Tess Williams

1/24/20
Period 3
Landscape Painting Reflection
The New Autumn
By Sibo

The air is crisp as coolness first arrives;

The sky is now humid air retreats.
The autumn window hears the early geese;
The wutong leaves drift lightly as they fall.
At night I listen to the first cicadas;
Trees start to rustle in the evening breeze.
Delighted that the sultry heat receded,
I read a book and love this lucid quiet.

“The New Autumn” by Sibo describes an autumn day using strong, beautiful language and
imagery. It describes how the seasons gradually shift from summer into fall, talking about the changes
that colder weather brings to the world. The tone of the poem is peaceful and calm, and the slow pace
elicits themes of reflection and contemplation. Sibo mentions “lucid quiet,” leaves that “drift lightly,” and
trees that “start to rustle in the evening breeze,” which all bring to mind very calming, tranquil scenes.
This language creates feelings of relaxation and deep thought in the reader. There’s a certain kind of
peacefulness that comes about when quietly observing and appreciating nature, and the intricate
depictions of autumn weather and calm nights bring this feeling to the reader. In my painting, I chose to
illustrate a scene in which leaves on a tree are falling and changing, with hills and birds in the
background. I was inspired by the theme of autumn in the poem, and I wanted to emulate the colors and
emotions that the season invokes in my painting. I was particularly inspired by the description of the tree,
because I think trees with their leaves changing are the most recognizable sign of colder weather and a
really effective way to bring a sense of autumn into my art. I tried to include warmer colors in my
painting, because autumn is associated with orangey colors. So, I mixed greens with orange to try and
make the grass match the color palate. This didn’t work out too well, and I think my painting was greener
than I would have wanted it to be. I also definitely wanted to include some birds in my work, because I
thought they added a nice touch, and I definitely associate migrating birds with cooler weather.
Art is a very powerful tool that allows us to transcend the urban landscape, and lets us look
further into a scene beyond purely its physical features. For example, when considering an autumn day,
you could just look at the material details of the world outside, and evaluate the image logically and
rationally. However, art takes a scene and depicts in a way that adds emotion to it. Art taps into the deeper
feelings that the scene evokes, allowing the reader/viewer to experience the concept of an autumn day in a
more resonant way. Art also speaks to the reader/viewer’s emotions about the scene. For example, when
Sibo describes the outside world in a contemplative, peaceful way, the reader may consider their own
experiences and emotions surrounding the tranquility found in the observation of nature. There are,
however, some challenges to this, because sometimes the artist is unable to perfectly express their
emotions in the form of art. In fact, it’s impossible to ever completely capture the emotion of an
experience through art, because emotions aren’t material, rational, or able to be perfectly described. For
example, I could never capture the true essence of the poem in my painting. However, I tried to represent
the emotions it evoked as best I could. I’ve stumbled across this problem many times in attempting to use
art as a form of expression, especially when it comes to mixed media. I’m not very practiced in painting
or drawing, and I find it difficult to get my ideas out onto the paper. I hadn’t tried watercolor painting in a
very long time, so I was a bit apprehensive to use it for this project. In the past, I’ve found that I’m not the
best at detail and intricacy in watercolor paintings, so it hasn’t been the ideal format in which to convey
my emotions about something. However, I think I’ve usually found that painting, no matter how good I
am at it, helps me process my feelings about something. It was therapeutic to paint an autumn scene, and I
think it helped me understand the emotions brought on by the poem such as peace, tranquility, and clear
headedness. So, my experiences with mixed media in the past and including this project haven’t been
extraordinary, but I almost always find them valuable.