Courtney Rankin I have developed as an artist by focusing my works of art that display scenes of everyday life that is familiar

to me. These scenes portray a mysterious, somewhat eerie mood that converge my childhood life and memories. To achieve these certain feelings, I have grown to using a subtle light source in many of my paintings, along with moving towards an abstract atmosphere. Bo Bartlett Born 1955 Columbus, Georgia o Returns to his childhood home to paint o Summer home in Maine Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts o Educated o Studied anatomy at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine I didnt want to paint the body if I hadnt explored it thoroughly American Realist o Looks at Americas heart, land, and people o His paintings celebrate the underlying epic nature of the commonplace and the personal significance of the extraordinary -Tom Butler o Life, death, passage, memory, and confrontation coexist easily in his world o Described as dreamlike narratives with family and friends as characters, creating shared human experiences o Creates extensive drawings and oil studies o Reverts back to his childhood home to create paintings in a familiar setting The Phenomenon of the Rainbow o Compared to his works, common scene o Yosemite Bears YouTube video o There was something in Yosemite Bear's voice that made it exciting o Facing overwhelming beauty, attempts us to comprehend it, to codify it, make sense out of it, we resort to asking about meaning. We assume that there is Meaning Sea 2000 o Familiar with the atmospheric way I work Passivity 1979 compared with my bird painting If you sit somewhere long enough, the Life will appear -Wyeth o There is always something to look at in a familiar, common setting Nothing has local color, everything is to be thought of as affected color Nelson Shanks o Studied under portrait artist for 2 years o Taught Bartlett how to paint light Look at the color of the light on the object How cool or warm light may affect the object o Light and narratives reveal a mysterious, eerie mood My Childhood Home 2010

Study for the Unconscious 2010

Andrew Wyeth Bartletts mentor o Inspiration o Bartlett and Wyeth shared an understanding and passion about painting that bonded them together Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania o Summer home: Cushing, Maine o Subjects similar to Bartlett: portrays the melancholy of the people and landscapes familiar to him o "I don't paint these hills around Chadds Ford because they're better than the hills somewhere else. It's that I was born here, lived here -- things have a meaning for me." Guidance under N.C. Wyeth o inspired his son's love of rural landscapes, sense of romance and artistic traditions "My people, my objects breathe in a different way: theres another core an excitement thats definitely abstract o Realist artist whom considers himself to be an abstractionist Christinas World 1948

Many of his images were in varying degrees autobiographical Creates near mono-chromatic palettes in many of his paintings o Especially in winter landscapes o Snow Hill 1989 Palette and use of light creates a certain mood, similar to my paintings, as well as Bartletts o Creating a certain type of atmosphere o Creates complex psychological insights and even surreal underpinnings in his images Watercolor o Medium allows him to deploy his own evocative brand of realism o Drybrush technique that allows Wyeth to create the detail and texture that is critical to his metaphorical realsim Influences o Albrecht Durer o Winslow Homer o Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper Nyack, New York New York Institute of Art and Design

Also studied under Robert Henri who influenced Hopper It takes a long time for an idea to strike. Then I have to think about it for a long time. I dont start painting until I have it all worked out in my mind. Im all right when I get to the easel". o Paid attention to geometrical design and placement o Paints with an early morning or early evening light source More drastic American life o Urban and rural landscapes N.Y.- paintings are recognizable and quiet, common places o Seascapes o Figures Nighthawks 1942 Monhegan Landscape (undated) Cape Cod Evening 1939 o Architecture Colonial, Victorian style similar to my House of Entertainment Influenced by Manet o The Fifer 1866

David Graeme Baker Capetown, South Africa Currently resides in Maine Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 1991- 1995. Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, 1987 - 1991. Similar to the three artists o Paints familiar settings o Paintings are like walking into his own home o Uses family as characters, similar to Bartlett o Looks for deeper understanding of our condition and the roles that we play o Its hard to paint a picture of an idealized situation when youve got Legos and building blocks underfoot Began painting landscapes and interiors without figures, along with still lifes He creates ambiguous narratives and evocative imagery which entices the eye to play over his paintings and the mind to begin inventing stories. o Allows people to create their own stories Baker visits Bartlett in 1999 o Bartlett painted a small portrait of Baker to demonstrate a few techniques for bringing painted surfaces to life. Bartlett has commented on the quality of studied nonchalance in Bakers compositions.

o The seeming lack of effort in Bakers elegant, modest paintings belie their complexity and depth o What makes his paintings intriguing is that they whisper compelling questions Creates his own scenes o His sketches form the first few elements of a painting Illustrative, similar to Wyeth o Inspirations from reading stories to his children Technique o Begins with an umber underpaintig o Uses a technique called grisaille and then builds up many thin layers of translucent color. o Warm tones over cool tones o Works from life as well as photographs Rhubarb 2005 Leathermans Gate Robin and Linus 2008 Singer / Snow Day 2004

Conclusion Light affecting the mood Content I have chosen