The subject matter in The Convalescent is a literal depiction of a young girl who appears to be sick in bed and is passing the time while reading a book. Therefore, this realistic piece is focuses on the young girl. When looking at this piece a viewer is automatically drawn to her, making her the focal point for a viewer. This is because she is distinguished from the rest of the work through placement and the colors used to draw a viewer’s eye to her. By using her as the subject matter, it creates a piece that is transformed into something more meaningful with its content, or the overall meaning of why Willard Metcalf chose to produce this piece.
The title of this work, The Convalescent, literally means a person recovering from an illness. In this instance, the title helps me interpret what I see as an art piece that depicts a young girl in a bed who appears to be sick and is recovering. Therefore, the piece and the title go hand in hand. Although it is simple, it uncovers another layer of the true meaning of the piece. Thus, what I see is a reflection of the title that connects to the image, sickness and recovery. Within the piece there are several lines used such as, outlines, contour lines, and implied lines. For example, a shape can be indicated by an outline, in cast of this painting outlines are used mainly for the young girl, such as the outline of her face, arms, and fingers. These outlines create the boundaries of the objects in the painting. Contour lines are also used to create the illusion of her body occupying space in the painting and gives depth to the piece overall. When looking at the girl we are limited to how much of her form we can see; however, the artists use of contour lines within the figure suggest the inner curve of her arms and fingers. Implied lines are also used in the piece, such as the implying the direction of the girl’s vision toward her book; by using these lines Metcalf creates a direction for the viewer’s eyes to follow. These lines in the painting produce action and movement of her recovering from an illness while reading a book. Therefore, the composition is regulated because the lines do not make the piece seem busy but instead create a piece that allows viewers to read the painting as a whole easily. The flow of the piece with the lines used does not fragment it as whole, but instead goes together to produce a successful piece that is pleasing to the eye. The light and dark functions in The Convalescent is created by implied light, or the illusion of light by the creation of shadows. These tones overall create depth and contrast with a great deal of tonal contrast that add …show more content…
When looking at the piece it is clear to the viewer that shape is used within the two-dimensional area of the painting where “its boundaries can be measured in terms of height and width” (Sayre, 79). Metcalf’s image contains multiple shapes: the young girl, the bed, the pillow, and the book. However, even though there are multiple shapes in the piece, the viewer can see what portion of the piece commands our attention and portion of the piece that seems to be the background, also known as positive and negative shape. The positive shape of this piece is the young girl, she commands our attention because she is the focal point and the ground of the piece, or negative shape, is the rest of the painting (the pillow, the book, and the bed). There is also both positive and negative space within this piece as well. The positive space is the space that is occupied by the young girl just like the positive shape, whereas the negative space is the space that is not the subject in this piece that surrounds the positive space to create a successful composition with the girl. The artist also creates an illusion of three-dimensional space because of Metcalf’s use of overlapping the bed from the walls in the background of the piece. However, it is subtle overlapping making the composition appear flat, but enough to know the bed is away from the wall enough to create a subtle three-dimensional
The title of this work, The Convalescent, literally means a person recovering from an illness. In this instance, the title helps me interpret what I see as an art piece that depicts a young girl in a bed who appears to be sick and is recovering. Therefore, the piece and the title go hand in hand. Although it is simple, it uncovers another layer of the true meaning of the piece. Thus, what I see is a reflection of the title that connects to the image, sickness and recovery. Within the piece there are several lines used such as, outlines, contour lines, and implied lines. For example, a shape can be indicated by an outline, in cast of this painting outlines are used mainly for the young girl, such as the outline of her face, arms, and fingers. These outlines create the boundaries of the objects in the painting. Contour lines are also used to create the illusion of her body occupying space in the painting and gives depth to the piece overall. When looking at the girl we are limited to how much of her form we can see; however, the artists use of contour lines within the figure suggest the inner curve of her arms and fingers. Implied lines are also used in the piece, such as the implying the direction of the girl’s vision toward her book; by using these lines Metcalf creates a direction for the viewer’s eyes to follow. These lines in the painting produce action and movement of her recovering from an illness while reading a book. Therefore, the composition is regulated because the lines do not make the piece seem busy but instead create a piece that allows viewers to read the painting as a whole easily. The flow of the piece with the lines used does not fragment it as whole, but instead goes together to produce a successful piece that is pleasing to the eye. The light and dark functions in The Convalescent is created by implied light, or the illusion of light by the creation of shadows. These tones overall create depth and contrast with a great deal of tonal contrast that add …show more content…
When looking at the piece it is clear to the viewer that shape is used within the two-dimensional area of the painting where “its boundaries can be measured in terms of height and width” (Sayre, 79). Metcalf’s image contains multiple shapes: the young girl, the bed, the pillow, and the book. However, even though there are multiple shapes in the piece, the viewer can see what portion of the piece commands our attention and portion of the piece that seems to be the background, also known as positive and negative shape. The positive shape of this piece is the young girl, she commands our attention because she is the focal point and the ground of the piece, or negative shape, is the rest of the painting (the pillow, the book, and the bed). There is also both positive and negative space within this piece as well. The positive space is the space that is occupied by the young girl just like the positive shape, whereas the negative space is the space that is not the subject in this piece that surrounds the positive space to create a successful composition with the girl. The artist also creates an illusion of three-dimensional space because of Metcalf’s use of overlapping the bed from the walls in the background of the piece. However, it is subtle overlapping making the composition appear flat, but enough to know the bed is away from the wall enough to create a subtle three-dimensional