Sky Shapes

When Dutch landscape painters designed their skies to unify their compositions they began with geometry.  Using softened arcs, triangles and trailing serpentine forms they built coherent theatrical tableaus.  Earlier in the 16^th and 17^th centuries El Greco and Venetians like Titian and Giorgione had experimented with distorted and exaggerated sky shapes to inflate the dramatic allure of the work.

My first example is El Greco’s view of his adopted home, Toledo, Spain. Quickly you see how his landscape’s undulating trees and rhythmic buildings conspire with  dancing gothic clouds to build a moving, unified effect. Artists would rediscover El Greco in the mid 19^th Century probably through the visit of Manet to Spain.  His expressive exaggerations seem to have influenced Van Gogh with his twisting celestial forms (example 2).

Example 1. El Greco’s View of Toledo,

Example 2. Van Gogh, Starry Night,

After re-examining the arching motions of El Greco’s Toledo I found I could apply his movements to a painting of marsh grasses (examples 3 and 4). Example 3 presents my first step, before the addition of atmospheric glazing above and darker glazes below (seen in example 4).  Notice  I reconstructed a romantic era sky in example 5 and, how my sky borrows the idea of an arching composition.

Example 3. Step one of my “Intimate Assembly” marsh grass.

Example 4 .Step two, after glazing.

Example 5.  My Arching Sky in 19^th century French Romantic Tradition,

By 1840 artists like George Michel were modifying the 17^th century Dutch model. In example 5 see how he built a dark, serpentine set of connected clouds. Relying on perspective foreshortening as well as back lighting and atmospheric perspective, Michel built a deep and dynamic space (example 5).

Example 6. George Michel in 1840,

I began another sky and field landscape using the slow scooping foreground of Michel’s. I created a pattern of receding fields to augment the feeling of space generated by the sky.   The painting is at a preliminary stage. I hope to show you its evolution later. For now, you can see my first steps in examples 7 and 8.

Example 7, Initial lay-in of color,

Example 8, the painting at present, an interim state.