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Ron Kroutel — Nine Places
In Nine Places, Ron Kroutrel creates a jarring urban landscape
through the use of strong diagonals and tilting perspectives. These
kinetic forms draw us into and guide us through the painting. Kroutel
has constructed a place that seems to obey its own physical laws.
Through the urban maze
This piece is a thicket of diagonal shapes, which direct the eye past
vertical barriers. The viewer's eye enters the picture plane at
the bottom left, then zig zags over an impenetrable wall at the back,
and soars up to a distant sky.
The pieces of the puzzle
Paintings like this are fun to take apart. The artist uses simple color
and shape relationships to create a challenging space for us to
experience — but how does it work? There are usually many patterns
within any single work, so it can be difficult to single out one set of
relationships that forms the composition.
Onward and upward
The forms themselves are almost like arrows, relentlessly pointing the
eye upwards. Notice that the repetition of these diagonal shapes adds
rhythm and a sense of movement to the composition. The ellipses in the
middle offer a visual pause for the eye as it follows the strong, sharp
diagonals to the top of the piece.
The escape route
Next, look at the color; since the warmest colors are reserved for the
distant sky, the eye is pulled towards the top of the piece. In the
lower left corner, you'll notice a pale blue color that is repeated
in the center, then again at the upper right. Kroutrel provides the eye
a direct route to the top of the painting by inviting the viewer to
connect the dots through the use of this light blue paint. An invisible
line drawn through the pale blue color is like an escape route, showing
the way out of this zig-zagging industrial maze.
Next: More about composition
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