Day Twenty Nine: The End of Summer by Alexander Helwig Wyant
Hello and welcome to day 29 of 100 days of Tonalism.
Today's study is of 'The End of Summer' by Alexander Helwig Wyant.
A nice moody piece by Wyant today dear subscribers. Alexander Helwig Wyant was a first-generation Tonalist and was also a Hudson River school painter. He changed his style in the 1870s to reflect the influence of the Barbizon school and also of Georgian Inness.
There is a fair amount of information about Alexander online and I found a great page at artsy which I am linking to here. The great thing about artsy is that the images on their site are quite often zoomable so you can get right in there and look at the painting in greater detail than you might be able to see it even at the museum.
Today we're going to get back to discussing some of the aspects of Tonalism that differentiate it from other styles of landscape painting. Forgive me if I may inadvertently repeat a particular point of difference. No worries, it won't really be a problem as we have another 71 posts to go.
Generally speaking, tonal paintings are far less detailed than the work of the artists that preceded the movement, like the Hudson River school and the Luminists. Detail is subsumed by greater attention to larger mass shapes and expressive brushwork. The overall effect that is achieved is one of a hazy, transcendent, spiritual quality. Also, by removing the majority of detail, the viewer is more free to use their own imagination. This usually results in a more relaxed and colorful effect that is easier to look at.
Many amateur artists make the mistake of including too much detail in their work in the belief that more details equals a better painting. With my background as an illustrator I would be remiss if I did not admit that in my youth I was quite susceptible to this issue as well.
Even when I first started oil painting I would use very small brushes. I would delineate quite a lot of detail, especially in the foreground. One of the main ways that my painting changed when I pursued a more tonal approach, was that I removed nearly all detail from the foreground and kept that space of the painting fairly open.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'The End of Summer' by Alexander Helwig Wyant. This was a fun painting to do and I looked forward to doing it. This is one of the paintings that I have had in a folder marked Tonalism for quite a few years and was earmarked early on for this project. I am very attracted to the composition in this painting as it is quite similar to an approach that I like to use. I refer to this sort of composition as the "L" on its side composition.
One of the things that Alexander has done here that is very effective, is that he has painted nearly the entire foreground in shadow as well as the trees in the middle ground. This creates a sort of glow effect for the distant valley and sky.
To see more of my work, visit my site here.
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| Painted after -The End of Summer by Alexander Helwig Wyant, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
A nice moody piece by Wyant today dear subscribers. Alexander Helwig Wyant was a first-generation Tonalist and was also a Hudson River school painter. He changed his style in the 1870s to reflect the influence of the Barbizon school and also of Georgian Inness.
There is a fair amount of information about Alexander online and I found a great page at artsy which I am linking to here. The great thing about artsy is that the images on their site are quite often zoomable so you can get right in there and look at the painting in greater detail than you might be able to see it even at the museum.
Today we're going to get back to discussing some of the aspects of Tonalism that differentiate it from other styles of landscape painting. Forgive me if I may inadvertently repeat a particular point of difference. No worries, it won't really be a problem as we have another 71 posts to go.
Generally speaking, tonal paintings are far less detailed than the work of the artists that preceded the movement, like the Hudson River school and the Luminists. Detail is subsumed by greater attention to larger mass shapes and expressive brushwork. The overall effect that is achieved is one of a hazy, transcendent, spiritual quality. Also, by removing the majority of detail, the viewer is more free to use their own imagination. This usually results in a more relaxed and colorful effect that is easier to look at.
Many amateur artists make the mistake of including too much detail in their work in the belief that more details equals a better painting. With my background as an illustrator I would be remiss if I did not admit that in my youth I was quite susceptible to this issue as well.
Even when I first started oil painting I would use very small brushes. I would delineate quite a lot of detail, especially in the foreground. One of the main ways that my painting changed when I pursued a more tonal approach, was that I removed nearly all detail from the foreground and kept that space of the painting fairly open.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'The End of Summer' by Alexander Helwig Wyant. This was a fun painting to do and I looked forward to doing it. This is one of the paintings that I have had in a folder marked Tonalism for quite a few years and was earmarked early on for this project. I am very attracted to the composition in this painting as it is quite similar to an approach that I like to use. I refer to this sort of composition as the "L" on its side composition.
One of the things that Alexander has done here that is very effective, is that he has painted nearly the entire foreground in shadow as well as the trees in the middle ground. This creates a sort of glow effect for the distant valley and sky.
To see more of my work, visit my site here.
 |
| Original painting, The End of Summer by Alexander Helwig Wyant |