Cason Smith

ARH 2850

Professor McClintok

8 July 2020
Formal Analysis: Daddy in a Striped Chair

Beverly McIver, the artist responsible for the creation of Daddy in a Striped Chair,

created this work of art in 2016 using oil paints on an ordinary canvas. In the painting you will

notice a portrait of a man which, based on the title, is most likely her father who is painted in a

multicolored fashion sitting on a black and white striped chair placed against a sky blue

backdrop. The light source comes directly from the right side casting shadows on the left.

McIver creates a good distinction of foreground, middle ground, and background. For the

background, the artist chose to keep it clean and simple with plain blue to not take away from the

powerful foreground for which she paints an image of her father with many colors and obvious

brush strokes. Between him and the blue wall, in the middle ground, McIver chose to create a

pattern of black and white stripes which she depicts as a chair. She strategically arranged the

center of her father’s face along the right side using the rule of thirds to create more visual

appeal. The contrast between the cool color in the background and the warm, multicolored

foreground do a great job of bringing the portrait forward making an even bolder statement. The

way the artist chose to use the brushstrokes in the direction of the plaines of her fathers face

serves the purpose of leading the viewers eye into every detail and creates the illusion of

wrinkles.

When beginning to understand why the painter painted this image, the viewer must

place themselves in the shoes of the artist. The artist paints multiple pictures of her father in

different scenes. With this being said, it is very apparent that the artist has great admiration for

her father. When noticing how she paints him in a very stylized manner with many colors, it is as
Cason Smith

ARH 2850

Professor McClintok

8 July 2020
if you are looking at him through her eyes and seeing him as she does. The many colors could

represent him as having a very colorful and beautiful personality. The way he looks directly at

the viewer is the way he would look at his daughter with equal love and admiration.

This work of art was very successful and cohesive with the rest of this artists paintings.

She elegantly portrays emotion in her paintings with incredible skill and knowledge of color

theory. The composition as a whole strikes the viewer in the exact way she intended. This

painting is very clean with a very clear focal point and is not too busy. She did a great job by

choosing the colors and using them in a strategic way to create a clear light source causing the

image to have an appealing balance of highlight and shadow. Over all, this painting was very

successful in portraying the artists vision to the viewer in a way that gives us a look into her life

and the emotion and love she has for her father.