Critique #1

"Friends"
By: Mary Crittenden

The painting “Friends” by Mary Crittenden depicts three young boys sitting on a hillside talking. Mary had a hard time painting from the photo she was portraying so she used boys to model for her. Mary decided to paint this picture because she saw a story within the boys. She saw the true meaning of friendship. Mary was drawn to the painting because she feels today people are too busy to spend time with friends they love. This painting showed the boys in a time where television and name brand clothing didn’t exist and that they still could be with each other.

The emphasis of “Friends” is the three boys and their friendship. You can tell that they are talking to each other. The foreground of the painting is the boys sitting on the grass. There is a plein air perspective to the painting. The contrast of light and dark is shown through the grass the boys are sitting on and the hill in front of them. The warm colors of the hill, trees, and houses give the painting a nice feeling.

The three boys got home one afternoon from a day at school. They boys retreat to their favorite spot to hang out over looking their houses. They love to spend time with each other especially in an environment as pretty as the hill. The leaves on that fall afternoon makes them relaxed. What better way to spend time with ones you take pleasure in then in the beautiful outdoors.