Essay on After A Wedding Analysis

After a Wedding by Janet Fish was painted in 2002. It is an oil painted piece and measures in at 60in x 70in. Oil paints are pigment mixed with ,usually, linseed oil and painted on a canvas. Janet Fish was born May 18, 1938 and is a contemporary realist artist out of America. She paints still life which is a painting or drawing of carefully placed objects such as fruit, flowers, bowls, or objects found around a household. Fish grew up in Bermuda after her family moved there when she was 10 years old.

She grew up in a very artistic family and knew at a young age she wanted to pursue visual arts. Fish originally wanted to focus on sculpture but later changed her mind to painting after attending Yale University School of Art and Architecture from 1960-1963. In 1963 she became the first women to earn a Master of Fine Arts from Yale’s School of Art and Architecture. She is well known for her large realistic still life paintings, especially in the way she paints everyday items. She concentrates on the shapes of the objects and the way the light hits off of their surfaces.

Her works have been characterized as photo-realist as well as have been associated with the new realism. She still lives and paints in her SoHo, New York city loft and her Vermont Farmhouse. As previously stated Fish used the medium of oil painting for this beautiful still life. Before oil paint was popular their was the medium tempura. But, Northern Europe came to the realization that using oil paints gave the same effects as tempura but it was more readily available and effectively achieved.

Oil painting is very versatile and can be painted right on the canvas which gives the painting a variety of hues and colors as well as light. As you can see in After a Wedding, Janet fish uses the oil paint to create a three dimensional effect, this is done by using the oil paint right out of the tube and taking advantage of its thick consistency which is referred to as impasto. She also uses the oil paints versatilely to create an illusion of illuminate light as though the sun is shining down on the still life.

This is achieved by glazing the painting with thin films of translucent colors giving it its luminous l ook. Another advantage of using oil paints is that they dry very slow, because its binder is linseed oil, which gives the artist time to perfect their vision on to the canvas. With the versatility that is possible with oil paints it is ideal to use this medium while doing still life because it brings the painting a realistic look and feel. It brings life to the material objects while also creating a beautiful arrangement of color and hues.

There is no political aspect to this painting. It is simply a piece to be admired by the people. The painting has the sense of a calming effect as you look at the picture and try to depict its meanings. Here in this painting you see an arrangement of flowers and vases on a white table cloth, this picture takes scene outside as thought it was an outdoor summer or spring wedding perhaps. Taking in all the elements of the picture and knowing that the piece is titled “After a Wedding” gives you the impression that this piece is to represent the quiet after the storm.

Planning a wedding can one of the most stressful times of someones life. This painting represents the pure, bright love that the atmosphere is filled with after the bride and groom exchange “I do’s”. In this painting everything from the color to the form are related to each other giving it its structure. All of the elements eventually becomes intertwined just as two families become intertwined when the bride and groom become husband and wife.