Exam 1 - Chapter 1.1
Elements of Art
Elements of Art are the basic vocabulary for the visual artist. Artist uses the elements to create their art. The elements are: Line, Shape, Form (mass & volume), Space, Texture, Time & Motion, Value, and Color.
To understand elements and principles in the art
Another way to understand elements and principles is to think of the elements as ingredients like flour, sugar, butter, chocolate chips. It depends on which recipe is followed as to the type of cookie made. Following a recipe that uses flour, sugar and butter (elements) results in butter cookies (principle). Add chocolate chips and brown sugar (elements) and you have chocolate chips cookies (principle).
Shape (Element of Art)
is flat and two dimensional (having height and width), with no form or thickness. Shapes can also be positive or negative, geometric and organic. A shape is a two-dimensional area the boundaries of which are defined by lines or suggested by changes in color or value Shapes are formed by an outline. When you draw a rectangle or a circle, you are using an outline to draw the shape. Shapes are also created by a change in colors. There are geometric and organic shapes. Shapes are actual or implied. There are positive and negative shapes.
figure-ground reversal
the reversal of the relationship between one shape (the figure) and its background (the ground), so that the figure becomes background and the ground becomes the figure A figure ground reversal occurs because the inside corners of the black shapes suggest the corners of a square.
Organic shapes
Shapes found in nature such as leaves, flowers, seashells. These shapes are free flowing and irregular. Organic shapes are made up of unpredictable, irregular lines Organic shapes are irregular shapes where the area is not as easy to determine. Organic shapes imitate or suggest nature.
Two-dimensional art
Two-dimensional art is a flat surface such as paper, canvas, or a wall. The surface is an area, has only height and width. A drawing, painting, photograph, and print are examples of two-dimensional art.
Line (Element of Art)
We will look at a variety of lines: actual, implied, outline, contour, directional, regular and irregular. Line is the most basic element an artist uses. We use line when we sign our names or jot something down on a piece of paper. Most likely you drew a line the first time you held a crayon as a child.A line is a mark or implied mark between two points. A line can be actual or implied.
1.1.3. Clamp
1.1.3CLAMP. page from the TsubasaRESERVoirCHRoNiCLE. volume 21, page 47 Actual directional lines can be seen in the sword, the arrow like shapes and the diagonal lines along the top and left edge. Two arrow like shapes point our eyes outward, toward the upper left. Other shapes lead our eyes toward the right edges.An implied directional line is formed between the man's right hand to his bent elbow. Our eyes move upward or downward between the sword and bent arm. Another implied line is the left forearm pointing toward and in the same direction as an almost horizontal shape pointing toward the right.In this artwork, diagonal lines are used to create explosive, high energy movement. CLAMP, page from the Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE Line can communicate direction and movement Directional lines focus our attention on different sections The strong diagonal lines add an intense feeling of movement
Countour line
A contour is the outer edge or profile of an object Can suggest a volume in space by giving us clues about the changing character of a surface An example of contour line. There are lines drawn on the outer edges and on the interior surfaces. The interior lines are called contour lines. The outer edges can be called contour lines or contour outline(s). There are very few lines drawn, just enough to suggest a person who has volume and is not flat like a shape. Look at the man's left elbow. With a few lines drawn by the artist we perceive a wrinkled suit coat where the elbow is bent.
Directional line
A line that seems to guide the viewer's eye along a particular visual path Directional lines direct our eyes across an art piece or to something the artist wants us to notice. Directional lines can be actual or implied.
Outline
A line that shows or creates the outer edges of a shape. The spider is an example of an outline. There is a line only on the outer edges of the spider. There are no lines on the interior of the spider's body. Because there are only lines on the outer edge of the spider, a flat shape is formed. Outlines create two-dimensional shapes.
Positive and negative shapes
A positive shape is defined by its surrounding empty space (the negative space) In visual form, positive and negative is often represented by black and white, but any color combination can work Often what is in the foreground is also called "figure". Figure is used when you have an object such as a tree or a person in the foreground. We most likely would not use "figure" to describe the rows of corn in the foreground of Grant Wood's painting,Young Corn. The figure is always a positive shape. Any object, thing, or person is a positive shape in two-dimensional art. If we look at the 2-dimensional surface as a space, like an area, then the positive shape can also be called positive space. While the figure is considered a positive shape or space, the ground is considered a negative shape or space. It might be easier to understand if you think of a wooden chair. The chair is positive space while the space between the chair's legs and any other openings in the chair is negative space. Look at the lower left corner of the above painting. The sky is the ground/background. The organic shape of blue with white stars is a negative shape/negative space.Another area with negative shapes are the blue areas next to the tree trunk. The blue in the upper right and lower right corners are negative shapes/space.
1.1.27 Georgia O'Keeffe, Music—Pink and Blue II, 1919. Oil on canvas, 35 ×29⅛". Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Georgia O'Keeffe, Music—Pink and Blue II O'Keeffe's abstract shapes derive from a close observation of organic objects Emphasis on the negative blue shape in the bottom right of the picture Positive shape is the pink arc above Georgia O'Keeffe is an American artist who is probably best known for painting close-up views of flowers. She spoke of seeing shapes in her mind, knowing where some came from while not knowing where other shapes came from. In this painting we see organic shapes and swirls of color. The title of the artwork references music. O'Keeffe enjoyed the abstractness of music without lyrics. Color and shape is like sound. There is a strong blue negative organic shape on the lower right of the painting. It appears as though we are looking through an opening into the shape being formed with light violet, red, orange, pale white, and green. Georgia O'keeffe When we looked at Miriam Schapiro'sBaby Blocks collage, I mentioned that in the early 1970's there was a feminist art movement. One of their activities was to search for women artist who were excluded from "Art History" and another, to search for what is common in "women's" art. In the 1970's Georgia O'Keeffe was not only known but still painting. Your textbook states that O'Keeffe uses flowers to make associations to the female body. This interpretation arose from the feminist art movement, not what O'Keeffe intended or doing. The following is a response from Georgia O'Keeffe. Georgia O'Keeffe Quote "Nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small. We haven't time -and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time.If I could paint the flower exactly as I see it no one would see what I see because I would paint it small like the flower is small. So I said to myself -I'll paint what I see -what the flower is to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it -I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers....Well, I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower -and I don't." George O'Keeffe
1.1.13 slide 2: Francisco Goya, The Third of May, 1808, 1814. Oil on canvas, 8'4⅜"×11'3⅞". MuseoNacionaldel Prado, Madrid, Spain
Goya: Using Line to Guide the Viewer's Eye Directional lines can be either actual or implied Goya uses implied line to guide the viewer's gaze The strong horizontal of the rifles draws attention to victims There is a high contrast between colors. The man with a white shirt and yellow pants stands out the most. The red blood is also emphasized. White is the lightest value and yellow is the lightest color. Placing the two together creates a bright area that contrasts with the toned down colors used throughout the painting. Like the white and yellow, the red color is more intense (brighter) than the colors used for the hill, sky, building, and soldier's clothes. There are different degrees of contrast. The highest contrast occurs when opposites are used. In this case, the artist used intense colors and dull colors to direct our eyes to the man in white and yellow. Goya, a Spanish artist, painted this painting and a second painting entitled "The Second of May". "The Second of May" depicts the Spanish rebellion against Napoleon's occupation of Spain in 1808. The "Third of May" depicts the following day when Spanish resistance fighters were executed.
1.1.18 Henri Matisse,Themes and Variations,series P, Woman Seated in an Armchair, pl. 2, 1942. Pen and ink, 19¾ ×15¾".Musée des Beaux-Arts,Lyons, France
Henri Matisse, Woman Seated in an Armchair Contour lines outline the figure's overall shape, define her face, and describe the surface of her dress Bold, simple lines create a spontaneous, relaxed feeling
1.1.29 M. C. Escher, Sky and Water I, 1938. Woodcut, 17⅛ ×17⅜". The M. C. Escher Company, The Netherlands
M. C. Escher, Sky and Water I The negative shape changes from white in the upper part of the picture to black in the lower Strong geometric patterns change into the organic shapes of animals This is a figure-ground reversal 1.1.29M. C. Escher(1898-1972). Sky and Water I.1938. Woodcut. 17⅛ x 17⅜". The M. C. Escher Company, Netherlands Escher, a Dutch artist, reverses figure and ground in this woodcut print. At the bottom the ground is black and the figures are white with black lines. In the center of the composition, the ground switches to white and the figures are black with white lines Compare the bottom fish with the next row of fish and then the next row. Notice how the details of the fish decrease as we move upward. As the details decrease we become more aware of the negative black shapes. By the time we reach the center, the negative shapes become positive shapes (a reversal) we perceive as black geese. Like the fish, the geese have more details as we move toward the single goose. Escher is probably best known for his impossible spaces.
1.1.23 Miriam Schapiro, Baby Blocks, 1983. Collage on paper, 29⅞ ×30". University of South Florida Collection, Tampa
Miriam Schapiro, Baby Blocks Organic shapes of the flowers are clearly distinct from the hard geometric shapes of the "blocks"and red frame Artist calls these works "femmages"(homages to the artistry of traditional "women's work") Shapes Formed by a Change in Color; Geometric and Organic Shapes Shapes are also created by a change in colors.The green dress shapes are defined by the change of colors surrounding the dresses. Both line and a change in color are creating an implied block (cube). I say implied because a block or cube is a three-dimensional object. A collage is a two-dimensional art piece. Though we perceive the shapes of blue, yellow, and black as blocks, they are not actual three-dimensional blocks, they are implied blocks. There are geometric and organic shapes. Geometric shapes are shapes like a circle or rectangle where the area is easy to determine. Think geometry. Organic shapes are irregular shapes where the area is not as easy to determine. Organic shapes imitate or suggest nature. Where do you see organic and geometric shapes? Miriam Schapiro is a feminist artist. The feminist art movement has roots in Fresno. Judy Chicago taught a woman's art class at Fresno State for one year beginning Fall 1970. The following year she moved her class to L.A. and created a woman's art workshop with Miriam Schapiro. The focus of the program was to research women artist who were omitted from "Art History", to question societies definition of "woman" (identity issues), and search for what appears to be universal "woman art". In the collage to the right, Schapiro is referencing a type of quilt known as baby blocks. Schapiro is making a comment about the classification of quilt making as a craft rather than as art (woman's art).
Principle of Design
Principles of Design is the "grammar", the rules applied to the elements of art that results in one or more principles. It depends on how or the way an artist uses the elements, (line, shape, texture...), as to which principle(s) appear in the artwork. The principles are:•Balance, Contrast, Emphasis, Focal Point, Pattern, Proportion, Rhythm, Scale, Unity, and Variety. ContrastContrast is a Principle of Design. Contrast is the noticeable difference between an element or elements. The difference can be between colors, shapes, textures....
Geometric shapes
Standard shapes used in geometry---e.g., circle, square, and rectangle A geometric shape is mathematically regular and precise Geometric shapes are shapes like a circle or rectangle where the area is easy to determine. Think geometry.
1.1.1 Spider, c. 500 BCE- 500 CE, Nazca, Peru
The spider is an example of an outline. There is a line only on the outer edges of the spider. There are no lines on the interior of the spider's body. Because there are only lines on the outer edge of the spider, a flat shape is formed. Outlines create two-dimensional shapes. The diagonal lines and other lines we see crossing the spider where made after the spider was drawn because people were not aware the spider was there. The spider is 150 feet long and can only be seen from the surrounding hills or by plane. An archeologist first saw the spider in 1927 while hiking in the foothills. In the early 1930's the spider glyph (a pictograph) and other glyphs were seen by a pilot searching for water. Spider, Nazca, Peru 150 feet long Created by scraping off dark gravel, revealing white gypsum underneath The lines define the outline of the shape
Compare outline and countour line
The spider is drawn with an outline and looks like a two-dimensional shape. The man is drawn with contour lines and appears to be a form (mass & volume). By drawing lines to indicate the interior surfaces of a form, the contour drawing implies a three-dimensional person.
1.1.12 Sauerkids. The Devil Made Me Do It.2006. Digital image. 16½ x 8¼"
There are actual and implied lines in this design. There are also directional lines. Directional lines will be discussed toward the end of this lecture. An actual lineis a continuous drawn mark between two points. The mauve (pink) and green lines emitting from the backward "p" shape with a "m" in the center are actual lines. The solid thick horizontal line and curved thin black line continuing below the horizontal line are actual lines.An implied lineis a line we see but has not actually been drawn. We see the letter "e" in the upper right corner. The lines are not continuous. There are gaps between the lines forming what we perceive to be the letter "e". The black dashed line and the rows and columns of dots on the lower left also create implied lines. Though the dashes and dots are not connected, we fill in the spaces (gaps) and perceive a line.Another place we perceive a line but is actually an implied line is where two different colors meet. Look at the upper left of the cup in the center of the design. Where the mauve and brown colors meet, we perceive a line at the boundary between the two colors.The majority of the actual and implied lines in this design are curved. Curved lines tend to suggest movement and/or activity as our eyes are directed around the artwork. This is not always true, it depends on the overall visual aspects of the artwork. In this piece, the thick black line gives us a slight resting place as our eyes move horizontally across the artwork and directs our eyes to the cup in the center. Sauerkids, The Devil Made Me Do It Dashes and grids of dots imply horizontal and vertical lines Title of work is spelled out using implied lines
Implied line
a line not actually drawn but suggested by elements in the work
Implied shape
a shape suggested or created by the psychological connection of dots, lines, areas, or their edges, creating the visual appearance of a shape that does not physically exist. Implied shapes are shapes we can see where no continuous boundary exists There are implied shapes. There are good examples of implied shapes on page 61 of your textbook. What they all have in common is there are spaces/gaps between the marks drawn. We "fill-in-the-blanks" and see a shape that actually has not been created by an outline or change in color.
