Advanced Tonal Studies – 4

Fourth in the Series of Monthly Workshops with David Chen

Landscapes or Still Life Using Tonal Methods

For these workshops with David I will be talking about how I am learning to apply tonal methods when painting landscapes.

For this workshop we concentrated on cool tones to deepen distance and create atmospheric depth in a painting. Look at a favourite landscape painting and see what attracts you to it. Is it the colours, is it the way the artist has created atmosphere and depth, inviting you to look deeper into the painting? The correct use of colour can help te create multiple levels in a painting, from the foreground, to the mid levels (of which there can be several), to the background.

Paul Poiret Fashion Master

Paul Poiret (1879-1944) was a leading fashion designer during the late 19th and early 20th century. He was significantly influenced by Orientalism, which became evident in his designs in the period prior to World War 1. To understand Orientalism and how it applied it to his designs the definition of Orientalism needs to be addressed. What was Orientalism? It could be argued that it was merely an art movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, confined to mostly France and Britain. Its influence, on the contrary, was far broader, reaching across Europe to as far as the United States and Australia. It also incorporated more than painting, sculpting, or architecture. In light of this how did Orientalism affect the designs of Poiret? Are there similarities in the work of any Orientalist artists evident in Poiret’s designs? In addition to these questions, Haute Couture also needs to be defined. What was it and how does it delineate Poiret’s fashions? This essay will illustrate various artworks, and compare aspects that Orientalist artists have utilised to the designs for the Haute Couture fashions of Paul Poiret. A brief description of Orientalism will be included, as well as an elucidation of Haute Couture and Belle Epoche. These accounts will reinforce the various influences on the innovative designs of Paul Poiret in contrast to contemporary Western styles in the years leading up to World War 1.