Wednesday, August 19, 2015

3rd Hour: Feast Your Eyes on This!

In class today we discussed how to use small but significant clues to sneak your way into a painting. Please peruse the painting below and respond to the questions that follow it.

Important notes:
  • Please do NOT Google this painting or use any other outside help; I only want to know what this class makes of the painting.  
  • Also, be sure to read others' responses before you post your own and include whether you agree or disagree with some of their interpretations.


1. Which part of the painting is your eye drawn to first?  Why do you think this is?

2. As you let your eyes wander all over the painting (up to down, left to right, corner to corner), which details of the painting do you have questions about?  In other words, if you could ask the artist one question about a specific detail in this painting, what would it be?  Post that question here.

3.  Let your mind attempt to draw together the details and make sense of the painting as a whole.  What do you think this painting is trying to convey to us?  Defend your thinking.

Please remember to proofread your answers carefully before posting.  Your response should reflect your professionalism.

60 comments:

  1. 1) It looks like she is pushing a horse
    2)They are like going somewhere to give the house somewhere
    3) Also they are like going to a another city so that they can be somewhere to give help or either just moving.

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    1. I see the legs and Icarus in the water. The dad was watching him do it and he saw that Icarus go to close to the sun. One of the wings look like it is still interacted and his dad and going to go back to town.

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  2. 1) When I first looked at this painting my eyes were drawn to the woman because of the contrasting colors of her shirt.
    2)I noticed that there are things that are sticking out of the water that look like legs in the bottom right hand corner. I was curious if they were supposed to be human legs and why are they there.
    3) I think this is supposed to show up the working life of the people outside of the city that work so hard so they people in the city can live the way that they do.

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    1. Now that I know that is painting is called, "The Fall of Icarus" a lot of things became clear. First of now I know that the legs belong to Icarus and that shows him falling into the water. I think that the reason that it is so small is to show that it didn't have that big of an impact on society. The farmer and the Shepard don't even seem to notice. Looking closer to the legs you can see a man standing on the shore pointing to leg showing that someone did notice. Possibly it is the man who gave him a proper burial.

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  3. 1) I agree with katien, my attention was immediately reverted to the woman because of her chosen attire.
    2)I noticed the glacier shaped mountain(?) type things in the background and I would ask him why he chose to paint the people where it was cold rather than a warm, grassy area.
    3)I also think the picture is conveying the audience that this is the type of life style farmers and others have to labor everyday (outside the city) so they can sell their crops to the city and get compensated for it.

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    1. Something I did not notice before in the painting was the small feathers floating down into the water, joining Icarus. I think the sun was meant to be painted like really big and bright because it was the significant factor of how Icarus died. However, no one seems to notice that Icarus is flailing in the sea/drowning because no one is looking at him in the painting and no one is trying to come to his aid.

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  4. 1.) The first thing I noticed in the painting was the person farming because of how vibrant his shirt is compared to the rest of the painting.
    2.) I noticed the person that seems to be drowning in the bottom right of the photo and it doesn't seem that anyone is too concerned about it.
    3.) I think the painting is trying to show the audience the lifestyle of farmers and their family.

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    1. I now understand who Icarus and what the legs are in the water and all the "feathery" debris around him is probably his wings.

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  5. 1. The first thing that I noticed was the person farming. I noticed this because the color of the persons shirt popped out to me.
    2. I would choose to ask the artist what time period or if their was a specific event in history the artist was trying to portray.
    3. I think the painting is trying to convey all the different lifestyles and how they are completely separate. Like the farmer, the ships, and what looks to be a city.

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    1. What I understand more than I did when I first analyzed this painting, Is many things. First I know know the paining is called "The Fall of Icarus". The legs flawing in the water belong to Icarus after he flew too close to the sun and melted his wings. The castle in the water could be the Labyrinth where they flew out of. The city in the background could be Athens or also Sicily where his dad escaped too. Also it looks like a trail of feathers coming up from the water.

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  6. 1.) The first thing that I see in the picture is the sun setting because it illuminates the rest of the picture.
    2.) Why did the painter paint someone who appears to be drowning and whey isn't the person near them trying to help?
    3.) I think that the farmer and sheep herder are in the foreground and in more light because they are more important than the ships and the city.

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    1. The legs belong to icarus and there seems to be fathers floating down to the water. The city is Athens and the castle in the water is the labyrinth.

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  7. 1. The red shirt because it is the only warm color in the picture.
    2. Where is the man in the red going?
    3. I think the picture is trying to show the common worker as opposed to the people who can afford to live in the city.

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    1. The man in red is Icarus' father returning to town after he just escaped the labyrinth. I think Icarus' legs are so small and harder to notice because in the myth, it was noted and not the main point in the story.

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  8. 1. The first thing i noticed was the lady in the front and the setting, like the sky because of the colors. 2. i would for sure ask why they chose to do bright colors and make it seem like a happy picture until you see someone drowning in the right corner?3. I do agree with almost everyone else, it does look like its trying to show the hard work that these people do for a living outside the big city area.

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    1. I notice now the feathers falling around the area of where Icarus is... I also notice how big he made the sun and covering the whole sky because thats how Icarus fell into the water.

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  9. 1. The lady is the first thing I noticed because she is wearing red which seems brighter than her atmosphere.
    2. Why is there a cave in the stones in the middle of the waters? Did someone fall off the boat (feet showing from the waters by white shirt guy)? Are they in a cold place (long sleeves and snowy mountains on top right corner)?
    3. I agree that he is comparing the lives of those in the city and those who don't by showing how much effort they put in. But I also think that the artist is probably just showing what surrounds the caves because no one just makes an isolated cave for no reason.

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    1. I notice the cave and yard could be the Labyrinth that was mention in the poem because it also has a yard they flew over.

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  10. 1) My eye was drawn to the girl going down the hill with her horse the first time I looked at the painting. I think my eyes were drawn there first because she has a bright red shirt on and there are no other bright colors like that in the painting. Also the girl and the horse are in the "front" of the painting and seem closer to me.
    2)After letting my eyes wonder, I found a leg splashing out of the water. My question for the artist is why they put it their? What does it mean?
    3) I think the painting is trying to convey to us the in the early days non-city people's lives. The ones that went out to sea, watched there sheep, swam, fished, and did work with there horses. I think this because they included a distant picture of the city in the background but it's not about the city, it's about the people outside the city.

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    1. After figuring out that the paiting is about Icarus it makes sense for the legs to be sitting there. It also ties in with the poem because Anne made it seem like his father left him there and no one cared for his tragic fall. There were so many people around the water, and not one person tried to save him even tho they could clearly see him struggle in the water.

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  11. 1.The first thing to catch my eye in this painting was the sky, and the ocean. I love the way the clouds are caught in the side of the sky but because of the reflection off the moon? maybe sunlight? doesnt let you get to look right on where that sun or moon may be. It just looks white almost like you are getting blinded by the moon or sun that glows.
    2.I wanna know what those two people swimming in the water are doing to the bottom right. I also would like to know what city that is on the side of the ocean. Maybe I would ask why the picture is drawn due to older civilization based off the pirate ships. Something I would ask the artist is did he invision this? or was this drawn based off somewhere he has been.
    3. I get a feeling that it is about being a hard worker and you will live a happy life. The setting of the picture has a happy vibe to it and the workers don't look upset. I think that it is basically telling you that if you work hard that there is something positive for all hard work completed and that is something to smile about.

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    1. i see that the person in the water is dying, and i think that the city represesnts where dadilus, went or maybe dadilus is in the pircture somewhere else. I also see that the setting is happy still. so maybe the artist thought it deserved a happy feeling because he died knowing he was gunna die but did it anyway because he wanted to.

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  12. 1. The first thing that caught by eye was the person, because the person has more bright colors, like orange, rather than the rest of the painting which has more natural colors, like blues, greens, and browns.
    2. One thing that I am wondering about is that it looks like there is a person in the water, towards the bottom right by the boat. This makes me wonder about the time period in this picture. Clearly, it is not anything close to modern day, but my guess would probably be 1800s.
    3. I think this painting is to show the hard work and labor that people went through, just to make a living. Things were completely different then, and many people had to work much harder than most people do now.

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    1. I understand that now the legs in the ocean represent the moment where his wings melted and he fell into the water after disregarding his father's warning. I also think that the city behind could be Sicily, or the place where they were going to put the monster for the human victims.

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  13. 1: I first saw the boat, because I like boats and it's one of the bigger things in the painting
    2: I'd ask him where it is
    3: The painting seems to take place in the 16-1800s, due to the fact that the person is using a cow to plow fields, the boats are classical looking, and the person in the lower right wearing what looks like serf clothing. Either that or the fact that this is about Icarus, because you can see him splashing in the water

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    1. I knew what this painting was before this, so it's the same as my last comment. Other than this is probably Icaria, because that's what Daedalus named the place he fell

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  14. 1) When I first looked at this I noticed the man with his donkey. I think this is because its the biggest thing happening in the image and the "closest" to you.
    2) As I look at the painting I notice now there is a lot of different geography in different parts of the painting. A city, mountains, ocean, farmland. I would probably ask what the significance of all the different landscapes is?
    3) I think the significance could be that there is one guy doing all this farm work that leads all the way to the big city.

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  15. 1. My eyes were drawn to the person in the orange shirt next to the horse because of the contrasting colors.
    2. If I could ask the artist a question about this painting I would ask why they chose darker cooler colors rather than warm colors.
    3. I think that the artist was trying to portray what life must have been like for these people living in a rural city in this time period.

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  16. 1. My eyes were drawn to the guy in the orange colors due to his positioning, right in in the middle, and the colors his cloths were.
    2. If I could ask the artist one question, it would be what time period was he trying to portray.
    3. I think the artist was trying to show the different life styles people have. Some people are farmers that live on a farm with there cows, while others are what looks like to be living in a city.

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    1. I think that the person that is next to Icarus, is the person that pulls him in from shore. I also believe that the town in the back is where they flew from.

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  17. 1. My eye was drawn to the ship because of its white sails in contrast to the blue sea.
    2. I would want to ask the artist what time period this takes place and also its location.
    3. I think that the artist was trying to portray what hard work people/farmers had to do far away from the city where life is maybe a little easier

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  18. 1. My eyes are drawn to the person in the red shirt first because the red is more vibrant than the rest of the colors in the painting.
    2. Where is this?
    3. I think that this painting is trying to convey 1500's life because there are the wooden ships and the old clothes that the farmer and herder are wearing.

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    1. This painting is portraying The Death of Icarus because you can see Icarus's legs flailing in the water.

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  19. 1. my eye was drawn to the sun and the ocean because the sun is the brightest thing in the painting and the ocean is the most predominant
    2. I would ask why he only made one man with a red shirt

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    1. i see the legs and the feathers. also how the man in the red shirt is up on a hill which might be the man that named the island after him. I also see all of the sheep. and i see a bird figure by the city and that might be daedelus

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  20. 1. I saw the red shirt first as it is the brightest color in the picture.
    2. The sails on the ship appear to be fully flexed, almost to the point of being torn off of the mast, however everything else in the picture is standing still as if there is no wind at all. I wonder if this is a mistake or if it has a meaning?
    3. I think the meaning of this painting has to do with how the person in the red shirt is working hard on the outskirts of the big city to provide for someone in the city.

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    1. I now see the tower where Icarus flew from, and I understand the drowning man.

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  21. 1.My eyes were drawn to the person in the orange shirt next to the horse because that was the brightest color in the painting.
    2.I would want to know why the man in the orange shirt is plowing the dirt on a hill.
    3.I think that this painting is trying to say it's the 1500's because there are the wooden ships and the old clothes that the farmer.

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    1. I understand that the painting is now trying to say how know one knew about Icarus and that he should have been careful about flying. I now know the time periiod about when this had happned.

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  22. 1. My eyes were drawn to the ship first because I like to examine the background, and that was the first big thing in the background.
    2. I want to know where in Asia this is, something I am inferring by the trees and livestock.
    3. I think this painting is trying to portray the simple life overall of some part of Asia.

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    1. Now that I know this painting is called "The Fall of Icarus", I see a lot of new things. I can tell that this painting was dramatically painted to represent Greece, and how amazing it is, so in comparison the legs of Icarus in the bottom right seem insignificant. I can also see Greek buildings in the background, which I couldn't really differentiate before. The biggest thing I understand now is why the sun is so large, as a representative of how it took down Icarus.

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  23. The first thing I saw was the man with the horse. I think this is because the light is mostly on him. I have a question about the boat. Where is it going? My mind pieced together that everyone is moving to new land through various ways of travel.

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    1. I now know that that the legs in the bottom corner of the painting are Icarus'. There seem to be wings throughout the whole painting, especially above Icarus. There are a lot more mythical things that I now see in the painting that I didn't see before.

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  24. 1.)To the man in the middle because he is wearing a bright red color when the rest of the surroundings are bland colors.
    2.)I question why does proportions look very off behind the man in the red. The sheep herder/farmer seems just as big as the ship and they are very close to each other. What is the meaning of this painting?
    3.)I think that as we get further and further away in the picture the age of times goes back. Civilization gets more and more

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    1. Now that I have the title and know who Icarus is I understand that now Icarus is about to float onto this island or that him and his father just recently escaped the labyrinth.

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  25. The first thing I saw was the man with the horse, the light seems to be on him mostly. I want to know where the boat is going too? Why do the proportions look kind of off behind the man in red? The deeper into time you go the more civilization you lose.

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  26. The first thing I saw was the man with the horse, the light seems to be on him mostly. I want to know where the boat is going too? Why do the proportions look kind of off behind the man in red? The deeper into time you go the more civilization you lose.

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  27. When I first saw the picture I realized that the water and wind seemed extremely rough. The farmers, civilians, or shepherds seemed to be careless about their surroundings. The farm was on the outskirts of a very prosperous looking city, so I would think that the town receives all of its produce, and meat from here.

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    1. Now that I know the title of the picture, everything makes a lot more sense.
      The gray rock formation is most likely the labyrinth that Icarus escaped before his death. The ending of his life is also represented in the bottom right corner of the painting.

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  28. The first thing that I noticed is that there is a ton of boats, and that it looked sad, kind of reminded me of death a little bit, just seeing one person. And reminded me of the town from the movie Hercules

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    1. I understand the time zone and who icarus is, and what the setting was from the story

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  29. 1. The thing that first caught me eye was that the horse was pulling something that's what I first looked at when I first looked at it.
    2. My question is where this took place what time era?
    3. The painting represents people and all thier different life styles and how they lived and worked in this time era for example the woman you looks to be gardening, or the man herding his sheep, and even the people on the boats in the background.

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  30. Now that I know the title of the painting there are a few thing I notice. The legs in the water must be Icarus and because I know the story of Icarus and I notice that it looks like there are feathers falling around the legs flailing in the water.

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  31. 1.) My eyes were drawn to the man in the orange shirt because of how bright he is compared to all the other things.
    2.) Why are there legs flailing in the water?
    3.) A casual day in a town where everything is going fine, and no one really cares about the drowning person.

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    1. I think that the artist is trying to show how people don't really care about some things. The people in the picture look like they can see Icarus in the water but don't care.

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  32. In this photo you wouldn't be able to see the legs unless you looked closely and even then you wouldn't be able to tell who they are. Now that we know it is Icarus we can see the city is Athens the castle is the maze, and then legs belong to Icarus.

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  33. The legs in the bottom right is deadalis after the wings melted and he fell into the ocean is what I see. And that the rocks keep ships away from lose to shore. And I now understand who Icarus is.

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  34. The painting "The Fall of Icarus" is trying to show that while Icarus was trying to escape the labyrinth and then then died as others just continued working and going on with their day

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  35. The first thing that I saw was all the boats and the sunset in the back.
    I also noticed the legs coming out at the bottom of the painting.
    I think that the artist was trying to show how different people live their lives, because of the woman in the red shirt working so hard.

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    1. I can understand who Icarus is now and see that the legs in the ocean is the failed attempt to fly

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