It is Fall again - or autumn if you want to get technical - the time of year when the tree leaves turn beautiful shades of reds, oranges, and yellows. Have you ever considered what it might be like if different trees turned different colors, like one tree turning shades of blue - my favorite - another red, a third purple? How amazing would that look?!
But have you ever considered the difficulty and the skill needed to paint a piece of artwork using mostly shades of one color? Marko Mavrovich certainly has.
Marko Mavrovich was raised in California but is a painter of Croatian descent. His works mainly focus on capturing the sea (or other areas of water) in his art. He says that his painting choices are influenced by living near the Pacific Ocean and the Adriatic Sea when he was growing up.
He began painting at the bidding of his parents because his dad was a watercolourist and wanted Marko Mavrovich to follow in his footsteps. In summers when he was in Croatia as a teen, Marko would sell his drawings to tourists.
He briefly gave up the planned exhibitions with his father when the father became ill. This was so he could go to school to become a sea captain and support the family, but while at school, he continued to draw. He became torn between pursuing a career at sea or with art.
After his father's death, Mavrovich returned to California. There he worked as a diver until an accident almost saw him lose a limb, which he took as his sign to return to art.
Something many of us might relate to is that he calls his studio "organized chaos". Only he knows exactly where everything is located; to an outsider, they would not be able to find anything.
Now let's take a look at some of his art.
Waiting For Another Busy Day on the Canal was painted in 2014 and is an image of Venice, Italy. We can see how in this image, Mavrovich mostly used shades of blue, with a little pop of white and yellow. It is amazing how many details are strongly visible while using shades of the same color.
Another image of Venice is Gold of Venice, which was created in 2005. This one is created using shades of brown, and the details are still strong, even with fewer shades seemingly used.
Midnight was painted in 2006, and this one is a bit different because it uses more colors, but the primary color used for most of the piece is purple. It is a stunning contrast having the purple primarily in the center of the piece with additional colors on the edge with the plants and flowers.
The final piece I want to discuss is Blue Moon over Venice. This is actually the first piece I saw of his. Ironically I happened to discover it while on a cruise in Venice. This image depicts the Bridge of Sighs and connects the prison in Venice to the interrogation rooms. This was called the Bridge of Sighs because it was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before they were imprisoned. It's suggested that the prisoners would sigh, taking in their final view of the beauty. The gold highlights in the windows provide an eerie feeling knowing the history of the bridge. Ironically I also found this painting the summer after graduating with my criminal justice degrees, making me instantly love this piece.
What do you think of this artist's artwork? Do you like art which primarily uses a single color?