Formal Analysis of the Artwork “The Looming” Essay

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There is an ever-encompassing sense of wonder and awe from the largeness of mountains and the vastness of the sea. The Looming artwork is a picture of the landscape, where the image of mountains stands out the most. The focal point is a tiny boat with a person, which demonstrates how small a human is compared to his surroundings. The reason for such a conclusion is the fact that there are three significant elements, besides a person in the boat, such as the mountains, the sea, and a hill with plains. Thus, these components take up the most space in the picture, which makes a human the smallest element of it.

The parts of the work are arranged in two upper quadrants and the lower half. The former represents mountains on the left side and plains with a hill on the right side. The lower half is filled with the blue sea, and on the more down right side, there is a person in the boat. The parts appear symmetrical in terms of the upper and lower half, and the picture is stable because the representation is landscape scenery. It also can be considered as a static image beside a crow on the top left side and a boat.

The proportions of the objects and figures in the picture are believable and realistic. Even considering that the crow in the picture is objectively larger than the person in the boat, it is mainly due to the foreshortening. There are no specific poses to describe because all elements appear natural. In addition, every figure in the picture is calm. Thus, the same calmness is conveyed to a viewer. There are no particular interactions between figures, but they complement each other.

The figures and natural objects in the picture appear natural in terms of size and proportion, but they lack detalization in order to seem entirely realistic. The author intentionally avoids adding too many details to the figures in order to keep the person at the focal point. The picture contains clear outlines of the mountains in order to avoid blending them with a white sky. In addition, there is also the central horizontal line, which divides the picture in half, where the lower half is the sea. The lines between mountains and sky are bold, and the mainline is subtle but geometrically straight.

Space is mainly filled with the landscape, and the central figure, which is the person, is minute in relation to his surroundings. The mountains are located within the picture, whereas plains with a hill are cut off by the edge of the artwork. The setting is illusionistic, but the point of view is set from the perspective of a flying bird. In order to demonstrate the largeness of mountains, the right side of them is hidden behind plains. In addition, the diminution of size is applied to the person in the boat.

The texture in the picture is smooth, and no roughness can be observed. The brushstrokes are hardly visible except for the plains with a hill, where they appear brushy, flowing, and controlled. The implied texture in the image is most likely to be unobservable.

The given artwork lacks shadows because it would steal the viewer’s attention from the focal point. The size and scale of the significant elements are life-sized, and it plays an important role in demonstrating the minuteness of a person in comparison to the landscape. The colors used in the artwork are dull and complementary to each other. There is a particular contrast between soft and gray mountains and colorful and green plains with a red-brown hill. The attention is drawn to these two components of the picture.

The overall mood of the artwork is calm and soothing due to the sense of minuteness of a person in this landscape. Space is not limited, which gives a feeling of freedom, and the person is in a boat, which conveys a sense of comfort. Plains are green, so one can suppose that the weather is warm and it is probably summer or spring.

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IvyPanda. 2021. "Formal Analysis of the Artwork "The Looming"." June 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/formal-analysis-of-the-artwork-the-looming/.

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IvyPanda. "Formal Analysis of the Artwork "The Looming"." June 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/formal-analysis-of-the-artwork-the-looming/.

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