Fabian Perez

This painting by Fabian Perez is called Tango IV and is painted with oil paints.
The colours used in this painting are blacks, blues, reds and browns. Its quite a
large painting and it has a rather fiery, aggressive, intense feel to it. I think this is
through the background colours and the contrast used between light and dark.
In the foreground of this painting there is a man and woman dancing the tango.
They are both wearing dark clothing, the man a suite and the woman a dress
with high heels on. The woman is bending backwards with an outstretched leg
whilst the man is holding her up to him. She is looking away from him with closed
eyes and he is looking at her intently. There are white gleams of light suggesting
they are under a spot light, This brightness really makes the dancers stand out
as the background are very dark.
In the mid ground you can see musicians 2 musicians sitting behind music
stands, one on either side of the dancers. On the left hand side you can see a
violinist standing up; the mid ground is a lot darker then the foreground, making
the musicians not as obvious and clear as the dancers.
In the background the colours are red and brown and black. The red has been
painted to look like a glow behind the dancers. You can see the silhouettes of
some people who could be spectators or more musicians, as they are just

silhouettes but because of the uncertainness and undetailed way that they have
been painted its another way that it makes the foreground the focal point.
This painting has serenity to it, the detailed dancers in the foreground really
draws the attention of the painting. The dark colours make the flesh of the
woman and the man stand out, it makes them look 3 dimensional.
From this painting I like the sharp angles of the dancers, from the feet of the
woman to the elbow of the man, I feel it adds elegance to the painting as it has
subtly curves and sharp straight lines.
If I was to create this painting myself I would start off drawing the dancers but I
would paint the background first, starting with the reds and browns of the back
light and adding the dark blacks and shadows to it, I would use wide brushes to
create the textured effect of the back wall. When painting the dancers I would
use lots of whites and dark colours, to create the shadows and the glow of their
skin. I would use smaller brushes for the people then the background so as to get
a softer texture to them.
I chose to analyse this painting because I like the emotion that seems to be in
this painting. I like how its so intense and seems so physical. Theres loads of
heat to this painting and I really liked how the dancers are positioned and how
they stand out from the rest of the painting, its as if youre there and a part of
the emotions too.
This Painting links to my final piece as Im going to be basing mine on dance and
my final piece will include dancers in dancing positions. Fabian Perez has many
paintings of dancers so I felt that he was a good artist to research.
Kathryn Tindall