The Romantic period will always be remembered as the time when all artists had shown their excessively expressive sides. Back then, there wasn’t a specific method or strategy in creating art; it wasn’t identifiable with a single style or technique, but it was about freedom of expression and breaking away from those conventions. As an art student, I’ve always been amazed of romantic artists not just for their works, per se, but more so their way of thinking and how they chose to demonstrate their individuality. With that in mind, I’ve come across one painting that particularly stood out to me during my visit to the Seattle Art Museum, which was Albert Bierstadt’s “Puget Sound On the Pacific Coast” from 1870. The piece itself is bursting with so much energy that I simply had to stop and take some time to study each brush stroke, choice in color, the lighting, detail, and the overall composition. People say color is a method for depiction that could ultimately change something boring into a stunning masterpiece-in terms of Bierstadt’s use of color, I’d say he was very successful in doing so. The painting greatly ranges from light to dark, leading to where the focal point is, which in this case would be the beach, with the sun rays shining directly on it. The way the artist emphasizes the middle plane is one of the common qualities of a romantic painting and he skillfully does this by using lighting in the style of a vignette. I personally prefer not to use vignette mainly because I have a difficult time doing it “properly,” but Bierstadt has done it so well that it’s almost as if the painting is actually glowing, adding that much more drama. Observing a little longer, I noticed that there are two types of moods that contrast each other in the piece. Towards the left side, there is a feeling of peace and calmness with the green trees, a beautiful beach, a group of people gathered around their canoes, and a beam of s