Gonsalves: Painting Analysis

For my final art paper, I chose my favorite work from my favorite artist: Autumn Cycling by Rob Gonsalves. In this piece, the first thing you notice is there are three boys riding bicycles on a street covered in a bed of orange leaves, surrounded by trees without their leaves. There are a few houses on the street, and also some streetlights, which would make it seem as if these boys are riding their bikes in a neighborhood. Though at a closer look, the leaves on the street double as leaves on trees beneath the bicyclists. This picture could be looked at like an optical illusion because if you look underneath the boys, you see they are riding on top of the trees beneath them and there is another person riding a bike on the “lower” road. The
The bright orange leaves spread across the street are a perfect indication that it is autumn in this picture. He also makes the bicyclists wear colors that make them stand out from the rest of the painting, such as the blues and purples of their shirts against the oranges and yellows of the leaves. He also uses the element of light to show shadows in highlights given from the sun. This could be used to give the trees and the bicyclists a realistic touch while also making it evident where the sun is at this part of the day. We can tell the source of light, the sun, is on the left of the picture since the leaves and the bike rider on the left are much lighter and brighter than those on the right, plus the shadows are shown to be on the right side of the trees and
This use of proportion is very important because it indicates there is a great distance between the upper and lower cyclists. It really brings the picture together, because if the people on the top and the bottom of the picture were the same size, the illusive effect would be completely lost and the picture wouldn’t be nearly as unique or interesting. Also, this picture uses balance to put equal emphasis on all sides of the picture, not just left to right, but from top to bottom as well. From left to right, the picture is well balanced in that there are a row of trees on each side, there are bike riders on each side, and the leaves are evenly distributed between both sides. On a vertical analysis, there are plenty of details on the upper part of the picture, and the same can be said about the lower part of the picture. This use of balance lets the entire image be equally important and not have a certain focal point or area the stands out as more important than the rest.

The painting Autumn Cycling is made from acrylic paint and painted on a canvas. The artist Rob Gonsalves, who was born in Toronto, Canada in 1959, painted this piece in 1994. Gonsalves is known for his use of surrealism and his style of magic realism. His knowledge of architecture helped with his