Shape in Scape

ARTIST MODEL- Brent Wong

A self-taught painter, Wong’s artistic career began in the field of drawing. After brief experimentations with watercolour and oil, he settled on acrylic as his medium of choice. Its quick drying qualities gave him the flexibility to easily apply successive coats of paint and make drastic changes where necessary. He has been known to spend more than three years on a painting before he consented to its public display, adding countless layers of acrylic paint to achieve a jewel-like lustre to his surfaces. The expansive view outside his Vivian Street family home in central Wellington captured his attention and prompted the frequent architectural presences and geometric patterns in his earlier paintings. The stretch of rooftops and myriad of residential and office buildings seen from his window are dominant shapes and motifs throughout his oeuvre, but these do not reflect a fixation for nostalgia, instead an instance of Wong using his memory to inhabit the landscape. His early works were initially composed as line drawings of interiors and three-dimensional formations with exaggerated perspectives. Like a stage set, Wong then experimented with proportions and colour.

ARTIST STUDY: THE SILENT SKIES OF BRENT WONG

DO NOW: 5-Minute "See, Think, Wonder"

Look at a Brent Wong painting and respond to...

I SEE: (List 3 factual things you see. E.g., "A blue sky," "dry hills.")
I THINK: (What do you think is happening? E.g., "It looks like a dream.")
I WONDER: (Ask a question about the work. E.g., "Why is that thing floating?")

THE REAL AND THE SURREAL

Brent Wong (born 1945) is one of New Zealand’s most iconic surrealist painters. His work is famous for combining highly realistic, dry New Zealand landscapes with mysterious, impossible architectural objects floating in the sky.

Wong masters the rules of reality (perspective and light) so that when he breaks them with floating objects, the painting feels unsettling and dreamlike.

ANALYSIS ACTIVITY: Deconstructing the Landscape

Atmospheric Perspective Check:
Look at the furthest mountain range in the painting. How has Wong used colour and value to make it look many kilometres away? (Use terms like saturation, temperature, and value).

The Colour Palette: Wong often paints the Wairarapa or Canterbury regions—dry, hot, often barren landscapes.4

Describe the colours used in the foreground (closest to you):
Describe the colours of the sky gradient from the horizon up to the top edge:

Composition and Mood:

Wong’s horizons are usually very low, devoting 2/3 or more of the canvas to the sky. How does this low horizon line affect the mood or feeling of the painting?

Trade Winds

THE FLOATING STRUCTURE (Analysing Perspective)

The objects floating in Wong’s skies often look like pieces of buildings—empty window frames, concrete blocks, or colonial arches. Even though these objects are impossible (floating in the air), they look "real" and solid.

Wong achieves this by using rigorous Linear Perspective.

Deconstructing the Illusion Look closely at the floating object in the reference painting.

The "Worm's Eye" View: Notice that the object is placed high in the sky, well above the horizon line. Because of this placement, which surface of the object can we see that we normally wouldn't?
Why does this matter? How does seeing this specific surface make the object feel like it is hovering over you?
Light and Shadow: Even surreal objects need a light source to look 3D. Look at the shadows on the floating structure.
- Where is the sun coming from? (Left, Right, or Top?)
- Does this match the light source on the hills below? (Yes / No)
- Explain how matching the light source helps "trick" your eye into believing the object is really there:
Scale and Mystery: Compare the size of the floating object to the hills or buildings on the ground.
- If that floating object fell to the ground, how big would it be? (Huge like a city block, or small like a house?)
- How does Brent Wong use this size difference to make the painting feel eerie or powerful?

Town Boundary, 1969

COLOUR MIXING RECIPES

Wong's colours are very specific. They are matte (not shiny), dry, and dusty. To paint in his style, you need control over your mixing.

ACTIVITY: Create "swatches" for a Wong Landscape.

Using acrylics create the following colour mixes in the boxes.

THE "DRY EARTH" FOREGROUND- Goal: A warm, dry, golden-brown ochre. Try mixing: Yellow Ochre + Tiny touch of Burnt Sienna + White.

THE "ATMOSPHERIC MIST" BACKGROUND - Goal: A pale, desaturated, cool violet-blue. Try mixing: Warm Blue + White + A tiny touch of Orange (to dull it).

PART 4: SYNTHESIS - THUMBNAIL PLANNING

In our next task, you will be creating your own surreal landscape where a large "shape" dominates the "scape." Let's use Brent Wong as inspiration to plan a composition.

TASK: sketch 2x plans for a painting that combines all the elements we have studied.

Your checklist for this sketch:

A low horizon line.
Distinct layers showing atmospheric perspective (foreground hills, distant ranges). Use different elements of wongs paintings to create your landscape, use one of his landscapes and one of his skys from a different painting or your own.
A surreal, geometric architectural object floating in the sky (drawn using 2-point perspective). [this will be copied from your perspective task. if you do not have this task your teacher wil assist you]

TASK: Shape in Scape

Task: Create an A3 acrylic painting where a 3D geometric form dominates a desolate New Zealand landscape, in the style of Brent Wong.

Context: You are acting as a surrealist artist. You have already planned your "Wong-style" landscape and you have already drawn a complex 3D shape in perspective. Now, you will combine them. You will paint a lonely, atmospheric background and then transfer your perspective drawing into the sky to create a mysterious, floating illusion.

Materials: A3 heavy paper, Acrylic paint, brushes, your landscape plan, your previous perspective drawing, photocopier (teacher use), 2B pencil.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Phase 1: The Landscape (Back to Front)

Remember Brent Wong’s style: Low horizons, big skies, and natural, muted colours .

The Sky Gradient:
- Start at the top of your A3 paper. Paint a smooth gradient from deep, cool blue at the top to a very pale, whitish-blue at the horizon line.
- Tip: The horizon line should be low (bottom 1/3 of the page).
The Distant Hills (Atmospheric Perspective):
- Using your "Background Mist" colour mix (pale blue-grey), paint the silhouette of the furthest mountain range.
- Keep the edges soft.
The Foreground (Muted & Earthy):

- Paint the closest land using Natural Earth tones.
- Option A (Dry): Use ochres, burnt sienna, and straw yellows.
- Option B (Green): Use olive or moss greens.
- The Golden Rule: Never use green straight from the tube. It will look like plastic. Always mix your green with a tiny touch of red or brown to "mute" it and make it look like a real New Zealand landscape.

Phase 2: The Transfer

Do not start this until your background paint is 100% dry.

Resize: Take your previous 2-point perspective drawing to the teacher to photocopy. Enlarge or shrink it so it fits perfectly in the "sky" area of your painting.
Graphite Transfer:
- Turn the photocopy over. Scribble heavily over the back of the lines using a soft 2B or 4B pencil.
- Tape the photocopy (drawing side up) onto your dry painting in the perfect position.
- Trace over the lines of your shape firmly with a pen or pencil. The graphite on the back will transfer the image onto your painting.
Clean Up: Lift the paper. You should see faint pencil lines of your shape floating in the painted sky.

Phase 3: The Floating Form

Block In: Paint the faces of your geometric shape.
- Light Source: Decide where the sun is (usually matching your landscape).
- Values: Paint the face hitting the sun Light. Paint the side facing away Dark. Paint the underside Darkest (if visible).
Cast Shadow: (Optional but recommended for Excellence)
- Paint a faint, dark shadow on the ground underneath your floating object to show it is hovering.

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