artist research into Tom Blackwell

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Tom Blackwell:

Hudson River Landscape

984

Oil on canvas

First impressions:

At first sight I notice the cold feel of the painting, and I see a car beside a wall with graffiti on it. There is pond with a still reflection on it beside the car.

This painting makes me think about the slums of a city - the dumps.

There is some sort of cloth like material protruding from the windscreen of the car which I find quite strange. 5 words I would use to describe this painting would be; cold, lucid, observational, run-down and urban.

Basic elements:

The colours used in this painting are quite cold. There is a strong blue glaze over the painting suggesting it's set either around dawn or dusk. The colours are quite dark yet not dull. Blackwell brings out the light in the reflection in the pond beside the run down car. The colours are very much realistic; however they give an almost surreal effect, because of the reflection in the pond and the 'twilight feel to the painting'.

Tonal shading is quite an important aspect of this painting, as different hues of blue have been used to bring out certain parts of the painting while other darker tones have been used to bring back parts of the paintings into the shadows.

Content:

When I first look at this painting, I see a typical urban scene. It seems dusk has arrived; giving everything a deep blue glaze. I see a run down car beside a pond, lying next to run down wall infested with graffiti. Cracks are visible on the wall at closer inspection.
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The scene seems quite still and we can tell this is so by the still unmoving reflection within the pond beside the car. The lack of people within the painting also emphasises the tranquillity of the still life within the painting.

I think Blackwell intended this painting to retain this stillness as if to emphasise the contrast within a city; part of it can be constantly alive as in his other paintings consisting of reflections in shop windows and cars - while another part is hidden, left to decompose, alone.

I believe this painting was ...

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