Critique: Mind's Eye.

Scenery can often create a mood in its viewer. A beach may create a warm, enjoyable feeling. A dense fog may depict an ominous mood. In Brett Gamache's "Two Paths", a viewer sees a simple scenery in a New England-like forest possibly in the summer. The colors and simple technique create a serene mood. The paintings natural colors almost give off the pine-wood smell as it transports the viewer into this quiet, summer, day.

In the middle of the composition is, what appears to be a broken down shack, the clear focal point. Not only is its placement important in the emphasis but the colors inside the shack also draw attention to it. With blues and whites, Gamache draws the eye to the dark, brown shack, which lies at the connection of the two, dirt pathways. The bright colors in the dark shack are juxtaposed together to draw more attention to it.

The viewer then follows the two pathways, specifically the one that winds up to the top right portion of the painting. This pathway's hue changes, as it undergoes the cover of trees and then returns to a bring opening. This bright opening gives off a joyous, summery mood which contrasts with the dark cover of the trees.

The background of the painting reminds the viewer they are deep in the forest, as the horizon contains trees and what appears to be large hills. The two pathways continue off in different directions, continuing in harmony with the forest colors.

Although the oil painting technique seems to involve messy dabs that go in different directions, the image's colors create a serene mood and relaxes the viewer, allowing them to become lost in the deep forest, following a possibly never ending pathway.