. The purple shape in the background is basically the structure of the picture that is keeping everything in place. The colors used are also realistic because they help explain what the artist is trying to incorporate in the painting. The blue background illustrates the sky, the orange, black, and white represent the colors of a clown fish, and the red is some other kind of fish. The space in the painting has great depth nothing is flat on the canvas. Incorporating depth in a painting helps all the objects pop off the page. The whole composition of the painting flows very nicely. Everything is in proportion with each other and it’s a very interesting painting to analyze.        

       This painting provokes happiness because the setting is on the beach. The beach is a place where you can go and just relax and let you mind run free from everything. In the background it looks like the sun is setting which makes you believe that it is later in the day.  The orange, black, and white can be different sizes of shells or rocks. The red fish looks like it is representing the hair of a women and the fish eye could be her earring. The white wavy lines above the head look like the eyebrows. The entire purple portion in the background could be the sandcastle house of this human and the three squares on top look like molding which gives it a decorative look. Overall the painting doesn’t represent a lighthouse but it does represent all the objects you would find near a lighthouse. 

Diagramming