Monday, February 14, 2011

Blog 5a






The images above are called the Temptation of St. Anthony and they were painted by Salvador Dali. I was really drawn to this image and a lot of the images Dali has painted because of the surrealist style he uses. This picture to me seems really unique, ironic and complex. I think I enjoy it because it has a lot going on and it seems like it has a deep meaning. I re-framed this image on the elephant in the background because I feel like there is so much detail in this image and the picture is so big that it is hard to pick out all the little details. Dali used depth cues by shading this elephant lighter and making it smaller to make it appear farther away. This picture is very ironic because it has elephants carrying buildings on their backs, which is near impossible. Dali also uses contrast with the large horse by making it white and then coloring the elephants black. This draws your attention to the horse in the front then slowly brings it back to the elephants in the back. The framing Dali used was very simple and I think he did this on purpose. The main focus of this painting is the horses and elephants, so Dali framed them in the center and made them the biggest. He also left plenty of open space around them so your attention is drawn towards them. This painting also has many virtual lines. When I look at the painting I find myself starting in the bottom corner, looking at the man on his knees, and then working my way up to the white horse and then following the line of elephants back into the background. After doing research on Dali I learned that when he painted his pictures, he does not have any intended meaning. For me this was kind of a letdown because I think I enjoyed them a lot more when it felt like they had substance and deep meanings.