The following piece I have made is a piece that follows Vincent Van Gogh's art style after I had studied it. The painting I had made was based on an alleyway I walked down on my trip to Toronto. I found it organized yet abstract with a very crazy pattern of light which perfectly worked with Van Gogh's style that followed no direction of light as he followed the “Post-Impressionism” style. I decided to heavily base the aura and vibe of my painting on Cafe Terrace, one of Van Gogh's works since the alley contained a cafe on one of the other sides of the building. I tried to keep a very serene and calm painting trying to not have too much going on.
When it came to colour choice after I laid down the red I remembered to alleyway I laid some purples and a few greens and blues to follow van Gogh's use of complementary colours to make the shadows I followed his use of flat tints by just adding black to my already made colours. One of the main challenges I faced while making this piece was colour choice and being without the reference of the area I was basing my painting off. Van Gogh once said that you shouldn’t be a slave to your reference because it may block your creative mind while painting. So after I had completed the sketch I didn’t look at my reference again, leaving my memory to figure out the rest.
Moving on to the techniques and details I made in this painting. I kept as many flat tints and solid under-toned colours as possible without many blended areas with references so I knew if Van Gogh would do the same. I strongly referenced the cafe Terrence following the floor pattern and sky, as well as the bright yellow I used for the windows since that's what Van Gogh seemed to use in windows depending on the time of day in his paintings.
I do rather like this art piece and I greatly enjoyed emulating Van Gogh's style
