I took this photo of my table after I had been watercolor painting before I had cleaned up. In the foreground is my palette of mixed pigments. A paint brush angles in from the right and rests on the rim of the palette. Behind that there is a roll of twine on the left and roll of paper towel and a tube of paint on the right. In the center at the top, framed by the paper towel and twine, is a square of light coming in from the window illuminating the scene. The background is mostly white and blurry (an affect of photoshop) and the bottom quarter of the page- which is part of the palette- is also blurry and darker. The edges of the images are vignetted (in lightroom) to be darker. I framed it with the white, penciled side of a mattboard.
The use of texture in this piece helped me emphasize the unity of the piece. There are a lot of subjects- the palette, paintbrush, tube of paint, twine, etc. - so the focus of the image is difficult to interpret on its own. The original image was blurry at the bottom because I was focusing on the blue paint. By using photoshop to make the background a similar burry texture as the closest foreground I unified the piece. It is now clear that the focus is toward the center of the image and the paintbrush because those are the clearest parts of the image. The top and bottom of the piece have the same texture which makes it easier to group the different objects together in one idea. The original intention of this piece was to show what life is like in the absence of people. I hoped to communicate a sense of "recently departed" in showing how humans leave their mark on the world and how the world is stagnant (or in motion) when they are gone. I think I succeeded in this pursuit. The vignetting especially shows a shadow-y effect that makes it seem more stagnant. The image itself is obviously dependent on human action but at the same time is also obviously abandoned. I like this piece a lot more than I though I originally would. The mixed pigments and affects of the natural light makes the artificial scene very natural and elegant. I've always wanted to take a partially-blurry picture, but they never turn out as well as this one did. The frame looks like it was meant to be a mistake but is also elegant in itself and shows the lasting affect of humans. I did this because the plain was too bright and the plain black was too dark, and I like the final look. I think I targeted my theme of different perspectives very well in showing the perspective of life without humans. That which is left behind is beautiful too, and I think this photo works well to show that.
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December 2016
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