The picture âThey Didnât Take Fishingâ is familiar to all high school students, because in the fifth grade they are invited to write an essay on it. The Russian artist who painted it Oleg Popovich devoted his life to creating illustrations for children's magazines and books, so his canvas is more reminiscent of a simple drawing in "Funny Pictures" or "Murzilka". Let's take a closer look at the picture in order to understand what the master wanted to say with its help.
Characteristics of the protagonist
The description of the painting âThey Didnât Take Fishingâ should begin with a description of its main characters. On the canvas, the artist depicted four people: one adult and three children. The main attention is drawn to the smallest character - a little boy who looks no more than four years old. He stands and cries bitterly, covering his wet red face with his hand. The viewer immediately understands that the little one was hoping to go fishing with his father and older brother, but they did not want to take it with them. The kid hoped to the last that they would take him, he even prepared a fishing rod and a bucket for this purpose and got up early. But dad considered him too small and left him at home under the supervision of his sister. The father is adamant in his decision, and children's tears are not able to pity him. He perfectly understands that in an hour the peanut will forget about its morning tragedy and will be carried away by some interesting game.
Other characters
The elder brother of the protagonist was much luckier. He looks about 12 years old. He goes fishing with his father and is terribly proud of it. The boy carries a fishing rod in front of him, like a precious trophy, and lifts his head high in front of a crying little brother. He has a heavy backpack with gear behind him, but he does not feel his weight. Judging by the reaction of the little boy, his father takes him fishing for the first time. This is evidenced by the overly solemn appearance of the character. The boy follows his father and even tries to copy his walk.
The dad of the kids is a serious and intelligent person. These qualities of his are very clearly conveyed by the painting âThey Didnât Take Fishingâ. Popovich portrayed the father of the children focused and not paying attention to the tantrum of the baby. Dad is completely calm and calm. He recalls whether he took everything with him for fishing, and little things like the vagaries of a younger child bother him little. Behind him is the same backpack as the eldest son, and in his hands is a yellow shopping bag. Father casually carries a fishing rod on his shoulder.
The fourth heroine of the picture is the sister of the boys. She looks about eleven years old. The girl is very similar to her older brother. Fishing does not interest her, but she is forced to get up early to look after the baby. The girl looks at the brother with a mockery. She had no doubt that they would not take him for fishing. But the girl does not want to calm the baby. Tired of his frequent tantrums, she simply watches him, arms folded across her chest and carelessly twirling a flower in her palms. The sister knows: as soon as the elders disappear from sight, the baby will stop crying.
Additional elements, background and color scheme.
When making a description of Popovichâs painting âThey Didnât Take Fishingâ, you need to pay attention to the objects that surround the heroes. To revive his work, the artist depicted on it an old fence carelessly knocked together from boards, on which an old clay pot flaunts . Green grass and small red and blue flowers scatter in different directions from under the heroes' feet . In addition to people in the picture, there is another character - a sparrow. Attracted by children's crying, he spins under the feet of people, watching the scene with curiosity. Von Popovich left it white. With this approach, he wanted to focus the audience on what was happening, without distracting him to extraneous details.
The color scheme immediately shows that for children of primary and secondary school age, the painting "They did not take fishing" was painted. When creating it, Popovich used bright shades (green, yellow, blue, red) that children really like. Black is completely absent in the picture, which makes it cheerful, sunny and positive. And even children's tears are not able to spoil this impression.
Painting of the Assumption-Kologrivova
The drawing of Popovich is often confused with the painting of the same name by the artist Ksenia Uspenskaya-Kologrivova. The plots, as well as the titles, in these two works are completely identical. But if Popovichâs painting resembles a childish, carelessly drawn picture, the canvas of the Assumption-Kologrivova is written in accordance with all the rules of Russian painting.
Description of the main characters
All the same characters are present in the artistâs picture: the peanut, his brother, sister and dad. The kid did not cry, but simply pouted and turned away from family members leaving for fishing. He is ready to cry at any time. In one hand, the little boy holds a children's bucket with accumulated worms, and the other rubs his ear in confusion.
The elder brother and father go fishing. Dad steps forward. He carries a backpack behind his back, and holds a paddle on his shoulder. He entrusted fishing rods and small fishing tackles to his eldest son. The boy follows his father and mockingly turns back, looking at the offended kid. In the eyes of his brother there is no sympathy for the peanut. He is pleased that he is already old enough for fishing. There is no sympathy for the little brother and the girl. She looked out the door of an old dilapidated house and looks at him with a smile. It can be seen from all that the family in which the children grow up lives poorly. This impression is enhanced by the gloomy tones that prevail in the canvas.
Different eras - same children
In the mid-50s, the painting âThey Didnât Take Fishingâ was painted. Ouspenskaya-Kologrivova depicted on it the gray everyday life of the Soviet village, which had not yet had time to revive after a devastating war. In the figure of Popovich, the characters are children of the late 80s. They are not familiar with military deprivation and, apparently, grow up in a well-to-do family. Popovich, drawing a picture based on the plot of the Assumption-Kologrivovaâs canvas, showed that children of different eras have the same emotions and feelings.