Perform a visual analysis of Annie Swynnerton's The Sense of Sight

‘The Sense of sight’ is an oil on canvas portrait, painted by Annie Swynnerton. The painting is measured at 1010x873cm and depicts an angelic woman looking towards the heavens in front of a naturalistic background. Swynnerton portrays a winged woman in the centre of the canvas with her head tilted upwards, looking out of the frame. There is a sense of dynamism in the way that the figure is portrayed, as the lifting of the head and the raising of the hands create a sense of upward movement. This dynamism, coupled with the facial expression of the figure, creates a sense of awe and wonderment, which is magnified by the facial expression of the woman, which seemingly shows her being overwhelmed by what is out of frame and above her. The figure is also pushed forward in the painting owing to the shallow background, making her the key aspect of the painting and dominating the canvas as there is no deep recession.
There is a luminosity to the figure, as Swynnerton uses a bright colour palette for her skin, with the artist using a subtle dark outline to differentiate the figure. This is coupled with a light pink colour used for the figure’s clothing, which gradually gets darker towards the bottom of the frame. The clothing is depicted elegantly in a painterly style, with the swirls at the end of the dress going the illusion of floating. Although the figure is to all intents and purposes recognisable as a woman, the illusion of light that Swynnerton uses is non-naturalistic, as the light source is evidently seen behind the figure, while the face and skin is seemingly illuminated from a light source above and in front of her. This can also be seen as a non-naturalistic representation of a female figure due to the wings, which spread the length of the canvas and frame the figure in the centre. The wings are painted in a painterly style, while the blue colour that Swynnerton uses is also used together with white, further emphasising the luminosity of the figure. The wings therefore help to show the figure as a celestial being, as this non-naturalistic light source could perhaps be seen as a portal to an ethereal world. This ethereal theme contrasts with the natural setting of the background, again painted in a painterly style, and uses basic primary colours. This simplicity brings further focus towards the foreground of the picture, coupled by the lack of recession. The curve of the hill also is mirrored by the curve of the wing on the right hand side of the frame, creating a diagonal that runs from the top right of the painting to the bottom left.