Reading Response 1 Essay

Reading Response 5: Individualism in Painting In the painting, Impression Sunrise, created by Claude Monet, Monet portrays ships and row boats leaving the docks of a harbor at dawn. Since this is an impressionist painting, Monet focus’ on the human “experience” or human “perception” (para.2). In order to convey this, Monet uses the technique of bland colors such as dull blues, greys, lifeless browns, and blacks. He uses these colors to show how he experiences or sees the day slowly waking up. For example, the lighting from the rising sun causes the ships in the background, painted in a mixture of light blues and greys to look like smoke rising from the water’s surface, as if they are disappearing into the increasing light. These ships are blurred and smudged as if viewed through sleepy eyes. Also, the perceived opaque black smudged silhouettes of small boats in the foreground of the painting suggests the colors of morning hasn’t reached them yet; therefore they are not fully awake, that nighttime hasn’t left them yet. Finally, the sky above the entire scene is dotted with an almost tawny brown, darker blues, and lighter greys, creating a hazy effect. This makes the entire scene even more drowsy. In fact, the only bright color or piece of the painting that could ever truly be and remain awake at this time in the morning is the red-orange sun in the far off distance. Another

This painting also makes me feel sleepy which I guess comes from how calm the painting is. Peace however doesn’t transfer over to The Scream which makes me feel uncomfortable and on edge. I feel like the screamer in the picture is looking at me and screaming as if there is something wrong with me and that I am frightening or that something behind me in frightening. If I were apart of this painting, I would feel the need to look over my shoulder every few