Comparison between artworks

The aspects of the composition of Chen HongShou’s paintings:

To begin, the technique that he used the most was watercolor and ink on silk. The lines he made were mostly curved and broken (which can have a significance of his confusion of being

torn between the conflicting ideals of Confucian government service and Buddhist retirement, so his paintings create some of those tensions, according to his biography. So making broken and curved lines suggest the idea of not having a “straight, secure mind”, but having a very indecisive or confused one). The structure of his artworks are pretty much oblique, diagonal and have a curved direction, which probably has the same meaning of what i wrote about the lines. The colors of his works are usually of warm tones, like brown, pink and yellow and they tend to be as realistic as possible. The tones he paints with, produces a calm atmosphere, which is related with him being a buddhist monk, as this religion is all about meditation, calmness and everything that assures the peace of the mind. The space he creates in his paintings are, as i said before, atmospheric. The shapes he uses are organic (as he paints a lot of nature related things, such as flowers, branches, plants and etc), and then religious human figures such as monks. Finally the shades he uses are mostly light, even though some of his drawings have a little saturation (for example the pink flowers he makes), most of the colors are soft, without disturbing the meaning of the drawing. And lastly the theme of his paintings are of religion and nature.

The aspects of the composition of William Morris’s paintings:

To begin, William Morris’s artworks were mostly made for printed fabric, as they were used to be a wallpaper. The structure of his paintings were symmetric (because its was going to be put all over the wall), and some of them just had the illusion of being symmetric, but really weren’t. There are also many curved, oblique and diagonal directions, which produce a feeling of the drawing being dynamic (dynamic as in a way of the changing process of a better society, also known as socialism (as change represents movement)). They also seem to be like if the lines/curves/figures of the paintings are all the same, i mean organized and under control, which according to his biography this has a meaning of him being interested in socialism (as this is a new way of organizing the society, having everybody under control, in a good way, for example paying better salaries, and anything related to making it better). Plus this interest of socialism in William Morris is because he was living during the process of the industrial revolution, so he painted the ideas of how this new way of organization was (all perfect & symmetric), and maybe made it in a form of wallpaper, for everybody to buy it, and have a reminder on their houses of how the society would get better with socialism. He probably really wanted to transmit that idea. The colors he used were pretty saturated, this can be because he really wanted to transmit the idea of socialism, as being a better way of living, so putting a lot of color, and very bright ones, calls people’s attention. It’s a way of colors to shout these ideas to the world. The spaces he creates are geometric (as there are lots of curves and geometric figures), graphic and superimposition (because some figures of lines are one above the other).

The lines of the paintings are curved, the shapes are organic (as he drew a lot flowers and plants, in a pattern way. Which can mean that as he made the idea of socialism represented in nature, sometimes, the thought it was like “the law of nature” to have a better society and to treat everyone good and equally) and they are also juxtaposed. Finally the shade’s he used were dark, so the colors would pop up more.

The aspects of the composition of Mónica Millán’s paintings:

To begin, Mónica Millán’s artworks have a structure of dynamic directions (as there are lots of circles and curved directions, it creates an effect of the objects/plants/figures moving). The type of colors she uses are mostly monochrome (all in shades of grey as she makes the drawings with pencil, and some are different shades of blue and etc), of course there are exceptions, like for example in her drawing of “Llueve, es de siesta”, which there is a high contrast in very bright, and lot’s of colors. Her drawings have a lot of tiny details in them, mostly tiny circles, which according to her story she liked sewing, so drawing details and putting little things together can be related to that, and she might do little circles as it represents the “cycle of sewing”, which is repeating the same movement and the same things all the time and all over again. The space she creates is a superimposition and an atmospheric one. She creates a kind of curious atmosphere, this is because she was very curious when she was young, and used to wonder about what was underground, beneath us, beneath everything, the deepest truth of the secrets. So i think that drawing something very detailed, in her case, means that she is trying to find the truth, first you need to know many little parts of the secret, and then you put everything together and you realize what was hidden. The lines she makes are mostly curved. The shapes in her drawings are organic (as they are of plants, trees and flowers), she probably does organic shapes, as nature is the origin of everything, and she might relate that with nature being the base to find the truth of secrets. Finally she uses low contrast , also light shades in her drawings and the theme she works with is nature.