Analysis of the Work of Art

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Maggie : A Portrait

p The painting Maggie is a portrait done by Chuck Close in 1996 . It size is 30 inches by 24 . The whole painting canvass is composed of small squares , like mosaics , with each squares painted with a variety of shapes and colors ( Chuck Close , Worcester Art Museum , no date . In other words , the shape and color of one square is different from that of the others . However , there are squares with shapes that connect with a neighboring square . The squares are

drawn in a diagonal direction . The artist use a variety of colors with some areas showing a darker or lighter shade of a dominant color . However , when one look at it from afar , all the squares with a variety of shapes and color merge together to form a recognizable shape of a woman 's face Medium The painting is classified as oil on canvass . This means that the artist uses oil to make the color pigments stick to the canvass . Since he employs a lot of color and shapes , it is very clear that color plays a major role in creating the desirable effect , for the arrangement of colors clearly defines shapes and boundaries (which is possible for using oil since it will prevent colors from sliding if wet or blown away if dry . Therefore , using oil on canvass is a very good way to achieve the artist 's desire to use more than a hundred small squares (mosaics , with a variety of shapes and colors , to form a face The artists expertly blended the colors that results to a fluidity effect of the portrait , giving the illusion that at any moment the squares will actively merge together to form a clear outline of the face . Style At first glance the painting looks abstract , but with continued gaze , it is very clear that the painting is a portrait of a woman 's face . The abstraction effect can be derived from the employment of a variety of shapes and bright colors in almost the entire surface of the painting . However , one can also observe that the arrangements of these shapes are very systematic and organized , that they were there because they had to . Therefore , it can be said that the painting is largely intended to form a woman 's face , a realistic representation not largely of the face itself but the emotion that is imprisoned inside it . Elements and Principles The artist largely employs the two elements of painting , color and shapes , to form the portrait of Maggie . The use of these two elements in a unique way makes the painting unlike the usual portrait painting . The painting is unique because different shapes drawn inside different squares are used and arranged in such a way that the result to a large recognizable woman 's face . The colors are also not haphazardly put together but that they are carefully placed where they should be so that one can easily identify the hair , eyes...