Cisneros 1

Brandon Cisneros

Professor O’Connell

Critical Thinking in the Arts

September 17, 2019

“Red” Writing Analysis

When I first examine this image of a room or studio the color red is the dominating color.

As I use the rule of thirds I also notice that it is not all the same red. The bottom left corner looks

like the deepest red almost the color of dried blood if you will. Moving towards the middle of the

painting it becomes a more orangish hue that slowly begins to transition back to the deep red in

each corner creating what seems to be a soft vignette. Other than the room being red their are

other colors mixed in with the red. The room is very bare with no texture, but only red and plain.

On the walls there are smaller paintings with blue, green, yellow, orange, brown, pink, tan, and

purple. One painting or mural is on the left side of the room towards the back. Some painting

frames stacked up on the back wall. Some with paintings and some without. Most of the

paintings on the walls around this room are images of people or figures. Some appear to be nude

and clothed, but very vague and hard to decipher what the figure is exactly. At the bottom of the

painting and around the walls of the painting there seems to be various objects and figurines,

perhaps these are the models for various paintings and ideas. I would definitely say that this

painting touches abstract, impressionism, and expressionism, art because in this painting I see the

painters workplace. A place where they can let their creative juices flow without having to fit

into a standard. Seeing how the painter included day to day objects such as a wine glass, table,
 Cisneros 2

chair, and a plate with various brush strokes make me believe that this falls under impressionism

art also.

After I finished reading “Red” I look at this image and think of how Ken was expressing

what he saw when he looked at the painting. Ken expressed interest in connecting the color red

with various aspects of life such as nature, objects associated with the color red, and holidays.

When Rothko began expressing what he saw it was not as lively as Kens. Rothko expressed his

visualizations as a negative or decay of life, objects, and harm. Now reflecting on the age of Ken

could represent his maturity level. Maturity as in everything is always happy, peaceful, and

welcoming. When reflecting on Rothko’s visualization he shows his age in the sense that he has

seen the bad sides of life and has more experience in the “real” world. During the play I believe

that Rothko was trying to get Ken to understand that life is not all happiness and peaceful. We

later find out about Ken’s childhood and we understand that is not the case. My last and final

thought from observing this painting is that someone is looking into a room of opportunity.

There are different ways to express art in various styles that are known. In Ken’s situation he got

to learn and appreciate his opportunity to be Rothko’s assistant and see the bigger picture and

appreciated the of the mural that was red.