Sailboat Painting Reflection, by Sven Harvey

I chose a painting by R. Franklin, which depicts a big lake or the sea from a beach view. Colors play an essential role when one views this vibrant painting. There are numerous bright colors that strike the eye and stand out greatly. No dark colors are present in the painting except for the outlining trees, which are a deep forest green. Even with this contrast of color, the trees adjacent to the water do not become a focus point. The four sailboats are in the upper center of the picture, just below the horizon. I think these boats produce the main focal point of the painting. After seeing the boats ones view shifts upwards over the horizen and onto the clouds. The empty reclining chairs on the beach are much less noticed, which i think the artist did with purpose. Even though the chairs take up the most space on the canvas, they are looked past. This is done with intention, since it makes you feel as if you are in the painting, sitting in the recliner. Since the pair of boats are in the center of the painting, this obviously indicates that they are the dominant feature that the artist wanted to centralize. The background sky in the painting is a sky blue, suggesting that it is an ideal day to be out on the water, accompanied by clusters of translucent clouds. This style of painting signifies the beauty penetrating from the midsummer’s day.

The painter clearly used a blotchy style of painting, making it so there are no distinctive lines. This style creates much less detail up close, since there is no point where no one object ends with a drastic color change. From far away the lines become more distinct. The artist seemed to manipulate his...