Analysis Of Fred William's Upwey Landscape

Fred William’s successful artwork ‘Upwey Landscape’ displays the plain scenery of the typical Australian bush. The work consists of a plain canvas -without a foreground or a background- with a particularly high horizon of a brown-red, earthy coloured ground spotted with black and green abstract trees. The composer uses distinctively visual features such as the use of high horizon, repetition and colours to paint a picture of the isolated Australian landscape in the reader’s mind.
Fred utilises the technique of a high horizon to signify the vastness of the expansive land. It contrasts its size with the sky allowing the land to appear more open and spacious. Through the emphasis of this great land almost invading the whole of the canvas space, William’s use of this technique brings focus to the audience of how desolate and isolated the scenery is.
Although each tree is independent and slightly different, it still shows the plain and bareness of the environment. Noticing that the landscape only consists of trees, it may represent disconnection to civilisation. Furthermore, this technique allows the reader’s to visualise the limitless space of the typical Australian bush.
Lastly, the composer conveys the harshness of the environment through the visual use of colours. The overall colour scheme in this artwork shows red, brown, orange, light blue and small tints of green and black. This dull colour scheme represents the colour of the earthy ground- dry, barren and rough. Perhaps the choice of the red symbolises the heat of the Australian outback, and the small tint of green represents the little involvement of greenery in the environment. Moreover, colours are used in this artwork to depict the characteristics of the Australian