Chapter 4: The Visual Elements
pointilism
a technique of applying dots to of pure color that are then mixed by our eyes to produce the illusion of color mixtures
mass
a three-dimensional form that occupies a volume of space
shape
a two dimensional form that occupies an area with identifiable boundaries- may be created by changes in texture, color, or lines
simultaneous contrasts
colors are placed side by side to create optical mixture and intensify one another, as in pointillism
visual elements
consists of line, shape, light, mass, color, texture, pattern, and space- the elements we perceive and respond to when we look at a work's form
linear perspective
creates illusion of forms receding in space as they diminish in size, and utilizes the illusion of parallel lines appearing to converge in the distance at a vanishing point- demonstrates use of mind in art rather than just a craft of hand
Newton
discovered color as refracting light in 1966
actual light
existing light in art that is either natural or man made
illusionistic space
includes foreshortening, linear, isometric, and atmospheric perspective
implied space
includes overlapping and position (foreground/middle ground/background)
contour lines
lines drawn to record boundaries
values
quality of light and dark
stippling
technique to portray value; areas of dots average out through optical mixing into values
foreshortening
the affect of linear perspective when applied to objects and humans within a work of art
isometric perspective
uses vanishing points where parallel lines never meet; goes back but no coherent vanishing point as in linear perspective
shading/modeling
using chiaroscuro or values to create mass
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Blue and Gold
- Old Battersea Bridge -monochromatic except for a few dashes of gold, brushed in blue - blue contributes to subdued emotional mood of painting -sued Ruskin for libel -"throwing pot of paint in audiences face" - case contends the importance of the effects of color in art -not intended to be a "correct" portrait of a bridge
The Raven and the First Men, Bill Reid
- depicts birth of humankind as told in stories of Haida- people of Pacific Northwest Coast -light-and-shadow reveal three dimensional aspects of sculpture -photograph only gives 2d view of a 3d sculpture- cannot get full effect -giant bird=spirit Raven- coaxed people out into world from clam shell -organic shapes and masses -negative shapes appear between wings/body
Jean-Antoine Watteau, The Embarkation of Cythera
- rococo- french period style of the 18th century, exhibits a radical departure from a focus on serious topics in art -aristocrats dresses in fine, elegant garments -winged putti (cupid) figures add element of fantasy -uses implied lines- creates line and direction without explicit definition that draws the eye in an implied s-curve motion
George Seurat, Evening Honfleur
- wanted to create an artistic approach to the science of color theory - contrasting values and complementary colors make each element appear more luminous -sea is almost an "indefinable grey" -dots remain distinct enough to give painting subtle texture- pointillism uses optical mixing to combine dots into single images -part of neoimpressionism movement- he called it divisionism because theory based on dividing pure color -requires perceptions of the viewer to utilize optical mixing and combine elements in pointillism
Alexander Calder, Southern Cross
-American Artist working primarily in abstraction -kinetic art- called mobiles, there are an infinite # of possible compositions - Southern cross is popular name for Crux= constellation visible in Southern Hemisphere used to help sailors steer ships
The Siege of Belgrade, from a manuscript of Sulaymannama
-Indian artist using isometric perspective -Sulayman was famous ottoman sultan -blue and white fortress portrayed using isometric perspective
Mona Hatoum, Dormiente
-Italian for "sleeping person" -like pop art- takes ordinary objects and reveals the uncanny danger/seduction in new uses -simultaneously attractive and forbidden -cheese grater as bed; uses actual texture in piece
James Turrell, The Light Inside
-MFA Houston, 2013- light tunnel installation color changing light is material presence of work -tunnel acts as a passage and destination- gives floating feeling -3D impressionistic landscape -permanent installation in Sarasota mimics sunset -artist is pilot- piece exhibits moment of flight where you lose horizon -wanted to bring cosmos closer to space occupied by humans
Emmi Whitehorse, Chanter
-Navajo artist inspired by signs/symbols carved in caves -illustrates use of shape and mass -oil on paper, then mounted on a canvas -some shapes defined by lines, some by shift in color/value -implied shapes encourage mind of viewer to complete them -abstract bird is organic whereas upside down house shapes are geometric -figure/ground are woven together creating a fluid/dreamlike display -bird is a shape, a figure that emerges from the ground that we can detach from the piece and focus on
Leonardo Da Vinci, The Last Supper
-center, Christ's head, acts as top of stabilizing triangle and vanishing point in work -scene provides an extension of our own space, creates sense of spatial depth through line -takes audience into consideration for first time in Western art -fresco art- had to undergo restoration because Da Vinci experimented mixing oil/tempura resulting in rapid deterioration -depicts moment where Jesus has just told followers "One of you will betray me"
Henri Matisse, Study of A Woman's Back (1914)
-composed of purely contour lines
Hans Baldung, Grien, The Groom and the Witch
-exhibits foreshortening techniques -torso is shortened to give viewer realistic vantage point -groom lies perpendicular to horizon line -horse stands at 45 degree angle to picture plane, foreshortened, space between rump and forequarters is compressed by odd angle at which we view it
the madonna of the meadows, Raphael
-groups 2 figures together to be perceived as singular, triangular whole -covering foot makes implied triangle less definite -helps perceive art as unified/harmonious whole -Mary's head=apex, John the Baptist= lower left corner, Mary's exposed foot=lower right corner
Sarah Sze, Hidden Relief
-installation -lines that draw lattice, curves, and circular forms in air -uses commonplace items that become visual elements in art -conveys direction and motion
John Frederick Kensett, Lake George
-landcape using atmospheric perspective -hazy look pulls eye back -three hills along longer shores grow progressively more hazy and tinged with blue
circular shield with stepped fret design, Aztec (before 1521, feathers)
-made for military officer as sign of rank -light figure on dark ground vs dark figure on light ground
Richard Serra, Inside Out
-made of steel, 13 ft tall -inspired by hull of ship/architecture -uses architecture to inspire idea of a passage that can be experienced -helps understand space in relation to movement -towering walls lean outward and inward to continuously modify the space and experience of it
Theodore Gericault, The Raft of Medusa (1818-1819)
-mainly composed of diagonal lines -in tradition, if a ship is sinking the captain goes down with it, but in this case the captain fled and the leftovers forced to build a raft, many reduced to cannibalism -150 were on ship, but only 12-15 survived -tells tale of survival and exhibits the incompetence of the French govt- piece ends up in London -composed based on the events imagined through hearing stories -pyramidal form adds drama to the scene- directs eye to apex as in a stabilizing triangle
Charles White, Untitled, 1979
-metal plate engraving with acid -uses cross hatching to create varied values
Thomas Eakins, The Biglin Brothers Racing (1873-74)
-mimics accuracy of photography -dominates by horizontal lines -diagonals of oars and clouds create a sense of space and moving backwards -Artist was an American realist that began in France- focused on painting scenes of everyday life to embody the idea of the American Spirit
Edward Munich, The Scream
-part of the symbolism movement- a prelude to expressionism -increased interest in subconscious realm of emotion- using color to express it -red= blood, horror, anguish -"It was a time when life had ripped my soul open" -unstable diagonals/swirling lines exhibits a silent cry of a soul projected onto nature
Henri Cartier, Bresson, Aquila (Abruzzi, Italy)
-primarily uses directional lines- have the power to unconsciously draw viewer's attention in particular way -images "capture the decisive moment" -picture plane organized in figure framework -vertical lines mimic black figures -lines break up the picture plane and direct the composition
Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Architectural Perspective
-renaissance art exhibits new techniques of linear perspective -receding lines appear to grow closer, until they reach vanishing point on horizon -creates a realistic spatial perspective -smaller buildings in background create a 3D spatial depth
The Sun and the Moon., Elizabeth Murray
-strikes balance between what we see in abstract terms (orange figure), and what is eventually realized to be figure (cat) -repetition of shape -light casts shadows, piece must be shallow sculpture of sorts -ambiguity of elements suggests representative abstractions of sight/sound
Keith Haring, Untitled
-thick green brush lines portray boundaries of merman figure appearing before a dolphin -wavy lines=symbolic of radiation of spiritual energy -lines create symbols of perception to separate body from background -primarily symbolic- no distinction between angel and air -Artist began career as graffiti artist
Devorah Sperber, Hendrix
-uses brain's capacity to assemble images from discrete units of visual information -1292 spools of thread mimic equivalent of pixelated image -based on color theory, mimics pointillism techniques -clear, acrylic sphere in front of work acts as lens to gather visual information, minimize, and rotate it (imitates the way our eyes and Brain work) -makes us aware of. brain's role in constructing a visual reality
Leonardo Da Vinci, The Virgin and St Anne With The Christ Child and John the Baptist
-uses chiaroscuro- shades of grey and varied values to create roundness and give form to figures -figures appear breathed into paper, bathed in a soft allover light that comes from everywhere but nowhere -roundness is evident by looking between heads of two children at raised hand of St Anne -hand of St Anne drawn with contour line but not modeled- appears flat as though it does not belong to rest of image
Albrecht Durer, Draftsman Drawing a Reclining Nude
-using measuring device to create realistic proportions -extreme foreshortening -uses obelisk on table to stabilize view of model, glances back and forth using grid lines on paper as reference points -uses obelisk to steady focus of moving gaze to create accurate perspective
Willem Kalf, Still Life with Glass Goblet and Porcelain Bowl
-visual texture captured in paint; formed idea of texture through observation of reflected light -reflected light conveys hard, smooth surface of porcelain bowl
3 components of space
1) linear perspective 2) chiaroscuro- values creating light and dark 3) atmospheric perspective
figure
a shape we detach from surroundings and choose to focus on
ground
a surrounding visual field from which a figure stands out
actual texture
a tactile experience in a work of art
time and motion
___________ _________ _______________ have become increasingly important to art during the 20th and 21st centuries- more thought and emphasis placed on the nature of time in modern day
shade
a color darker than that of the hue's normal value
tint
a color lighter than that of the hue's normal value
line
a path traced by a moving point, used as symbolic forms in art, used to record borders of form and convey direction and motion
intensity
also called chroma or saturation, refers to the relative purity of a color
implied texture
an illusionary experience of texture
pattern
any decorative, repetitive motif or design
hatching
areas of closely spaced parallel lines
kinetic art
art that actually moves
implied shapes
artists use _______________ to help unify their compositions- they help create a sense of order in art
atmospheric perspective
as objects recede into the distance they become paler, bluer, and less distinct- close objects have more intense color and as the approach horizon line they begin to "blue out", only used in landscape paintings
triadic
harmonies composed of any three equidistant hues on the color wheel
monochromatic
harmonies composed of variations of the same hue
complementary
harmonies involving directly opposite colors on the color wheel
analogous
harmonies that combine adjacent colors on the color wheel
two dimensional space
has only height/width- there exists the picture plane and the illusion of the negative ground and positive figure space
cross-hatching
helps achieve darker values, parallel lines laid across parallel lines
chiaroscuro
italian for light/dark, discovered and perfected by italian painters in renaissance, records contrasts of light and shadow in the natural world
geometric
shapes and masses that approximate the regular named shapes and volumes of geometry such as triangle, circle, square, cube, pyramid, and sphere
organic
shapes and masses that are irregular and evoke living forms of nature
light (actual/illusionistic)
the fundamental purpose of ____________________ is to show us the material world- it helps to understand form and spatial relationships
illusionistic light
the impression of light created by an artist
triangle
the most common type of implied shape used in art
hue
the name of a color according to categories of the color wheel
texture & pattern
the perceived surface qualities of a work of art- they can be actual or implied
negative shapes
the shapes of the ground
positive shapes
the shapes we perceive as figures
value
there are several _____________ techniques that artists use to imply light within art- these techniques result in the illusion of shape/mass of objects