"Sharks V" and "The flood"

The first work I chose for this project is called the "Sharks V" painted by Pavel Acosta. 

This very cold and dark colored impasto painting portraits several small dark grey sharks painted in a black background and four bigger dark and light grey sharks positioned a bit to the right respecting the rule of thirds. All the big sharks have white paint on them implying light. However, the biggest shark is  the brightest. Located to the top right, it is the focal point of the art piece and is the only shark in a horizontal line. All of the other sharks are made in a diagonal line heading up as if there is a common point of destination. Due to the repetition of small sharks and the fact they are all going to the same place there is  a sense of unity and rhythm to the painting. There are only organic shapes. The sharks are the positive space and the black background is the negative space. This asymmetrical work is made in a small scale but in proportion and has a good visual balance.

The second painting is called "The Flood" and it was painted by Golde White. It is black and white, and although it is very similar to the first painting in color, it is not an impasto painting. The art work is about a man on the right leading five cows from the flood to safety into some kind of enclosed space. The man is holding a torch of fire in his right hand which makes us understand it is all happening at night. There is what seems to be a wooden gate in between two brick walls and the cows are struggling to get inside due to a lot of water from the flood that is covering their paws and pushing them sideways as they try to escape. The whole painting is black and Golde White uses white lines to make the contours. He also uses white to imply light in the very same way Pavel Acosta does in the "Sharks V". There is a peculiar cow to the left which is the focal point of the art piece. It's body is in a diagonal line making it looks like it is moving. It is standing on it's two back paws. The way it's body and face are positioned and the space left in front of it's mouth suggests noise. It is almost as if I could hear it. Organic and geometric shapes are found in the work. The positive space consists of the cows, the man, the water, the walls and the gates while the negative space is the black background. There is a pattern to the repeated water lines on the floor and to the geometric rectangular shapes of the bricks on the wall. The cows give the painting a sense of unity and their direction and repetition gives it a nice rhythm. The art work is smooth in texture and asymmetric. It's made in a small scale but everything is in proportion and it has a good visual balance.