RSA Scottish Art
A Chinese Perspective
 | Artist: George Donald |
| Title: A Chinese Perspective | |
| Year: 1992 | |
| Medium: mixed media on paper | |
| Dimensions: | |
| Suggested topic: | |
| Source: RSA Diploma Collection | |
| View full screen image of this work | |
| Open print version of this work | |
| © the artist | |
| Description: George Donald has been passionately interested in the study of anatomy throughout his career, and figure work predominates in his images. However, A Chinese Perspective reflects his continuing interest in oriental art and culture and focuses on landscape. Drawing on elements from Chinese art, this densely woven mixed media collage uses such motifs as steep rocks, a heron, pine trees and a little house, all of which can found in the Chinese landscape and in traditional paintings, ceramics and lacquer-work. This image may not depict an actual place, but combines elements of different places and views into one image. The over-sized figure in the bottom left makes the houses and trees appear tiny.This mixed media image has been executed vigorously, with an emphasis on flat, textured overlapping shapes and deep tones. Colour is limited and carefully selected, focusing on earth tones such as umber and ochre, as well as black and a few dashes of bright primary colour. Some areas appear to show incomplete pencil sketching, while others have been more heavily worked. This image combines numerous elements in a dense, multi-layered fashion. Mountains and trees seem to meet each other at different heights. Areas of texture or pattern sit alongside images of fish or vegetation. Silhouettes are placed alongside objects shown in full light. Areas of dark and light weave around the arrangement. This landscape seems to be an invention of the artist, a hybrid of landscape elements combined into a single scene. Can you conceive of using Scottish landscape elements in this way? Or landscape elements from another country you have seen? | |
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