The painting "Driftwood" takes place in Prout's Neck, Maine. "This is where Homer lived for twenty-seven years before he died. Homer painted "Driftwood" in 1909, the year before he died. This was the last work Homer ever completed

(MFA, "Driftwood")." To sum up the painting, a man is trying to save a huge tree trunk that was washed up on rocks next to the raging sea. He looks very wet and the water is dangerously close to him. The trunk is extremely large and I dou

The use of line and edge are constant in this painting. The only true straight line that Homer uses is for the tree trunk and a ledge in the bottom left hand corner. Other than those, if you scan the painting there are many curved and angular lines. The surface of the water and the waves crashing against the rocks show both angular and curved lines. The jagged rocks are not detailed enough to tell if there are many angular lines. Going by the painting, I see a great deal of curved lines, gradually changing direction. The rocks show that the lines are going in a horizontal direction giving us the impression that they are stable.

All three classes of colors are used; primary, secondary, and tertiary. The use of all three classes is what makes this painting so beautiful. As far as primary is concerned, yellow, blue and a hint of red are visible to the naked eye. They are not predominant as secondary and tertiary. The most used color in the water is white, which is a tint. The power of the water hitting the rocks causes the water to turn to white close to the rocks. This is not pure white whereas its value is not true. The intensity is dulled by the addition of gray. You can see above the large wave crashing into the rocks that the tertiary color blue-green livens up the dull colors surrounding it. This however, is not seen anywhere else in the painting. The secondary color green is used to show murkiness near the shore. Due to the color we are unable to see below the water. You can also see a dark color atop the wave. This use of color could symbolize earth or seaweed being stirred up due to the storm and adds character to the lighter colors. With a touch of yellow below the wave, Homer lightens up the mood slightly without taking away from the storm. Lastly, the use of dark brown on the rocks brings out the water and the trunk, which the man is next to. This outlines the water without blending it into the rocks.

Homer does an excellent job in contrasting the values of light and dark. The darker value of the shore brings out the raging water. Water is generally lighter near the shore where it splashes and turns to an intense white. This water usually fizzles and becomes bubbly until it is taken back out to sea. Homer captures all of this especially in the crevasses and specifically near the man. The darker values in the water are caused by the storm. Some is brought from the shoreline while the rest is stirred up from the sea floor. This can be seen where the water is not crashing against the rocks. Homer brings in the sky with a darker value and makes the scene look like an awful day on the water. The only light value in the sky is a lonely tinted cloud. The size of the man in the painting is true to life next to

Some common words found in the essay are:
Driftwood Homer, Mother Nature, MFA Driftwood, Gund Gallery, Maine Homer, Fine Arts, tree trunk, trying save, save tree, trying save tree, crashing rocks, save tree trunk, Winslow Homer, light dark, darker value, homer trying, near shore, , wave crashing rocks, homer painted driftwood, nature vs, tertiary color, believe homer trying,
Approximate Word count = 1865
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)