Yellow Mist

Abstract

Artist's statement: "The painting discusses the impacts of urbanization on natural environment. To illustrate the issue, I used mountains and water to represent the natural environment, and the construction sites as epitomes of urbanization. By applying the atmospheric perspective, I tried to interweave the construction sites with mountains and water to indicate the urban occupation of the natural land. I used different colors of sketchy lines to depict the buildings under construction, and then applied a light white wash with big flat brush to blur the buildings. On the top of the wash, I put another layer of sketchy buildings. Through replicating this process, I attempted to create an effect that the construction sites were sitting in wispy clouds. To emphasize this distant and mirage-like effect, I added the dark value and texture on the mountains to make them look more solid. Veiled in the yellow mist, the whole painting became more atmospheric. The yellow mist made the confrontation between the natural landscape and the construction sites more harmonious, which functioned as a satire of the air pollution. The technique of build the depth of the constructions is a new skill I learnt from this painting, which seemed not completely resolved yet. Moving forward, I want to develop this new technique to help me create a poetic tone in the painting."

This is a digital photograph of Shiqi Li's painting. It was submitted as an assignment in the spring 2016 Intermediate/Advanced Painting class taught by Professor Erin Harmon.