Advanced Techniques in a Simple Design
Light Against the Darkness
The “North Cape by Moonlight” is a is masterpiece, with powerful visual contrast between the vast natural forces and fragile humanity. The use of dramatic lighting and advanced perspective, guides the viewer toward the vast and powerful nature as the main subject and not just another landscape backdrop of a religious painting from Europe.
Just looking at the picture, it has three horizontal zones. The light and dark foreground with human activity, the giant cliffs and the dramatic sky. This layering and the use of advanced perspective gives this painting a 3D pop.
This painting has the rule of 3rd composition, most used in modern day photography. It is a simple idea of diving the composting into 3 line horizontally and two line vertically, while putting all the important subject at the intersection of the line. This makes a photography simple and easy for our brain to process and understand. In this painting, “The North Cape by Moonlight”, the artist take this easy composition rules and created a simple masterpiece that grabbed my attention from hundreds of painting from a distance.
The artist put the main subject of the painting, the small boat and 3 human, right at the middle of the painting. This is breaking the rule of 3rd. Yet it is very affective on grabbing our attention. I know the artist did not create this painting for the modern social media gold fish brain human nor to present in a museum with thousands of other painting…Yet, the artist did a good job grabbing our attention.
Right after grabbing attention, the artist made sure our eyes can scan through the paint in nice way. They way I see, my eye go to the human and boats, then to the right where there are some docked boats and some land, then the big ice mountain, then to the small boats far way, then the small rocks and birds close to me, then through the light rays up to the moon like salmon fish swimming up hill. After my eye are satisfied with the light dark and cloud it goes back down to the humans where we started. It looks like a very simple design, but when I think about this painting for a minute I see how much thought and love the artist put into this painting.
My most favorite thing will be the importance of nature in this painting. Looking at this painting, it makes us feel the power of nature and also we feel how fragile everything is. The use of color also emphasize that feeling. the feeling awww and sadness at the same time. The use of very mute color complements the light and shadow. Just like a black and white film photography.
Going back to the nature, the idea of nature as the main subject is very new in the history of human painting. Most advanced painting from the European continent has religious touch to it. Putting regular human or important religious human as the main subject of the older painting. This painting here, “North Cape by Moonlight” does not have religious story to it, but it does have a story. In this case the viewer will create the story in their mind while looking at it.
In conclusion, the artist used some very complex technique with a simple design to make a masterpiece. The composition technique is like a modern day photography. The humans on that small boat interacting with light grabs our attention then it holds on to that attention until my eyes go through every other place and back to the humans again. It gives my eyes a full tour using light and placement of different objects. The story is simple yet it makes me feel sad and awww at the same time. The use of light just takes this painting to the next level…
To me, the story is something like, we are one with nature, she is powerful and fragile at the same time.
Field Notes
The human subject is very small compare to the whole paint. But even tho it is very small, that is the first thing we notice.
The humans and boat does not have a lot of details but, when we look from far, our brain created the details. Like when we see impressionism painting. That humans and boat were meant to look from far. But created to capture our attention at the first time.
The composition of the painting helps our eyes go through the whole painting, each object pointing our eye to the next object.
After we finish looking all object, it pulls us closer for details.
Then wee see the brush marks, the use of impasto painting. Little bit of impressionism and how the light is interacting with the water and air.
Looking closely next to the blue line, we can see the light rays created by the artist.
It is very hard to notice far way. You really have to look right next to the painting. Maybe the artist used a different kind of brush to make that marks.
I like that the artist created this painting for far way looking and also wanted you to look closely. It looks like white laser light coming from the moon.
The way lights interacts with color in this painting makes it look very realistic and also not real at the same time.
Overall the use of light, perspective, shadows and the way it all comes together makes it look like a modern day AAA video game.
That was actually my first thought when I saw this painting.