Edwin Deakin
Strawberry Creek, Berkley
1893
oil painting
This is my favorite painting and I was lucky enough to have seen it in real life at the Crocker Art Museum. I went to his exhibition last but this painting intrigued me the most. I just thought it was the most beautiful painting of landscape that I have seen that day.
Edwin Deakin is a self taught artist from Sheffield, England. He moved to America in 1856 where he established a name for painting Civil War Heroes in Chicago. In 1870 he moved to San Francisco and set up an art studio where he was heavily into the art scene. From 1870 until his death in 1923, he painted many landscapes (that were mostly from California), architecture and still lifes.
I like how it looks so realistic, especially when looking at it in person. I caught myself looking at this picture for a long time and just admiring its natural beauty. My favorite aspects of the painting are the trees. They are so intricately detailed and create the somberness that hovers over the creek below. I love the colors that Deakin used, there isn't too much color but I think if there were too many different colors the artwork would have lost its beautiful meaning. I love how the plants in the back become less distinct; although not dominant you still know they are there. It is just a beautiful painting of landscape that is rarely ever appreciated.
The hues that Deakin utilizes in this painting make it feel really cool with all of the blues and greens. The flowing and not precise lines show expressiveness that defines the pictures meaning. He uses oil painting to create this beautiful landscape and creates continuous scale of tones and hues from the colors blue and green. By using oil he better establishes a three dimensional effect and can tell that this painting has depth. This also creates the effect of light change, which is shown by the ray of light that is shining through the trees and onto the creek below. This is especially dominant by looking at the rocks that are closer, which make them larger in scale and the trees in the back, which make them smaller in scale. Strawberry Creek almost has the effect of trompe l'oeil because when looking at it in person, it can deceive the eye into thinking that the painting looks realistic and almost like a photograph. I think using oil painting is much easier to work with because the artist has a lot of time to work on his/her artwork. I think that is why Deakin was able to create such a beautiful, realistic piece of artwork.
I am just glad that I was lucky enough to have seen this piece of artwork at the Crocker Museum. It gave me a better understanding of what it looked like and I was able to appreciate it that much more. And I was also able to see his collection and admire all of the work he had done.
Strawberry Creek, Berkley
1893
oil painting
This is my favorite painting and I was lucky enough to have seen it in real life at the Crocker Art Museum. I went to his exhibition last but this painting intrigued me the most. I just thought it was the most beautiful painting of landscape that I have seen that day.
Edwin Deakin is a self taught artist from Sheffield, England. He moved to America in 1856 where he established a name for painting Civil War Heroes in Chicago. In 1870 he moved to San Francisco and set up an art studio where he was heavily into the art scene. From 1870 until his death in 1923, he painted many landscapes (that were mostly from California), architecture and still lifes.
I like how it looks so realistic, especially when looking at it in person. I caught myself looking at this picture for a long time and just admiring its natural beauty. My favorite aspects of the painting are the trees. They are so intricately detailed and create the somberness that hovers over the creek below. I love the colors that Deakin used, there isn't too much color but I think if there were too many different colors the artwork would have lost its beautiful meaning. I love how the plants in the back become less distinct; although not dominant you still know they are there. It is just a beautiful painting of landscape that is rarely ever appreciated.
The hues that Deakin utilizes in this painting make it feel really cool with all of the blues and greens. The flowing and not precise lines show expressiveness that defines the pictures meaning. He uses oil painting to create this beautiful landscape and creates continuous scale of tones and hues from the colors blue and green. By using oil he better establishes a three dimensional effect and can tell that this painting has depth. This also creates the effect of light change, which is shown by the ray of light that is shining through the trees and onto the creek below. This is especially dominant by looking at the rocks that are closer, which make them larger in scale and the trees in the back, which make them smaller in scale. Strawberry Creek almost has the effect of trompe l'oeil because when looking at it in person, it can deceive the eye into thinking that the painting looks realistic and almost like a photograph. I think using oil painting is much easier to work with because the artist has a lot of time to work on his/her artwork. I think that is why Deakin was able to create such a beautiful, realistic piece of artwork.
I am just glad that I was lucky enough to have seen this piece of artwork at the Crocker Museum. It gave me a better understanding of what it looked like and I was able to appreciate it that much more. And I was also able to see his collection and admire all of the work he had done.
