Comparing Two Artists Essay Example for Free

Comparing Two Artists Essay Magritte uses minimal dull colours though he changes tones within his colours to create shadowy effects and also creates a layered element contributing to line within his artwork; the horizontal layers between the background make the vertical lines of the owls stand out in the foreground of his artwork. Magritte is known to not leave hidden messages within his artwork, cleverly painting the reality he see’s. For this particular symbolic painting Magritte uses oil on canvas, the sharp detail he uses in his brush strokes make the image look real but not real at the same time. His witty version of reality he paints fall into surrealism, although his artwork include symbolic owls his painting is clear, interesting and well defined, he wanted his viewers to look at his painting and appreciate what is right there, not leaving them wondering why or what it means, because everything he wished to portray is right there in the artwork. Owls symbolize wisdom. In many cultures they are believed to be able to see all things that are usually hidden quite possibly fears. Magritte uses these owls to represent as an ancient human fear or the owls are the companions of our ancient fears, the birds growing from the soil may represent the ‘roots’ to our fears. In comparison to Magritte, Peter Booth’s artwork ‘Untitled 1976’ displays an image of apocalyptic shock, at the same time Booth includes his painful personal experiences and his view of humanity. This is evident when he uses harsh and cold colours to represent the apocalyptic vibe he sends through his artwork, the tones are very similar within each colour although when looking at the whole painting the contrast between the different colours is quite prominent leaving a cold feeling for his viewers to feel. Line has most strongly been used to create the strong horizon line and hence fore-middle- and background. The thin repeated lines of the fire and sky create pattern and simulated texture. The texture of the paint Booth uses to illustrate the industrial side of his landscape maybe suggesting he had a rough childhood. The shape of the figures in Booth’s artwork are all out of proportion, implying they could be apart of his hazy memory or hallucination, and this is how he remembers them. Booth uses gouache on paper for this particular artwork his intense brush strokes create perspective on his painting, guiding his viewers to understand and follow where he directs them. His work is characterised by an intense emotional power of often dark narratives, and esoteric symbolism, this artwork also reflecting on his nightmarish dreams which categorise him in surrealism, as he works closely with the element of surprise or shock difference. The colours he uses are symbolic to aspects of his childhood growing up in the industrial surroundings.