Favorite Artist

My favorite artist has been Vincent Van Gogh for as long as I can remember. Even in elementary school, I gravitated towards his work. There's just something about his use of color and texture that shows so much emotion in each brush stroke. "Starry Night" has always been my favorite painting (I even have a replica hanging in my room). I just love the sweeping strokes across the sky and the rolling hills. There's a movement in so many of his paintings that I don't see anywhere else. I also really like "The Old Tower in the Fields" and "Starry Night Over the Rhone". "The Old Tower in the Fields" is so warm, in its rich red tones.  The colors and brush strokes are definitely what stands out to me about Van Gogh. I like that he had the ability to balance such heavy strokes without overpowering the painting. Along with Van Gogh, I'm a huge fan of impressionism in general; Renoir, Monet, Degas, and Caillebotte to name a few. I also enjoy studying artists like Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali, because they leave room for interpretation. I tend to truly prefer any art in general that isn't "black and white"; something that can mean different things to every person that sees them. To me, art should provoke connections between people in a way that other subjects cannot and that is why I love impressionism. I want to be able to tell someone “this is what I see” and have them see something completely different. I feel that there's more beauty in the abstract; in the flaws. I like art that evokes emotion and thought and takes a step outside of reality. Even daily scenes painted in impressionism are slightly out of the norm. I love that people are portrayed almost unrealistically by a lot of impressionists. Of course Picasso is the best example of this.