Nawon Choi— Looking Outward 09

Mark Kirkpatrick’s commission piece for Apple, Inc. 2017

For this week’s Looking Outward I will be responding to CJ Walsh’s post from week 5.

He analyzes works by digital artist and designer Mark Kirkpatrick. These works also caught my eye because of how serene and beautifully they represent scenes in nature through a highly digital medium. I agree with CJ’s noting the cohesive color palettes that really do a great job at setting the overall mood of each image. To add to this point, the use of the soft gradients in the background (sky and sun) in contrast with the geometric shapes also creates interesting textures.

I also really appreciate how CJ researched and mentioned the artist’s background (or lack of) in the arts. Kirkpatrick has received no formal training in artistic practices, yet he was commissioned by Apple in 2017 to create the above image. I think this point goes to show how far discipline and self-learning can take a person.