1: Haywood-Sullivan Skyscape

[Click image for larger version.]

Liz Haywood-Sullivan
Fanfare (recent but date unknown)
Pastel, w24" x h24"
From LizHaywoodSullivan.com 
https://everydayartcritique.blogspot.com/2017/10/sunset-grove.html

Mentioned seascapes yesterday as a variant on landscapes, and today we have another variant, the skyscape AKA cloudscape. The example above is by pastel artist Liz Haywood-Sullivan (and would recommend clicking through to her website for more samples of her work).

Skyscapes became a staple of Western art from probably around the 17th century onward. By shifting the focus to the sky, a level of abstraction is naturally invited into otherwise-realistic landscape painting1, and it's believed that artists who started going this way (focusing on color rather than shape, and more gestural movements to convey the sweep of e.g. clouds or evening light) eventually opened the way for truly abstract (and after that, non-objective2) artists. We'll take a look at an abstract landscape example tomorrow, but for now, have a Turner painting to get the idea:

J.M.W. Turner, 'Wreckers, Coast of Northumberland', c. 1834
Click image for larger version.


NOTES:

1. Focus on atmosphere is not the only pathway to abstraction, of course. Water's also great for it, and trees, mountains, all sorts of things can be broken down into patches of line and color. But clouds are already really far along to not being an object with definite form, so it's an easier launch pad.

2. A quick break down:
  • Representational = trying to resemble real life.
  • Abstract = trying to look like identifiable things, but not concerned with looking exactly like life (think, for example, a cartoon person). In this sense, most work these days is abstract, and it's just a question of degree.
  • Non-objective = Color, line, shape, etc. are present, but the work's not trying to look like anything that actually exists. (In other words, it's not focused on resembling 'objects'.)