In this Critical Expressive essay I will describe the life and work of two portrait painters, Vincent Van

Gogh and Pablo Picasso. I will conclude by comparing these artists work. The first artist I am going to discuss is Vincent Van Gogh. Van Gogh was born in 1853 and was a Dutch artist. When Van Gogh was 16 he went to work for his uncle, who was an Art Dealer , this lead him to become interested in Art. However, at the age of 23, he decided to study to be a preacher, like his father. He spend time in Belgium, where he worked amongst the poor people and cared for the sick. Van Gogh then discovered that this was not what he wanted to do after all and so, decided to become an artist. His first paintings were of the poor people he had seen. Van Gogh travelled to the south of France to be near the sea. During this time, Vincent Van Goghs state of mind was often not good. He had to go to hospital and, even though he was ill, he made paintings while he was there. In 1890, Van Gogh moved back to the north of France near to Paris. One day he went out to paint in the countryside. It seems that he was feeling very ill and depressed because he shot and wounded himself. The doctors could not save him and he died a few days later. He was 37 years old. The first painting that I will describe is by Vincent Van Gogh and is called Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. This painting was created in January 1889 and the artist has used oil on canvas as the medium. The painting is of Vincent Van Gogh sitting down, wearing a large coat and hat, with his ear bandaged. He most likely painted this while looking in the mirror. There are various types of lines used in this painting. The green coat is made up of short, thick strokes. This is different from the face, where the lines are blended more, this may be to draw attention away from the face. The outline of the coat is thick and dark in places and make it look more interesting than it would have been if Van Gogh had just painted it green. Using the lines like this makes the coat stand out and allowed Van Gogh to create many different shades of green inside the coat. I really like how he

did this as it is more engaging. The face itself has small variations of tone, though the background looks like he is in an art studio with a started canvas on the left side of him. There is a painting on the wall of, I think, some Japanese women. There also seems to be a green door. Most of the background is shades of green with thick strokes used on the door and small careful strokes used on the painting. The hat that Van Gogh is wearing is bold and consists of strong dash lines. It stands out as it is very dark green right beside the face which is yellow and orange. I like this as it draws our attention to the face but also to the hat. It keeps our eyes moving, appraising the painting. I really like the colour scheme used in this painting as it is has a warm feeling. Van Goghs eyes are green in the painting, there are lots of different shades of green incorporated into this painting. His eyes look hurt and wounded, while his eye really is wounded. He is trying to portray this hurt in his eyes, maybe even showing us that he hurt his ear because of the way he felt inside. The positive shape of the man stands out against the background because of the dark shades used. I like this as it makes the painting feel more alive. The second artist I am going to discuss is Pablo Picasso. Pablo Picasso was born in 1881 and was the son of a professor of art, his talent for drawing was recognised at an early age. A fine example of his skill with pastels using a traditional style is Portrait of the Artists Mother made in 1896 at the age of 14. For Picasso the meaning of art was to be derived from other works of art and not directly from nature. Picasso dies in 1973 and he was the most influential and successful artist of the 20th century. Painting, sculpture, graphic art and ceramics were all profoundly and irrevocably affected by his genius.

The second painting I will describe is by Pablo Picasso and is entitled Portrait of Dora Maar. This painting was created in 1937 and the artist has used oil on canvas as the medium. The painting is of a woman sitting on a chair, looking at us, with a plain but still colourful background. The lines used on Dora Maar and the chair are strong and bold. I like this as it really makes her stand out against the duller, plainer background. The woman and chair are made up with a lot if black but also lots of warm colours such as yellow and red. This makes the painting appear more alive and personal. Picasso independently laid the foundations for cubism, this painting shows cubism as the woman has been drawn from many different angles. I like this as it makes the painting captivating and keeps your eyes moving. Dora Maars skin has been coloured yellow, it is warm in some places but cold in others. Possibly portraying her nature, cold on the outside but warm on the inside. The woman's hair is made up of mainly black, but also includes green, red and orange. He has used long, thick strokes for this in a pattern of lines, curling out at the bottom. Dora Maars face is interesting because of the use of cubism. The womans nose is in two different places and both of her eyes are different, one larger and the other smaller. This makes the face rather fascinating in my opinion. White has been used for the reflection of light against her face and neck, making the yellow appear even warmer. The dress Dora Maar is wearing is patterned in the middle and top and due to cubism is very interesting. The cold colours on the dress contrast well against the warm colours of the rest of the painting. Picasso has used sharp straight lines on the dress. Also at the bottom he has used cross-hatching. The background is mostly white with thin lines of orange, yellow and purple. The simplicity of this and the thin lines contrast well, in my opinion, against the thick bold lines of the woman. The bright colours on Doar Maar standout due to the thinner lines of colour used in the background.

Overall I really like this painting as I find the use of cubism and bright contrasting colours interesting and thought provoking. After looking at both, Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso paintings I have noticed similarities and differences between their pieces. One similarity is the use of yellow for the persons face, although, Vincent Van Goghs portrait feels warm while Picassos feels cold. Another similarity is the use of bold, black strokes in both paintings, although, Pablo Picassos painting uses a lot more black, the idea is the same in both. They both use the black to make the other parts of the painting stand out and this is something I really like as it makes the paintings seem more alive and absorbing. In Van Goghs painting tone has been used more frequently than in Picassos. In Van Goghs portrait he uses many different shades of green, whereas Picasso has used very little tone. Picasso has also used many different bright colours in his painting unlike Van Gogh who has used a more harmonious colour scheme giving a more soothing mood. Another similarity is the background. They both have something to look at, the canvas or the multi coloured wall, neither of them painted the background one colour. I like this as it is provides depth which is more interesting than just a single, boring colour. Van Goghs painting has a busier background than Picassos. Picassos background has been done this way so as not to distract from Dora Maar. Unlike Van Gogh who has just used the background as an extension of himself. Both are good techniques. After describing the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso I feel that both artists are very different in some aspects of their style but also similar in other ways.