Compare & Contrast

My recreation of Mark Rothko’s abstract expressionist is finished and I attempted to improve the emotional reaction and focal prowess, but each of those things should be left to real artists like Rothko. I tried to use similar colors from Rothko’s original, but it proved too difficult to recreate the oil colors using colored pencils. I also kept the theme of rectangular shaped boxes to maintain some unity. However instead of keeping the boxes solid in color, I added a sunset scene in the bottom two boxes to give the viewer something to focus on. I added birds flying across the upper third of the composition to add motion. There is also a slight hint of yellow ripples in the bottom rectangle that is supposed to represent the sunset reflecting off the ocean. I’m not a traditional artist, but I found it interesting to attempt to expound upon another artists finished work. I started out not liking Rothko’s piece, but by the time I finished this assignment, I had found a deep appreciation for the piece. It proved far more difficult to improve this painting than I had expected and I now understand it’s simplistic nature.