Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 2

Todd Carpenter
"Imagination Towers Emptily" Oil painting

2020

About the Item

Todd Carpenter's (US based) "Imagination Towers Emptily" is an oil painting that depicts a black and white landscape of vast plain leading to a distant city radiating with light Bio/artist statement: Todd Carpenter is a Los Angeles based artist who uses black and white paint to explore the perception of space and beauty. Carpenter's formal education is in science - he holds a MS in Neuroscience from UCSD and a BS in Psychobiology from UCLA - and he brings this background into service when making art. His paintings explore the mechanisms of perception and aesthetics, examining among other things how the depiction of light can impart realism and convey emotion. Like his paintings bridging art and science, Carpenter's career has similarly straddled the two fields, and he has taught subjects ranging from neuroscience and environmental science to photography and painting. Artist Statement As a painter, I am particularly interested in how the depiction of light contributes to our experience of paintings. Painting, as with any visual art, is obviously dependent on light. But painting can also have a more specific connection in that the accurate depiction of light is crucial for achieving realism. Realism in paintings largely arises from the portrayal of depth - perceiving a painting as being realistic is equivalent to seeing its subject as existing in more than just the two dimensions of the picture plane - and one of the mechanisms by which humans perceive depth is through lighting cues. Light creates features such as shading, shadow, and contrast that tell us about the three-dimensional arrangement of our surroundings, and artists often use these features to impart realism to paintings. Light also factors in to the emotional impact of paintings. The differential illumination of our surroundings can evoke different moods, as evidenced by the influence sunsets, candlelight, and darkness can have on us. Such effectssuggest that our perception of light could be tied to primitive instincts, with light signaling factors such as shelter, nightfall, and warmth, which were once crucial for survival. The depiction of light in paintings can potentially tap into these primitive responses, to contribute to the emotional impact of the painted scene. One reason why I paint in grayscale is that it is suited for the portrayal of light. The lighting features that our brains use to perceive depth are based on color brightness rather than hue, and the parts of the brain that process depth work in black and white, separate from the areas that encode the colors and details we use to distinguish objects. By painting in grayscale I am attempting to interact specifically with this part our visual system, with the hope of imparting a degree of realism and perhaps even conveying some of the emotional significance that light can imbue. It is through light that we see the world, but light itself is also seen, with an impact independent of the subjects transmitted by its waves. Light is both the crisp contrast of a back-lit forest and the gray haze of an industrial landscape, and the perceptual power of light is what communicates the atmosphere of such places. This ability of light to effect us is the principle subject of my paintings.
  • Creator:
    Todd Carpenter
  • Creation Year:
    2020
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 6 in (15.24 cm)Width: 12 in (30.48 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Denver, CO
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU130826893782

More From This Seller

View All
"Summer Garden" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Seth Winegar's (US based) "Summer Garden" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a rose bush with pink petals in the blue twilight and a small...
Category

2010s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

"Sidewalks in Greys" (2021) By Jim Beckner, Original Cityscape Oil Painting
By Jim Beckner
Located in Denver, CO
Jim Beckner's (US based) "Sidewalks in Greys" is an oil painting that depicts a busy city sidewalk and street at night cast in the fluorescent light of the signs and cars and passers...
Category

2010s Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

"Truth as a Poetic Lie" (2019) By Todd Carpenter, Landscape Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Todd Carpenter's (US based) "Truth as a Poetic Lie" is an oil painting that depicts a black and white landscape full of dense trees and foliage, blotted out by something reminiscent ...
Category

2010s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

"Drain of Progress" (2024) By Todd Carpenter, Original Oil Painting of Cityscape
Located in Denver, CO
Todd Carpenter's (US based) "Drain of Progress" is an oil painting that depicts a black and white cityscape skyline with a large body of water passing through the middle. Bio/artist...
Category

2010s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

"Light Fades" (2024) By Todd Carpenter, Original Oil Painting of Cityscape
Located in Denver, CO
Todd Carpenter's (US based) "Light Fades" is an oil painting that depicts a black and white valley with pine trees and foggy mountains. Bio/artist statement: Todd Carpenter is a Lo...
Category

2010s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

"Above Plain" (2024) By Todd Carpenter, Original Oil Painting of Landscape
Located in Denver, CO
Todd Carpenter's (US based) "Above Plain" is an oil painting that depicts a black and white mountainous landscape. Bio/artist statement: Todd Carpenter is a Los Angeles based artis...
Category

2010s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

You May Also Like

"Sundown" Western Shoot Out, Mid Century Figurative Action Scene
Located in Soquel, CA
A dramatic mid-century western figurative action scene depicting a shootout in an old western town by Randy Steffen (American, 1917-1977), 1947. Several ...
Category

1940s American Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Fiberboard

"Brunch at Claudette" Plein Air Restaurant Oil Painting 5th Avenue New York City
By Cindy Shaoul
Located in New York, NY
"With shades of Pierre Bonnard’s Parisian street vistas and Edward Hopper’s New York shopfronts, American impressionist Cindy Shaoul’s oil paintings depict the much-loved locales and hotspots of contemporary city life." - Financial Times, Baya Simons. This painting depicts an impressionistic scene of Figures dining at Claudette, a New York City Restaurant...
Category

2010s American Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

French 20th century Impressionist harbor, with fishing boats at sea, landscape
Located in Woodbury, CT
French 20th-century Impressionist harbor, with fishing boats at sea, with landscape beyond. 20th-century French impressionist harbor scene. The...
Category

1930s Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Landscape oil on cardboard painting impressionism spanish
By Joaquin Terruella Matilla
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Joaquin Terruella Matilla (1891-1957) - Landscape - Oil cardboard Oil measures 33x41 cm. Frame measures 47x55 cm. Joaquim Terruella Matilla (1891 - 1957) Joaquim Terruella Matilla,...
Category

1920s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Catalan Landscape with Masia oil on board painting spain spanish eupean art
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Artist: Antoni Llobet Aracil (Barcelona, 1910 - 1983) Title: Catalan Landscape with Masia Technique: Oil on board Dimensions: 13 x 16.1 in Support: Board Framing: Unframed Period: 19...
Category

1930s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

"Grand Basin, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris" Impressionist Oil Painting on Board
By Jules René Hervé
Located in New York, NY
An exceptional impressionistic depiction of an afternoon along the Jardin des Tuileries, Paris by Jules René Hervé on a summer day with the busy activities of people walking and of f...
Category

Early 20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Recently Viewed

View All