Biography

John Constable was born on June 11th 1776 East Bergholt Suffolk and died March 31st 1837. He was a major figure in English Landscape paintings in the early 19th century. He is best known for his paintings of the English countryside.

Who was John Constable influenced by ?

John Constable was influenced by Dutch artists such as Jacob van Ruisdael and Jacob van Ruisdael. Constables work was highly original because of the realism and vitality of his paintings.

John Constables Paintings

Image Analysis

The colour in this painting is very dark and dramatic and looks like the painting is representing a storm and how small the person in the painting actually is compared to the storm and the severity of the storm. The size of the person in the painting shows just how destructive and terrifying storms can be. The lines in this painting suggests how dramatic John Constable tried to make the painting as the dark black lines have been painted in all directions which make the painting look very chaotic. There is no pattern in this painting which doesn’t make it very aesthetic to look at and makes you not know where to look at the painting because the directions of the lines are all over the place and not in any specific pattern. The layout of this painting is focused more in the middle of the painting and a bit towards the outside but is mainly in the middle where the storm is painted.

The idea behind this painting ?

The idea behind this painting is linked to the sublime as the storm can be so beautiful and mesmerising but also terrifying and can turn and destroy anything so quickly. The thought behind the painting to make the man so small also suggests how big the storm can get and how much more powerful the storm is compared to the man in the painting.

For this photoshoot, I decided to visit beaches such as Greve De Lecq, Beauport and other beaches, this is due to the fact they have a huge amounts of space covered with rocks, beaches and dramatic skies, which is perfect for my take on ‘The Sublime’.

My favourite photos.

These photos I think perfectly signify the sublime. This is due to the fact they have bright, dramatic backgrounds which emphasize and romanticize the setting. These photos are symbolizing how insignificant man is to their surroundings and how small humans really are physically and metaphorically when it comes to earth and its landscapes. In these photos I wanted my models to stand far away from me and look like they are exploring the area. This was to symbolize humans attempting to understand how big the world really is. I wanted them to also be appreciating the setting around them but from a far distance so yo can not see their faces or any particular individual details to show we are all as insignificant as each other when it comes to the vast landscapes around us. I also wanted some photos to be in black and white as well as colour as some do not need colour to show their romanticism.

My other photos do not have people in them but still signify ‘The Sublime’ because The Sublime is associated with the extraordinary and grand, which my pictures display with the huge blue skies, bright colours and beautiful views. These photos I also think inspire a feeling of awe or fear when looking at them, this feeling of fear may come from a feeling of overwhelm when seeing the large distance the e.g. sea goes on for. This may be defined as the sublime.

First Edit Plan:

For my Photoshoot I will edit my pictures in the style of Ansel Adams landscape photos. To replicate his aesthetic of dramatic tonal range I will use settings in Lightroom to do this, since Ansel Adams didn’t have the advantage of technology and having to use yellow and red glass panels I will use the Black and white mix to make these colours within in the image stand out more when converted in to Greyscale.

First Edits:

Before:

Edit settings:

Using an exposure brush I was able to high light some of the trees that I thought weren’t bright enough inside the picture. With the sky before being a nice bright blue, Once converted to grey scale I used the Black and White mix to make the sky seem darker like how Ansel Adams did in his Photos,

Final result:

Before:

Edit Settings:

Using a HDR merge, I was able to create a more artificially exposed image, although not natural looking to nature, it provided a vibrant tonal once converted to grey scale. Like in the previous image instead of darkening the sky, I thought it would contrast to much with the shadows in the foreground, instead I played around with the yellow and green to make them stand out more.

Final Result:

Before:

Edit settings:

In this image I tried to make a sharp contrast from the sky and the surroundings in the foreground. By Using large variations in exposure, contrast and highlights I was able to add more detail to the composition of the image that can said to go fairly unnoticed when not in black and white.

Final Result:

Before:

Edit settings:

Using tint settings as well as the contrast, I was able to create a more diverse difference in the shadows of the image. Using visualisation I saw the how the long path way could create an interesting depth to the image. Using Adam’s Zonal system, I was able to create a large range of tone. With darker tones being in the lower half of the image and gradually getting lighter towards the top.

Final Result:

Before:

Edit settings:

Due to the image being over exposed, I lowered it down and added some more depth by adjusting the tone with less highlights and more whites to make features on the old stone farm house pop out some more.

Final Result:

Before:

First Edits:

In this image, I edited this image to have stages on tone from top to bottom. With darker tones in the trees above I used a graduated filter to create that transitional effect of dark tones into the lighter tones of the thin branches.

Final Result:

Before:

First Edits:

With this image, I used a highlighting brush to increase the tone of the 3 trees, making a contrast from the trees in the background I completed this by altering a lot of the exposure, white and black balance and highlights.

Final Edits: