Viewing and appreciating art is a very personal experience, and so it stands to reason that the artwork someone chooses to display in their home is a way of expressing their something about themselves, and gives some insight into how they perceive the world. For me, I rarely like more than one piece of work by an individual artist. Yet in the case of illustrator and artist, Dan Crisp, I not only like the majority of his body of work, but I chose to purchase and display two pieces of art in my home.
When I first saw Dan Crisp’s work at a local framing centre and art gallery I was in awe of his use of tone and depth to portray the sunlight in his landscapes. It was particularly surprising to learn that although his body of work is comprised of stylised images of landscapes and nature, they are in fact hand-created digital paintings. On separate occasions, I first bought ‘Majestic Tree’, and later purchased ‘Last Light’. Focussing primarily on nature in his work, Dan Crisp’s art is very similar in terms of subject matter. In both, ‘Majestic Tree’ and ‘Last Light’, Crisp draws particular attention to an individual tree in an open field. As someone who loves to be out in nature, looking at both of these paintings transports me to some of my favourite natural spaces, which ultimately helps me to relax.
Crisp’s work is especially striking to look at when considering the duality of light and dark, and bright and muted tones. In both ‘Majestic Tree’ and ‘Last Light’ a dull, almost heavy sky of the colder months settles at the top of each painting, but this is contrasted with the brighter autumnal oranges in ‘Majestic Tree’, and bolder yellows and browns of ‘Last Light’. In doing so, Crisp affords the observer a sense of the movement of sunlight and how it interacts with nature. Additionally, Crisp’s digital paintings are particularly impressive in the way he uses geometric shapes and lines to create a natural representation of the world. This creation of a realistic, albeit stylised representation of the natural world using a man-made digital form, puts Dan Crisp among the best artists of the digital age.
Personally, Dan Crisp’s ‘Majestic Tree’ and ‘Last Light’ not only makes me appreciate the natural world, but the use of light and colour positively affects my mood and perspective. Viewing art is personal and subjective in the way it makes each of us think about the world around us, and allows us to convey our thought and feelings through the art we like and appreciate. With that in mind, observing the art others choose to display helps us to connect with the people in our own lives. Viewing and appreciating art may be a personal experience, but it still has the ability to bring people together.
