From the Artist: This concept was fighting to be let out of me. The war has been affecting me even though I wasn't willing to admit it. How thrilling it would be if this were picked to be a US postal stamp? Hey, an artist can dream.
From the Painting Guide: One of my first thoughts was that this sharply foreshortened view up a tower and the flag wasn't really an unexpected angle because this is how you see skyscrapers when you're walking on the pavement. But thinking about it, it's not an angle that from which buildings are usually painted; you generally see the building flat-on from the front.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Use of Color: I love the colors on the building itself; the swirls are abstract yet when I look at them I see office windows and get a feeling of other buildings and city bustle reflected in it. It's got something a photograph could never, to my mind, have. It's a very dynamic composition, with strong diagonals in different directions drawing your eye across and up and through the painting. At the same time both objects have enough space to "breathe" – crop off some of the sky on the right-hand side with a piece of paper or your hand and you'll immediately see how important that space is.
Looking closely at the flag, I can't figure out the shadow on the white on the bottom right in terms of the folds on the flag. Also, given that the light source is from the left – look at the side of the building – there are two distinct areas in the flat where I'd expect some shading. This would help emphasize the folds in the flag.
From the Painting Guide: One of my first thoughts was that this sharply foreshortened view up a tower and the flag wasn't really an unexpected angle because this is how you see skyscrapers when you're walking on the pavement. But thinking about it, it's not an angle that from which buildings are usually painted; you generally see the building flat-on from the front.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Use of Color: I love the colors on the building itself; the swirls are abstract yet when I look at them I see office windows and get a feeling of other buildings and city bustle reflected in it. It's got something a photograph could never, to my mind, have. It's a very dynamic composition, with strong diagonals in different directions drawing your eye across and up and through the painting. At the same time both objects have enough space to "breathe" – crop off some of the sky on the right-hand side with a piece of paper or your hand and you'll immediately see how important that space is.
Looking closely at the flag, I can't figure out the shadow on the white on the bottom right in terms of the folds on the flag. Also, given that the light source is from the left – look at the side of the building – there are two distinct areas in the flat where I'd expect some shading. This would help emphasize the folds in the flag.
