Emotional Differences Between Penelope And Girl By A Window
The Emotional Contrast of Two Female Images
While searching through online galleries for images that pleased my eye, I happened upon two images that I could not ignore. As luck, or fate, would have it, both paintings depicted the simple image of a woman, yet became my favorites for opposite reasons. The image of Penelope, a painstakingly well-crafted likeness, contained a haunting emotion that I found myself returning to day after day, simply because it pleased my eye. The other image of a Girl By a Window seemed to be painted by an amateur. Its crudely painted background images that were nearly unrecognizable combined with a whimsical representation of a woman that drew my attention in disbelief that anyone could think this painting …show more content…
Both paintings were made with oil paints on canvas, are of relatively similar size, and contain focused, representations of women. As Penelope is visually centered, the focus of this painting remains on the woman and what she is doing, her likeness fills almost the entire painting. le Girl By a Window however, is located at left, and the viewers focus is torn between her and the scene beyond the window. Although at first glance the painting seems to be unbalanced, the viewers focus is torn between her and the background, lending an almost active experience to it. The painting of Penelope is significantly older, and painted in a more naturalistic style, while girl by a window was painted some 53 years later. While Girl By a Window was painted well into the age of photography, it was painted in a very simple representational, almost bordering on abstract. It was this simple fact that began to attract my attention. Penelope is painted in cool colors, mostly light blues, and grays, almost monochromatic, while Girl By a Window was created using earth tones, setting yellow and green to complement each other, almost in an analogous fashion. At first glance, the two paintings seem to be polar opposites of one another in nearly every …show more content…
The girl wears a green dress, decorated at the sleeve and neckline with what appears to be a thick, white fray, possibly in the fashion of flowers. The neckline sweeps low to meet a white dress line and is not accented by any jewelry. Her short, red hair, and playfully simple attire suggests that she may be a less formal type of person, possibly an entertainer or actress. The girl stands by a window, with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised, looking out toward the street from an elevated floor. The simplistic yet complex application of brush strokes adds a depth of texture that lends a playful shape to her features, while the rest of the scenery remains incredibly simple, almost childlike. Across the street immediately outside the window is another elevated structure, colored a simple golden yellow. This building is not at all detailed, only exhibiting simple blocks of brown that appear to be windows and doors and is obviously not the focus of her attention. Behind this building there are figures in walking and seated postures beside two outstretched palm trees, in front of a spray of sea foam. The sea is the only other feature with as much texture as the girl. It appears as if layer after layer of similar hues were applied to give the sea a measure of depth. The artist wanted us to only see the depth of his two loves, the girl, and the sea, while the
While searching through online galleries for images that pleased my eye, I happened upon two images that I could not ignore. As luck, or fate, would have it, both paintings depicted the simple image of a woman, yet became my favorites for opposite reasons. The image of Penelope, a painstakingly well-crafted likeness, contained a haunting emotion that I found myself returning to day after day, simply because it pleased my eye. The other image of a Girl By a Window seemed to be painted by an amateur. Its crudely painted background images that were nearly unrecognizable combined with a whimsical representation of a woman that drew my attention in disbelief that anyone could think this painting …show more content…
Both paintings were made with oil paints on canvas, are of relatively similar size, and contain focused, representations of women. As Penelope is visually centered, the focus of this painting remains on the woman and what she is doing, her likeness fills almost the entire painting. le Girl By a Window however, is located at left, and the viewers focus is torn between her and the scene beyond the window. Although at first glance the painting seems to be unbalanced, the viewers focus is torn between her and the background, lending an almost active experience to it. The painting of Penelope is significantly older, and painted in a more naturalistic style, while girl by a window was painted some 53 years later. While Girl By a Window was painted well into the age of photography, it was painted in a very simple representational, almost bordering on abstract. It was this simple fact that began to attract my attention. Penelope is painted in cool colors, mostly light blues, and grays, almost monochromatic, while Girl By a Window was created using earth tones, setting yellow and green to complement each other, almost in an analogous fashion. At first glance, the two paintings seem to be polar opposites of one another in nearly every …show more content…
The girl wears a green dress, decorated at the sleeve and neckline with what appears to be a thick, white fray, possibly in the fashion of flowers. The neckline sweeps low to meet a white dress line and is not accented by any jewelry. Her short, red hair, and playfully simple attire suggests that she may be a less formal type of person, possibly an entertainer or actress. The girl stands by a window, with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised, looking out toward the street from an elevated floor. The simplistic yet complex application of brush strokes adds a depth of texture that lends a playful shape to her features, while the rest of the scenery remains incredibly simple, almost childlike. Across the street immediately outside the window is another elevated structure, colored a simple golden yellow. This building is not at all detailed, only exhibiting simple blocks of brown that appear to be windows and doors and is obviously not the focus of her attention. Behind this building there are figures in walking and seated postures beside two outstretched palm trees, in front of a spray of sea foam. The sea is the only other feature with as much texture as the girl. It appears as if layer after layer of similar hues were applied to give the sea a measure of depth. The artist wanted us to only see the depth of his two loves, the girl, and the sea, while the