Washington Wheat: I have long been intrigued by the paintings of Z.Z. Wei. He is an artist from China who some time back set up shop in Washington State and began painting his minimal...

saxman71 Loc: Wenatchee

I have long been intrigued by the paintings of Z.Z. Wei. He is an artist from China who some time back set up shop in Washington State and began painting his minimal impressions of eastern Washington wheat country. Several times I have taken a stab at copying his painting style in my digital world. Each time I have given up. But this one I did over the last week may be worth sharing with you. While clearly far from perfect, I see it as a step in the right direction. Here I present two versions; the first is just the barn, wheat fields and and poplar trees. In the second I decided to park my Cadillac in front of the barn. In my view it made the whole scene instantly better. This was all done in Adobe Photoshop starting with a blank file. What are your thoughts? Chris

(Download)

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

I like it but without the car

saxman71 Loc: Wenatchee

Curmudgeon wrote:

I like it but without the car

Thank you. I appreciate the input.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I checked the artist's website and enjoyed a lot of his work. It seems a tiny bit like the Naive Art style I was interested in for about a minute

Your addition of the red Cadillac to this piece changes the mood a lot. I'm interested in what makes it "better" for you, Chris?

saxman71 Loc: Wenatchee

Linda From Maine wrote:

I checked the artist's website and enjoyed a lot of his work. It seems a tiny bit like the Naive Art style I was interested in for about a minute

Your addition of the red Cadillac to this piece changes the mood a lot. I'm interested in what makes it "better" for you, Chris?

Thank you Linda. While I like the original image and spent a good deal of time on it, I felt it needed a little something extra. Of course a mid-thirties rusted sedan or an old farm truck would have been better suited for the image. But I had the Caddy handy from my past work and on a whim put it in front of the barn. I instantly liked the image better with the splash of bright color.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

saxman71 you have set a wonderfully simple scene, a collage art,** effectively using flat separate images pasted-on 2D portions. The Caddy has nothing to do with the scene and adds nothing. Perhaps Linda would loan Stella to act as our identify-with viewer. Stella would be back turned viewing the world you have created. If not Stella, then Cat-X.

"Identifying with the characters is a common reason people love a certain movie." Cat-X would be that we-are-they character.
https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/exploring-movie-construction-and-production/chapter/4-how-are-the-characters-portrayed/

** https://www.eden-gallery.com/news/collage-in-art

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

saxman71 wrote:

Thank you Linda. While I like the original image and spent a good deal of time on it, I felt it needed a little something extra. Of course a mid-thirties rusted sedan or an old farm truck would have been better suited for the image. But I had the Caddy handy from my past work and on a whim put it in front of the barn. I instantly liked the image better with the splash of bright color.

Thanks Chris. It's interesting to ponder, and I imagine everyone will have a preference.

There's definitely a dissonance between the bucolic farm scene with muted colors and your flashy, sleek red speed machine

L-Fox

saxman71 wrote:

I have long been intrigued by the paintings of Z.Z... (show quote)

saxman71 Loc: Wenatchee

dpullum wrote:

saxman71 you have set a wonderfully simple scene, ... (show quote)

Thank you Don. Your comments always provoke thought. However, the cat Linda loves would have to be replaced by the small dog I love. He would be very jealous otherwise. Clearly, I need to give the red car more time to be loved. The scene was put together in a collage fashion with the trees and clouds and car added in later.

saxman71 Loc: Wenatchee

Linda From Maine wrote:

Thanks Chris. It's interesting to ponder, and I imagine everyone will have a preference.

There's definitely a dissonance between the bucolic farm scene with muted colors and your flashy, sleek red speed machine

It could possibly be I like that Cadillac so much I want to find a place for it in everything I create whether it fits or not.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

saxman71 wrote:

It could possibly be I like that Cadillac so much I want to find a place for it in everything I create whether it fits or not.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with that!

rockdog Loc: Berkeley, Ca.

saxman71 wrote:

I have long been intrigued by the paintings of Z.Z... (show quote)

I just found this and I'm happy I did! I like Wei's work very much and I like your take very much. The gambrel roofed barn and way you rendered trees are strong references but more importantly you have captured the spirit of the way Wei showed us the world. I enjoyed the way Wei used vehicles. His fore-and-aft view of cars and trucks put them firmly into the scene. I'm ok with that big red machine, it is the most beautiful thing that ever came out of a GM plant! This is very cool work saxman, thanks for the Wei reminder.
Phil

saxman71 Loc: Wenatchee

rockdog wrote:

I just found this and I'm happy I did! I like Wei... (show quote)

Thank you very much Phil. I'm glad you see similarities with the great Z.Z. Wei's work that I tried to attain in my minimal creation and I'm also happy someone doesn't dislike my Caddy.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

I prefer the one without the car.

veralisa296 Loc: New Jersey

saxman71 wrote:

I have long been intrigued by the paintings of Z.Z... (show quote)

Love your whole composition! Beautiful technique...as far as the caddy, well, it can always be on one of the roads in the background, leaving for town! Great technique!