Painting like the Masters today: A Study of Jill Poyerd's Use of Lights, Darks, and Reflections

By trade and hobby, I am an engineer and have lived a mostly left-brained life of logic and analysis. My more right-brained wife pulls my attention to the arts and my critical analysis with it. If I were to flatten art to its essentials; removing the artists' fame and value for their artwork, and concentrating strictly on the art, I would find many of today's artists on par with the masters.

I would say the masters are masters for one of two reasons aside from the technical skill they learned and practiced. First, innovation to create a new style of art and second, the luck of being born earlier and claiming credit to a style that was inevitable to be born. With that, I lean more toward the innovation that required inspiration from the knowledge they achieved from their craft. One can see the talent. With that, it is also fair to say there are many artists on par with the masters in their respective genre. I include Jill Poyerd in that mix. So, this article is about what I consider exceptional techniques that makes a painting stunning, thought-provoking, and beautiful. For me, above the technical skill, the use of lights and darks and reflection does that. So, I present the case of a contemporary artist against some well-known artists.

Use of Lights and Darks

Figure 1: Monet's "Woman with a Parasol"

Figure 2: Poyerd's "April Showers"

Let's take a look at two impressionistic images. In Figure 1, we have Monet's "Woman with a Parasol," and Figure 2 shows Poyerd's "April Showers." Both works relay a thought-provoking look at the subject's interest at the moment. The rich colors darkened on Monet's lady (wife) and brightened on Jill's girl enhance the story. This dominance of shadow on the woman draws you in from the surrounding light to start from her gaze then down and away from the high ground. In contrast, Jill's girl is basking in the sunlight among falling, dancing petals from a Cherry Blossom tree. The pink colors picked up on her cheeks and dress accentuate her femininity as the parasol and dress does for Monet's subject.

 

 

Figure 3: Poyerd's "Fireboy"



Figure 4: Rockwell's "Forward America"

Poyerd's "Fireboy" (Figure 3) is an exceptional example of lights and darks accentuating a realistic portrayal of a boy and his dream of being an heroic firefighter. In comparison, Norman Rockwell's "Forward America," (Figure 4) shows Boy Scouts facing the sunlight with stormy clouds in the background with the dramatic implication of America's youth taking the baton as the next generation. To me, both portray both innocence and naiveté with the use of lights and darks to evoke pride in their desire to be future heroes. The technical skill is apparent but does not take center stage to the story being told. I am drawn to the story first, then the effects of the light and darks, then I take the time to study the technical skill. This is what I believe artists strive to achieve for their patrons.








Evoking Emotion

Artists, by their very trade, are creative and, as such, work to stir something in their audience; perhaps a remembrance or contemplation. Jill's paintings range from joyful to pensive. Even with the children in her art, there are different emotions that one would contemplate.

Let's take her "Wishing for Spring" (Figure 5) and "A Stone's Throw" (Figure 6). Both paintings show a solitary moment for a young boy. One who is obviously in a cold climate toying with a stick on a river and the other of a boy throwing a stone into a lake with what looks like a mighty effort.

Both paintings not only make great use of lights and darks but wonderful reflections of the water. 
Unlike the previous examples, the two subject's faces are hidden allowing room for personal attachment, say if it reminds someone of themselves at that age or perhaps their child. "A Stone's Throw" was purchased by someone for that very reason. It reminded him of his son.



Figure 5: Poyerd's "Wishing for Spring"



Figure 6: Poyerd's "A Stone's Throw"





Figure 7: Close-up crop for "Wishing for Spring"

The reflections off the water is very technical. The close up of "Wishing for Spring" (Figure 7) demonstrates the amount of detail and care taken to get the effect right. You can see the level of detail required to get the sunlight just right from the waves and the intense darks rushing to the pavement. Yet, this was required to help provide the overall feeling of the painting.
With "A Stone's Throw," Jill's reflections were a combination of sunlight and fog as the trees' reflections off the water was more inviting to the peace of the moment that is suddenly disrupted by the stone rippling the water. For me, it is the exceptional use of these three qualities in the use of lights, darks, and reflections that make art stunning, thought-provoking, and beautiful. It is the combination, therefore, of these qualities with the technical skill and a compelling story that shows mastery in art. So, in my opinion, I see many of Jill's work equal to that of many other great artists, past and present.





 

References

Figure 1: Monet, Claude. (1875). "Woman with a Parasol". Retrieved from Wikipedia on   

February 7, 2015 from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Claude_Monet_011.jpg

Figure 2: Poyerd, Jill.(2007). "April Showers". Retrieved from jpwatercolors.com on February 2, 2015 from:
 http://jpwatercolors.com/#!/page/11868/watercolor-figures-2

 

Figure 3: Poyerd, Jill.(2007). "Fireboy". Retrieved from jpwatercolors.com on February 2, 2015 from:
http://jpwatercolors.com/#!/page/11867/watercolor-figures-1

Figure 4: Rockwell, Norman. (1951). "Forward America", Retrieved from Amazon.com on February 7, 015 from: http://www.amazon.com/Norman-Rockwell-Scouts-ForwardAmerica/dp/B0094VHGMQ

Figure 5: Poyerd, Jill.(2007). "Wishing for Spring." Retrieved from jpwatercolors.com on February 8, 2015 from:
http://jpwatercolors.com/#!/page/11867/watercolor-figures-1

Figure 6: Poyerd, Jill.(2009). "A Stone's Throw." Retrieved from jpwatercolors.com on February 8, 2015 from:
http://jpwatercolors.com/#!/page/11867/watercolor-figures

Figure 7: Poyerd, Jill.(2007).  Close-Up crop of "Wishing for Spring." Retrieved from jpwatercolors.com on February 8, 2015 from:
http://jpwatercolors.com/#!/page/11867/watercolor-figures-1