Texture in Painting

I chose the following two painting to compare:


First Snow – Oil Painting on Canvas by Leonid Afremov

http://tinyurl.com/pyyk5hh

Starry Night – Oil on Canvas by Vincent van Gogh
http://tinyurl.com/oz7e2p6

I chose these two paintings to compare their natural texture. I chose these because they are both oil on canvas but portray different styles of texture throughout.

In the first painting by Leonid Afremov, you can see no great physical texture. I wanted to point this painting out as it illustrates texture in the form of illusion. You can observe that the pathway in Afremov’s painting is painted with the illusion of wetness. The reflection of the trees on the pathway and the white paint highlighting the lights and the distorted shadowing technique all work together in creating the illusion that the pathway is wet. I feel this creates a warmer feeling when looking at the painting, being reminded of the tranquility of walks on a rainy day with that special someone right beside you.

Vincent Van Gogh used a different approach. Although he used illusion in many forms when altering and morphing his landscape, his oil on canvas “Starry Night” can be admired for its physical texture.

Here is a close of up his artwork:

Notice how his technique creates a firm third dimension to his artwork. Admiring the beauty of little details in paintings such as texture, I believe is key to fully grasping the artist’s intentions. I believe that Van Gogh evoked a more dark and robust feeling with this technique, influencing the color layers and the illusion factor of the painting.

Although both these paintings are oil on canvas, Afremov and Van Gogh use different approaches when using texture to better highlight other visual elements in their paintings such as light, color, shape and space.