Artwork
Browse through the collection of paintings by Benjamin Young. Everything from impressionism to realism, from watercolors to oil pastels, from landscape to still life.
Lemon Tree

March 21, 2024
Lemon Tree is an impressionistic acrylic painting capturing the cheerful essence of a citrus grove in an expressive style, with two plump, sunny lemons taking center stage against a crisp white background. The lemons are painted with bold, confident, impasto strokes, the yellows ranging from pale to deep golden hues, suggesting the play of light across their dimpled surfaces. Dark green leaves, painted with a sense of movement, flank the fruit, adding depth and contrast to the composition. Above the lemons, two white flowers with red centers bloom, providing a pop of color and completing the scene. The texture of the canvas is visible through the paint, giving the work a lively, tactile quality. With the bold brushstrokes giving texture. This piece exudes a simple, rustic charm and celebrates the beauty found in nature’s forms and colors. Giving a summery feel.
Cherry Popping

March 17, 2024
The Cherry Popping painting depicts two cherries with a realistic appearance. The cherries are rich red with subtle hints of darker tones suggesting volume and curvature. A light source is shining from the upper left, casting a soft shadow to the lower right of the cherries and giving a glossy highlight on their surfaces. The cherries are attached to each other by a green stem, which is connected to only one of the cherries at the top right corner of the painting. The background is plain and light-colored, putting the full focus on the vibrancy and detail of the cherries. The technique used provides a sense of texture that one can almost feel, and the attention to detail in the reflections and shadows is a careful study of light on the fruit’s surface.
Tomb Flowers

March 14, 2024
Tomb Flowers is a watercolor pencil drawing, with a brushed and washed colorful background, of white lilies. That’s all I really have to say about this artwork piece.
Back To

March 13, 2024
In the midst of a serene, snow-covered landscape, a solitary figure captures our attention in this evocative painting, titled Back To. Striding the lone figure once again, across the snow covered Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail.
Fissure

February 27, 2024
The Fissure abstract watercolor painting presents a compelling visual metaphor for a broad crack, rendered in a monochromatic palette that evokes the natural variance of earth and stone. The central darkened swath divides the canvas, reminiscent of a chasm or fault line, with its mirror image below suggesting a reflection in water or a shadowy echo in the depths. The textural gradation and the fluidity of the medium’s application enhance the sense of organic formation and erosion. Despite the simplicity of its color scheme, the painting is rich in texture and depth, conveying a powerful sense of both fragility and enduring natural forces at play. The artwork engages the viewer in an exploration of symmetry and asymmetry, surface and depth, solidity and void, evoking the unpredictable beauty of natural fissures.
Erie Rock

February 18, 2024
This evocative painting captures a unique and striking rock formation located along the shores of Lake Erie, near Cleveland, Ohio, portraying a natural monument that stands as a silent guardian amidst the lapping waves. The overcast sky suggests a typical Great Lakes ambiance, while the resilient trees on the rock’s summit are a testament to nature’s adaptability in the face of the elements. The artwork invites contemplation on the enduring beauty of Lake Erie’s coastal landscape, subtly colored by the artist to reflect the area’s serene yet dynamic character.
Young Farmhouse

February 10, 2024
This Young Farmhouse painting portrays a rustic, rural scene. Dominating the left foreground is a large, dark brown walnut tree, its detailed bark texture suggesting an old and sturdy presence. From one of its branches, a swing with a wooden seat dangles, its ropes hanging limply, waiting for a visitor and adding balance to the painting. Further back, the scene opens to a golden field, which could be a harvested crop, bordered by a dense tree line that marks the edge of a forest. The trees are evergreens, standing tall and dark green against the horizon.
Escape

February 9, 2024
Escape is a painting that depicts a tranquil winter scene, including a solitary figure is shown walking away from the viewer, journeying along a curved path that has been carved through the snow from what may have been a vehicle. With overcast skies, soft grays and cobalts that blend seamlessly with the snowy ground, tire tracks that are visible in the snow, all reinforcing the sense that the figure has journeyed alone. The overall mood of this watercolor painting is one of solitude and silence, evoking a sense of introspection or the quiet beauty of nature in winter.
Citrus Study

February 6, 2024
The Citrus Study painting features a still life composition with three objects that appear on a table. On the left is a green lime, partially blending from green to a yellowish hue, indicating ripeness or a variation in color typical of certain lime varieties. In the middle, there’s a red mug or cup with a visible handle on the right, suggesting it’s meant for a right-handed person to pick up easily. The mug’s rim is white, indicating the inside color and the reflection of light. On the right, there’s a lemon with a bright yellow color, indicative of its ripeness and tartness. The background and surface are in muted dark tones, with the surface reflecting a bit of light, giving a sense of a shadowed room. The painting style is textured, with visible brushstrokes marks, which give it a tactile quality. The color palette is quite naturalistic, with a strong contrast between the brightly colored objects and the dark background, drawing attention to the subjects of the still life.
Mac Reflections

February 3, 2024
The Mac Reflections painting depicts a close-up impressionism portrait of myself, rendered with a strong emphasis on texture and a limited color palette, to show it’s reflective nature. My figure is implied to be emerging from a dark background, with light only faintly illuminating the right side of the face. The strokes are expressive and sculptural, creating an array of thick, impasto strokes that give the image a dynamic and tactile quality. My expression is pensive and subdued, with eyes cast downward and away from the viewer, adding to the painting’s introspective quality. The overall effect is one of profound reflection, with the textured brushwork and dramatic chiaroscuro suggesting a moment captured in time, where the inner world of my personal subject is as significant as the outer representation. It’s a powerful image that invites the viewer to consider the subject’s thoughts and feelings.