Backgrounds

[Alexandra Tyng]

When I look at William Orpen's self-portrait, my eye goes directly to the face. So I would say that the background successfully "goes back." Analyzing it further, Julie's frame idea makes sense. I do think the outer borders frame the portrait and lead the viewer into the center, like going through a door. The dark window blinds (or whatever they are) around his head read as background, making his head come forward.

[Allan Rahbek]

Originally Posted by Sharon Knettell

The 'flat' art of the Asians influenced many artists at the turn of the last century, Van Gogh, Klimt, Gauguin, Manet, Whistler, etc.
.

Sharon,
I believe that the 'flatness' is still influencing the majority of western art and I feel that it is desirable to explore the possibility's of it.

Since the surface of a painting is flat I find that one should deal with the two dimensions even when we paint a highly 3 D illusion like a portrait. That would help us to arrange the proportions in a harmoniously way.

Could it be that Asians, like Chinese and Japanese, 'think flat' because their letters are written/painted in two dimensions. Their letters are literally simplified pictures. That would explain why they are so good at it. Just a thought.