How To Paint A Sky Background

In this post, I will be taking a closer wait at The Scream by Edvard Munch, which features a dramatic brandish of swirling lines, distorted forms and exaggerated colors.

Edvard Munch, The Scream,1893

Key Facts

Hither are some of the key facts aboutThe Scream:

The original was painted in 1893 using oil, tempera, and pastel on cardboard. At that place are four other versions: the pastel version (1893); the lithograph version (1893), the 2nd pastel version (1895) and the tempera version (1910). These are pictured below:

Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893 (Pastel)

Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893 (Lithograph)

Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1895 (Pastel)

Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1910 (Tempera)

In 2012, the second pastel version (1895) sold for around $119 1000000 at Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art auction, making information technology one of the most expensive paintings ever sold (you can see a list of the nigh expensive paintings ever sold hither).
Information technology was painted during the Symbolism movement. The employ of color and distorted forms in the painting also inspired the Expressionism movement.
The painting is based on a fjord overlooking Oslo. You tin can see a photo of the location hither.
The painting is commonly known asThe Scream, but information technology also goes by Der Schrei der Natur (The Scream of Nature) in High german, or Skrik (The Shriek) in Norwegian.
Based on historical analysis, Munch used pigments including cadmium yellow, vermilion, ultramarine blue and viridian.
He wrote about his inspiration for the painting in a notation titled Overnice 22 Jan 1892:

"I was walking along the route with two friends – the sunday was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood ruddy – I paused, feeling wearied, and leaned on the debate – in that location was blood and tongues of burn above the bluish-blackness fjord and the metropolis – my friends walked on, and I stood at that place trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature."

Munch was tormented by depression, sadness and illness during his lifetime, soThe Scream may be an insight into his own country of mind.

For every bit long as I tin retrieve I have suffered from a deep feeling of anxiety which I take tried to limited in my art." Edvard Munch

In 1994, the painting was stolen from the National Gallery in Oslo. The theaves left a note which read, "Thanks for the poor security". The painting concluded up being recovered undamaged in 1994. Then in 2004, the 1910 version was stolen from the Munch Museum in Oslo. That painting was besides recovered with less-than-expected damage in 2006.
If you look closely, you will encounter a chalky, white mark on the right-hand side of the ghoulish figure (pictured beneath). Research conducted by the University of Antwerp in Belgium suggests this is wax which might accept fallen on the painting from burning candles in Munch's studio (this commodity has more than information on this).

Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893 (Wax)

Swirling Lines and Distorted Forms

Munch made utilise of swirling lines to create a sense of motion, much similar Vincent van Gogh did in The Starry Dark. Swirling lines were used for the surrounding nature and besides the distorted figure. The bridge, the two other figures on the left-mitt side and the afar boats in the water are painted with rigid lines and shapes. This may represent a contrast between nature and the civilization being forced upon it.

The two figures on the left-manus side are simple and abstract, only not really distorted like the principal figure. This actually alienates the main figure, which was painted with elongated hands, a curving body and primitive facial features.

Edvard Munch, The Scream,1893 (Detail 5)

Exaggerated Colors

Munch used colour in this painting by and large to convey emotion and drama. He actually pushed the colors in the management of his thought, rather than to paint realistically.

There is a powerful contrast between exaggerated reds and oranges used for the sunset in the background, and the dull blues, greens, purples and grays used for everything else.

Munch wrote the following about the painting and the sky, which explains his use of color:

"I evening I was walking along a path, the city was on i side and the fjord beneath. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord—the sun was setting, and the clouds turning claret ruby. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this flick, painted the clouds equally bodily blood. The color shrieked. This became The Scream."

The use of color contrast in this painting works two ways: to testify the intensity of the "claret red" sunset in the background and the drama of the ghoulish figure on the bridge. Both of these extremes need each other to work finer in the painting; they complement each other like red complements dark-green.

The ghoulish figure was painted with sickly colors: dull yellows, blues, and purples. Nighttime and light accents painted over the tiptop hint at the "screaming" expression of the figure. No attention was given by Munch to pigment this figure with whatsoever sense of realism. It is likely this was a figure of Munch'south own tormented mind.

Edvard Munch, The Scream,1893 (Detail 2)

Whilst the painting appears relatively simple, there is a clever contrast betwixt two pairs of complementary colors: cherry and light-green, and orange and blue. This adds a subtle level of complication and some interesting color relationships to the painting.

The "claret" red in the sky appears to exist the strongest colour, which contrasts against the very weak green for the land.

The orange is also intense, but information technology is competing for attending with the bluish for the land and water (which is much stronger than the green).

Edvard Munch, The Scream,1893 (Complementary Colors)

(Yous might as well be interested in my Painting Academy grade. It will assistance you lot understand and use color more effectively in painting.)

Primal Takeaways

Color can be a powerful tool for depicting drama and emotion. Call up near what your large thoughtis for your painting and try to button your colors in that management. If you lot are painting a bright dusk, so consider making your colors fifty-fifty more warm and intense than they actually are.
Sometimes, it can be effective to distort the form of your discipline in favor of your overall idea, rather than painting the subject realistically.
Contrast is everything in fine art. In this painting, Munch relied on contrasting colors, lines, shapes and forms.
If you want to explore a sure composition further, endeavour using different mediums as Munch did with his pastel, lithograph and tempera versions. Y'all may observe that unlike mediums permit you to capture different aspects or characteristics of a discipline.

Boosted Readings

Thanks for Reading!

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Happy painting!

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