Henri Matisse

Recently I have been writing a critical essay on 'Notes of a Painter' by Henri Matisse (for one of my modules) and in doing so, have become totally absorbed in the artist's earlier works.

Last year I attended the 'Cut-Outs' exhibition at the Tate Modern, which displayed a great collection of Matisse's cut-out works created simply with gouache, paper and scissors. I found the exhibit particularly exciting, though I had not considered Matisse's earlier works - until now.

In writing this essay I have got to know (as far as one can know an artwork without seeing it in the flesh) the artist's earlier works from the Fauvism movement in French painting, such as Woman with a Hat (1905) and Blue Nude (1905). By studying such works I have been inspired by Matisse's use of colour and loose rendering of shapes, which is something I would like to consider in my upcoming work.

Vase with Fruit (1901)

From the works I have studied, I have admired Vase with Fruit (1901) the most. I adore Matisse's consideration of colour pallet in this painting and his use of loose brush strokes quite exciting.

Summer Skies

Below is a selection of photographs I took earlier this year of the sky in different states. I was fascinated as to how different factors (time, weather, etc.) can have an impact on the skies colour and shape of clouds. These photos present some interesting colour pallets that I may consider using in my upcoming work.