DawnToDark: Online Art Sketchbook

Corin Mulliss: Setting Sun
In this investigation I am going to look at sunsets and how they are portrayed by different artists, and in different media. I shall be focussing in particular on photography as it is the medium I am most interested in. After looking at other artists work I will also produce some of my own based on it.

Suggestions for finding your way around this sketchbook

Work your way through the navigation sections one, two, three and four sequentially. Within each section progress through the numbered groups of thumbnails. Clicking on thumbnails brings up the full size image in the window below. Note: permission was sought to display the images on this website, nearly everyone generously gave permission and sent good wishes. However, one artist felt unable to do this so I have provided links to his pictures in their original locations to work around this restriction.

Hercules Brabazon (1821-1906)
The gouache Brabazon has used to paint this sunset has produced a vivid range of colours. He has used simple straight strokes which, while giving the painting a simplistic look, successfully create a fan effect in the sky. There is also effective contrast between the sky and the ground.

Hercules Brabazon (1821-1906)
Brabazon has used only a small range of colours in this picture. This keeps the painting simple and creates a fiery atmosphere which is enhanced by its contrast flat, calm and blue-tinted water.

Kennan Ward
This photograph is very impressive with the molten, burning clouds contrasting with the cool blue sky. This is framed nicely by the silhouette of the mountains and forest in bottom of the image.

Galen Rowell
The brilliant red of the cloud in this photograph really contrasts with the green of the landscape. The shape of the cloud is also reflected by the shape of the river beneath it helping to complete this image.

Corin Mulliss
After seeing the photograph ‘Lenticular Cloud over the Owens River’ by Galen Rowell I decided to have a go at recreating it myself as I knew a similar setting close to where I live. I went out close to sunset and came back with this photograph.

Corin Mulliss
I felt that my photograph ‘River Reflection I’ was understated by its composition so, following Galen Rowell’s photograph, I cropped it vertically centering the river in the photograph. In my opinion this has greatly improved this photograph and this outlines the importance of simple techniques such as cropping in photography.

Corin Mulliss
I also thought it might be worth cropping ‘River Reflection I’ horizontally however it definitely isn’t as successful as the vertical cropping I used to produce ‘River Reflection II’. This is because this cropping has removed the river which was what made the photograph more interesting.

Art Wolfe
This is a particularly curious photograph as it is of very cold ice but its warm orange colours suit it very well. This is probably because they are very soft colours. Also, this photograph combines the extremely close up detail of the lump of ice with a lot of interesting shapes formed by more ice in the background. This gives the photograph a lot of depth which I think is one of its main strengths.

Hercules Brabazon (1821-1906)
This is a very washy picture and the brush strokes Brabazon has used are very simple. This style reminds me a lot of the kind of paintings young children produce and yet this is clearly very effective in creating a very good painting.

Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
This painting demonstrates just how effective a small amount of careful contrast can be since, if it wasn’t for the white house, this wouldn’t be a particularly notable painting at all.

Theo Allofs
A lot like ‘The White House at Chelsea’ this photograph is made up of only a very small range of colours. This gives it a feeling of simplicity which is one of the reasons why I like it so much. Allofs has used a filter to darken the sky, creating a bleak atmosphere. This works well when combined with the silhouetted trees and the blurred and cloudy water. There is also the impression of movement in the photograph in the direction of the top right horizon. This is created by the positioning of the rocks and the effect of movement created by the longer exposure on the water.

Tom Mackie
By using a longer exposure in this photograph Mackie has created a soft and peaceful effect with the water. There is also some quite effective contrast between the pastel colours of the sky and the jagged black rocks. The colours in the sky also lead the viewer’s eyes through the landscape to the lighthouse, the light of which appears warm against cold blue sea.

John Shephard
In this photograph the movement of the sea and the direction of the clouds leads the eye through the rocky cliffs.