Analysis Of Grey Day In The Rangess By Margaret Preston

Margaret Preston Margaret Rose Preston is an Australian born artist who is widely known for her variety of artworks, mostly consisting of prints. Preston was born on the 29th of April 1875 in Port Adelaide, Australia, daughter of David McPherson and Prudence Cleverdon. At the age of ten, Preston was living in Sydney where she began her training as an artist with W. Lister Lister. By 1896, Margaret enrolled at the National Gallery’s school of painting where she won a year’s free tuition for her painting, ‘Still Life’. Three years later, in 1899, Preston opened her own teaching studio and after a long and persistent effort at producing art, she first gained recognition in the 1920’s and became one of the most powerful advocates of Australian

The five elements used are line, shape, colour, texture and tone. Preston uses both types of lines in this piece, both organic which are the soft, curved and flowing lines in the mountains, and inorganic, structural lines, being the tree stumps. The most significant line direction that is used is diagonal, where the lines lead your eyes over the composition from the foreground and through the mountain ranges to the clouds in the far background. Both vertical and horizontal lines are also used for the trees and the horizon line. Preston has used both naturalistic and curvilinear shapes to give the landscape a realistic appearance, however, her shapes are also a little stylised and simplified to their essential character. This is most evident in the trees in the foreground. The colours Preston has used are tertiary colours, most of which are cool and earth-toned and the colour scheme is monochromatic to give it a neutralised and dull effect, highlighting the title, Grey day in the ranges. Preston has used tone in many ways to create depth, to contrast, to give texture, to add variety and to create the illusion of form. The texture that is created is both visual, as you get the impression of it being there but you cannot actually feel it, you can only see it, and simulated, as Preston has tried to copy the textures

These three things are combined in Preston’s artwork to create an overall message to convey to her audience. The main and significant message that this artwork represents is the possibilities of the fusion between various Aboriginal art forms and the possibilities of an indigenous revolution to come. This artwork expresses the importance of aboriginal art, culture and their way of life as this was a time in which Preston’s beliefs of the importance of Aboriginal art deepened. It was also at this time of significance to her where she developed a series of landscape paintings influenced by this idea. This artwork is also representative of her time living in Berowra where she was enthused by the seasonal display of native plants, in which she wanted to capture the essence of the Australian bush and its