Early_Morning,_Friendship_Harbor_2_by_Richard_Mckown

Multiple Stories in One Painting Early Morning, Friendship Harbor 2 is a very natural piece by Richard McKown. It has two bridges going out from the viewer’s perspective. The bridge on the left is heading deep into a harbor with land in the distance straight ahead. It is difficult to tell where the bridge ends or if it is actually touching the far off land. The top of the sky is bright blue then suddenly changes to the sun just about to set on the horizon with red between the sun and the water. As one moves across to the right side of the piece along the horizon, it quickly switches to dark land, then to bright sky and bright land. The bridge on the right leads into bright green woods with heavy trees and a cabin slightly hidden in the foliage. There is a small staircase linking the wooded area to the water. Half of the piece seems to be of the night and the other half of a bright day. There are many symbols, meanings, and stories represented through details in his art. Depending on what aspect of the piece you are looking at, the meaning of the piece changes. The drastic color changes show separation shows a difference of day and night. His use of shadowing breaks the piece up into different sections and suggests different ways to look at the piece to see different meanings. The repeated vision of a bridge shows different paths the viewer can take, and in following each one, a new meaning is revealed. The work of art is very split up and has many sections to it. The entirety of the left side of the piece has darker colors, which would represent the night. The right side uses bright blue in the sky and shows the land glowing as if the sun is bouncing off of it in the middle of the day. The drastic color changes show a clear separation in the piece. McKown must have wanted the viewer to look at each side as two different times or even different pieces that work together. Looking at the darker side, the sun is setting, and there is a red sky. As the saying goes, “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight,” meaning the seas will be calm so the sailor will have a good day at sea. The artist did this to show that the next day will surely be a great one. On the other side there are bright green trees and light glistening off the land. This shows that it is a perfect day for whoever resides in the cabin nearby. Each side of the piece shows a different part of the same story. The left side shows the peaceful, calm night, while the right side seems to show the bright, shiny day predicted by the red sky. The shadowing also tells contrasting stories. There are three different sources of light in the painting. This is apparent by the direction of shadows, and noticing what and where the shadow is coming from. The direction of the light can be discerned by looking at what the shadow is of and making a diagonal line from where the end of the shadow is and where the top of the object is; the diagonal line will point right to the light. The first light comes directly from the sun that is pictured in the background from the sun set. The sun casts a shadow on the land that is off into the distance. The shadows in the water reflect the tall hills and there does not appear to be any other shadows from the direction of the sun. The second light source looks as if it is coming from high in the sky to the right of the wooded area. This is evident because there are darker shades and reflections of the green trees in the woods towards the left of the forest and cabin. The third light is coming from directly overhead of the viewer’s perspective. There are shadows of what seems to be a hill of trees coming from right under where the viewer would be standing if the painting was in the viewer’s eyes. These three separate lights show three separate parts of the painting. Each area highlighted by the sun suggests a different story to explore. McKown is playing with the viewer’s imagination. He wants the piece to be somewhat open-ended. By having different areas on which to focus, he wants the viewer to pick the one the viewer is drawn to the most. The sun setting and shadowing the land in the back lures you to think about the life back there, out of view. McKown wants the viewer to wonder about the life back there as well as in the more detailed, observable, areas. The highlighting of the woods and the cabin make the viewer wonder who lives there and what they are going to do on their perfect day in the woods. The shadow directly above the viewer questions the viewer about what his decisions would be if he were there that moment. Having the sun directly overhead makes the painting about the viewer and puts him in the spotlight. Depending on which light the viewer is focusing, the story changes. Another way to change the meaning is to follow different paths. By following one bridge over the other, the viewer chooses which story is more important, which time comes first, or whatever else is in his imagination. The bridges are symbols of the choices and decisions that one makes in life. The choices we make guide our path and determine we ultimately end up. Whereas, some choices are clear (like the cabin in the bright sun), others are farther away and unclear (like the end of the long bridge). The bridges are perhaps symbols of our short and long-term goals. Looking at the bridges separately from the other parts of the painting shows stories of how the viewer looks at his own life. Whether he wants to take the short bridge and go to a known place, or whether he wants to follow the long bridge to the unknown, can reveal a lot about the viewer. This piece is not about one meaning; it is about many stories. McKown left it very open-ended with the intention of letting the viewer decide what is most important, or even just what the viewer wants the piece to be about. This is a piece to be enjoyed by any nature lover. The viewer can really put himself in the painting and imagine all different things that could happen. The various accents on colors, shadowing, and the two bridges breaks the painting up into many different ways to view the piece which creates many different stories to be seen in the eyes of the beholder.