Redness

Redness By Richard Kenton Webb

At first when I saw redness it alarmed me to a note of confusion. It got me thinking emotionally what does each individual tone of red mean? Why is it making me feel alarmed by it's structured form? 

I found this painting to be unique in it's presence as the four tones of red separately have completely different meanings, for example the mid range background red gives me a sense of warmth and love, the deep maroon/ brown colour gives me a sense of earth with its rich underlying red tones. Also the light brown seams quite bland on the big scale of things but once you put it next to the richness of the over tones it becomes a highlight.

By looking at this painting of just four red tones it has got me looking at the colour in its purist form as to me the placing of the colour seems quite natural. However the placing of the colour does make parts of the object stand out more than others. I found that the dark brown shades of what I image to be an open case stands out to me because it contrasts with the other lighter tones therefore drawing it to the eye. I noticed the two darkest maroon tones falls on the vertical thirds which makes the composition stand out. 

In my opinion Webb has focused on the colour red to get a greater understanding of its characteristics. I found once I started looking at each tone that closely it picks up a greater meaning. It breaks down each tones meaning of red. 

To me the object looks like it has some type of pedal attached to the main frame which gives me the sense of movement. Also the pedal seems to be moving because of the mid tone, dark red and light brown makes it look like it is being catching the light. Apart from the pedal the object gives me a sense of confusion as it isn't clear as to what it is. Although it makes me confused about its purpose it is clear to me that it is a traditional machine because of the red tones make it look rusty, as if its something old that man has made.

Overall this piece of art work isn't one of my favourites because of the mechanical structure and a few dull tones. I do like the way it focuses on one colour in so much depth it gives the painting a new meaning.