Kyle Staver’s Paintings

Kyle Staver

David and Goliath, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 52 x 58″

The first thing that catches my eyes in this painting is the bright red blood stain of the knife at the middle along the top of the painting. The entire painting seems to be done in rather muted colors, and the use of the bright, pure red catches my attention very easily. I am then drawn by the highlight of the knife diagonally down to the left as the knife is greatly contrasted with the dark background of the giant and environment. The placement of the dog then pulls my eyes to the right along the body of the dog, which is then directed upwards along the boy on the right, where his lifted arm curves towards the knife and leads my eye on and on in within the painting.

The use of the bright red is only sparsely used to decorate other areas such as the blood spilled in the middle and bottom of the painting, allowing some linkage between these spots and the knife. The similar tones of the knife and the accessories of both figures also help to bring about the cohesiveness of the entire painting. The lit area at the top left corner in contrast to the dark area of the bottom right sets the atmosphere and gives depth the painting, which would otherwise look flat without the sense of distance.

 

Kyle Staver

Bathers, 2016, Oil on canvas, 54 x 58″

The first thing that got my eyes was the bright turquoise color that is surrounding by dark colors. It starts from a general top right area diagonally down bottom left, which then spreads by various streaks of it going bottom right, where the highlighted areas of the figure’s (on the right) body and pants leads me back up to the top right area. The highlighted off-white area then brings me on the second round around the painting, where it leads left along the back of the figure on top, down the branch to the bottom right where the green of the leaves shines in contrast to the shadows. My eyes then linger around the bottom, where there seems to be a imaginary triangular formation from the middle of the painting to the two bottom corners.

The use of turquoise and the bright green on black background makes these colors pop out way much more than the rest of the painting. The turquoise also brings to the light the female figure in the middle, such that despite being small in scale, catches the attention of viewers and not get left out. Small little highlights like the one on the body of the figure on the left also plays a crucial role in directing the eyes, despite its small area.

 

Kyle Staver

Cardinal, 2016, Oil on canvas, 50 x 58″

My eyes first enter the painting at the bright red bird against the grey-ish brown tone of the shirt of the man. The next thing that immediately grabs my attention is the turquoise of apparel of the woman, which then leads to the dark brown tail of the horse right next to it. The curvature of the tail provides movement and is connected to the same colors of the woman’s shoes and man’s pants, which I am then led upwards along the pants of the man to the “white” of his shirt, his hat, then down the feather of his hat, to the branches on the left which points me downwards and repeat the cycle.

It seems that there is a pretty clear use of lines in this painting that guides my eyes around it, as well as a very subtle but well-planned use of the same colors to connect these lines of movement. What I find interesting are the delicate details of the man’s shirt, the leaves of the branches as well as the very small highlight of the horse’s hoof at the bottom right. These small little details have managed to catch my attention without being left out despite being rather small and supposedly insignificant compared to the rest of the painting.