Yermolova Shall I Wear This Dress
The artist of this painting is Iryna Yermolova. Yermolova is a Ukrainian painter who was born in 1978 and currently lives in Dorset, England. After graduating from school, she began her art career in graphic design at an advertisement firm. She made the decision to switch to oil paint as her preferred art medium after moving to England and studying Brand Management at the University of Economics and Management. In a recent interview for the September 2016 issue of Artists & Illustrators magazine, she explains how her background in graphic design helps her to emphasize the composition and tonal values of her works. This oil painting, titled Shall I wear this dress, was created by Yermolova in 2015. At 15.7 inches tall and 11.8 inches wide, it features a nude woman turned away from the viewer, facing a mirror, and holding up a green skirt. The figure takes
…show more content…
up most of the composition in the foreground while the background is filled in with organic shapes and forms. The style and quality of marks in this painting are very loose and gestural and the use of thick lines and visible brush strokes give the painting a spontaneous quality. They complement the fact that this scene represents a fleeting moment in time. There are various moments in the piece where the impasto creates texture and forms lines and contours. These lines of contour occur at the top of the head, the side of the face, the neck leading into the back, and the side of the breast, shoulder, and arm.
2
In addition to that, they also create hatch marks that follow the curve of the body and form patterns on the figure.
Yermolova uses bold streaks and blocks of color to depict the figure in space. While shades of yellow dominate the color scheme, representing where light falls on the form, they are contrasted with dark greens, blues, and browns that represent the shadows. These colors interact with each other to create value within the form of the figure. Since both the figure and its environment contain similar colors, it creates an effect of the figure and background blending together as one. This makes the figure move in and out of the foreground and background, and creates a sense of balance in the piece. The figure is painted in a very relaxed and natural pose which brings tranquility to the mood of the piece. This factor contrasts against the energy and movement of the marking making and colors used. The warm, bright yellows and hints of orange make the painting feel active and energetic while at the same time, the cool neutral colors pull back that energy, tones it down, and makes the mood more
serene. I see this painting as a study of the human figure and experimentation with color and application technique to create a certain mood in the viewer. My favorite thing about this piece is the way the oil paint is applied on the canvas and how you can see where it was applied very thick, or thin enough to see the texture of the canvas underneath. Because of this, it breaks up the picture plane in many blocks of color and creates various layers, so it’s easy to imagine this piece being a collage.
up most of the composition in the foreground while the background is filled in with organic shapes and forms. The style and quality of marks in this painting are very loose and gestural and the use of thick lines and visible brush strokes give the painting a spontaneous quality. They complement the fact that this scene represents a fleeting moment in time. There are various moments in the piece where the impasto creates texture and forms lines and contours. These lines of contour occur at the top of the head, the side of the face, the neck leading into the back, and the side of the breast, shoulder, and arm.
2
In addition to that, they also create hatch marks that follow the curve of the body and form patterns on the figure.
Yermolova uses bold streaks and blocks of color to depict the figure in space. While shades of yellow dominate the color scheme, representing where light falls on the form, they are contrasted with dark greens, blues, and browns that represent the shadows. These colors interact with each other to create value within the form of the figure. Since both the figure and its environment contain similar colors, it creates an effect of the figure and background blending together as one. This makes the figure move in and out of the foreground and background, and creates a sense of balance in the piece. The figure is painted in a very relaxed and natural pose which brings tranquility to the mood of the piece. This factor contrasts against the energy and movement of the marking making and colors used. The warm, bright yellows and hints of orange make the painting feel active and energetic while at the same time, the cool neutral colors pull back that energy, tones it down, and makes the mood more
serene. I see this painting as a study of the human figure and experimentation with color and application technique to create a certain mood in the viewer. My favorite thing about this piece is the way the oil paint is applied on the canvas and how you can see where it was applied very thick, or thin enough to see the texture of the canvas underneath. Because of this, it breaks up the picture plane in many blocks of color and creates various layers, so it’s easy to imagine this piece being a collage.