understanding art(chapter 5)

composite view/twisted perspective

The combination of different perspectives

multiple perspectives

The depiction of objects or scenes from more than one vantage point. The use of multiple perspectives may provide a more complete visual and sensory impression, also a way to suggest the fourth dimension—time and motion.

Futurist artists

like Boccioni, were seduced by the motion and speed of the instruments of the industrial age—locomotives, automobiles, airplanes, power generators, and the pistons and turbines that drive factory and machine. Their goal was to express this speed, this sensation of rapid movement—a fourth dimension—in two- and three-dimensional art. The work of the Futurists represents an exaggeration, an extreme in the depiction of movement. The Futurists suggested that the subjects of their works were less important than the "dynamic sensation" of the works.

how to make a one-point perspective

First a horizon line is determined and a single point placed somewhere along it—typically in the exact center. Diagonal lines representing depth are then drawn from the four corners—and four edges—of the composition toward the center point. The intersection of the orthogonals and transversals create a grid that the artist can use to determine the "visually correct" size of figures or objects or to arrange architecture within the illusionistic space so that it appears to be three-dimensional.

transversals

Lines that are parallel to the horizon line are

Multiplication of Images and Blurred Lines

With rapid movement, the discrete boundaries of figures or objects can be difficult to perceive. Blurring outlines is therefore another way to create the illusion of motion. Blurring and simulating the result of multiple exposures in photography will create the illusion of motion in paintings and drawings. (ex. Giacomo Balla's Girl Running on the Balcony)

atmospheric perspective (aerial perspective)

a technique for illustrating depth that recreates the indistinct quality of distant objects based on the atmosphere between those objects and the viewer. incorporates devices such as texture gradient, brightness gradient, color saturation, and the interplay of warm and cool colors. Forms in the distance are less clear. Forms in the distance are also paler and bluer

line of action

an imaginary line that runs down the spine of a character that indictes the force and movement in that moment

warm colors

appear to expand and move towards us

cool colors

appear to recede

Conceptual representation

assembles the distinctive characteristics of figures and objects as they are viewed from different perspectives rather than a single, fixed vantage point.

use for landscapes

atmospheric perspective

relief sculpture

Sculpture that is carved to ornament architecture or furniture, as opposed to freestanding sculpture. Devices for creating an illusion of space in drawing and painting are analogous to those used in relief sculpture. sculpture in which figures project from the two-dimensional surface (like a slab of marble, plank of wood, or piece of bronze) of which they are a part. Regardless, with relief sculpture, the viewer is meant to observe the work from a frontal perspective, much as with painting or drawing.

one-point perspective

the artist places a single point on the horizon line—typically in the exact center. a system that enables the artist to project the three-dimensional world onto a two-dimensional surface by accurately representing the size of objects relative to the depth of the receding space.

high relief sculpture

the figures project significantly from the surface and appear almost three-dimensional

trompe l'oeil

the illusion of real objects. "to fool the eye" in French

horizon

the line where the earth and sky meet.

Implied time

the portrayal or suggestion of the passage or duration of time.

location(vertical positioning)

Artists use it as a strategy to signify depth. Location suggests depth because of the viewer's tendency to read things at the top of the composition as farther away than things at the bottom.

motion

Artists work with motion as they would with any other visual element. Kinetic art converts static images into active ones. Film, video, or time-lapse photography can capture the effects of works of art that rely on actual motion.

time and motion

Motion occurs over time, so the two concepts are inextricably linked.

relevant size

One way in which artists suggest space is varying the size of objects and figures.

vanishing point

The point at which objects "vanish"

optical representation

The representation of figures and objects from a single vantage point

illusion of space

The suggestion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional surface

vantage point

Viewers observe objects from a

illusion of motion

When artists use techniques successfully to suggest that motion is in the process of occurring. These techniques include multiplication of images or fragments, blurred lines, and optical sensations

Overlapping

creates the illusion of space through imitating the real-world effect of closer objects obscuring objects that are farther away. often works hand-in-hand with relative size. frequently in still life compositions in which depth is usually limited and when the artist wants to emphasize the relationships between and among the objects and spaces

orthogonals

diagonal lines that extend from the four corners

picture plane

divides reality from the painted world

horizon line

equivalent to the artist's eye level

motion lines

extend from an object along its pathway of motion to make it appear like it's moving

low relief sculpture

no higher than the surface

Freestanding sculpture

occupies three-dimensional space

Implied motion

occurs when artists indicate motion without showing it. implied motion in a figure may be suggested by the subject matter. (ex. diagonal lines)

Linear perspective

refers to formal systems developed by artists to portray three-dimensional objects in two-dimensional space. The goal is to provide the viewer with the same impression of relative size, position, or distance that would be created by viewing the objects from a particular point called a vantage point.

Actual space

refers to the dimensions in which we live and move

optical sensations

repetition of line and shape and the manipulation of high-contrast values and complementary colors.

Two-point perspective

represents the recession of objects seen from an angle, or obliquely. the imaginary sight lines that extend from the edges of cubes converge at two points on the horizon. in Gustave Caillebotte's Paris Street

Foreshortening

seeing a long object head-on so it looks compressed

illusion of space in a two-dimensional composition

sometimes called its implied space or pictorial space. it is created by the artist using devices or techniques to approximate the way things would be seen by the human eye in actual space. They include relative size (based on the observation that nearby objects appear larger to the eye than do objects in the distance), overlapping, transparency, vertical positioning, atmospheric perspective, linear perspective, and other more complicated versions of perspective.

one-point linear perspective

sometimes called scientific perspective. has a vanishing point, horizon line, and orthogonals