The Vocabulary of Art The Visual Elements of Art Edward Hopper, Rooms by the Sea, 1951, oil on canvas 29” x 40”

Hopper focuses on the sharply defined shapes that the light creates as it enters the house. He depicts them through abrupt shifts in value- dark yellow to pale yellow, dark green to light green, grey to white. Subtler shifts in value also indicate the choppy texture of the ocean surface and the masses of the wall and the door. Hopper uses very few colors in the painting, primarily red, yellow, and blue. With the sole and small exception of the vertical lines of the doorjamb, the horizontal line of the horizon, and the diagonal line of the entering sunlight. The size of the sofa and the framed picture in the next room help us gauge the depth of the interior space the painting depicts. To the right, however the space collapses, for there are no clues to help use sense how far away the ocean or the horizon is.

The Visual Elements of Design: • Line • Shape/Volume • Texture • Space • Value • Color

Line Line – a mark that is longer than it is thicker or a mark traced by a moving point. Line might be the most important and dynamic element of art.

Gustav Klimt, sketch

Line is a powerful tool. Line is such a powerful tool to artists that it is with a simple line across a blank piece of material that we can create the illusion of space. Here we have a line draw across the white plane. This divides it. Our brain can now process this information as a horizon. With the addition of the colors (another element) blue for the top and green for the bottom, most of us would agree this is the basis for a landscape.

An example of how much line can do alone: Here is an ink drawing from my sketchbook where only the same width line is used repeatedly to create shape and the illusion of value and texture.

Contour and Outline, Direction and Movement One of line’s most important functions is to define shape.

Contour lines – are the lines we draw to record boundaries of subject matter. We use contours to define shapes and give the illusion that what is contained inside the contours could exist as an actual object.

Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Igor Stravinsky, Graphite on paper, 1920

Jennifer Pastor, the perfect ride, steel, aluminum and plastic, 2003 Sketch is located on page 83 in text.

Our eyes tend to follow lines to see where they are going. Artists use this to direct your eyes around an image through use of actual lines as well as implied lines. This gives the suggestion of movement. Diagonal lines almost always imply action because of the lean of the line. This lean implies dynamism (motion). Flat lines imply something at rest or stationary because they relate to gravity pulling down.

Vertical lines imply a resistance to gravity.

We react to linear forms as lines. Page 85 of your text demonstrates how the forms in Thomas Eakins painting The Biglin Brothers Racing, act as lines moving through space implying a motion of the rowers.

Theodore Gericault, The Raft of the Medusa, 1819, oil on canvas, 16’13/8” x 23’9”

Shape and Mass A Shape is a two dimensional form. It occupies an area with identifiable boundaries. Boundaries may be created by line, a shift in texture, or shift in color. A Mass is a three-dimensional form that occupies a volume of space.

Georges Braques 1914 Here we have the representation of shapes using line and color to divide and define the shapes A shape is formed when line encloses space or divides space into formations. Shape may exist when two separate colors connect. Shape may also be created when texture is altered from the surrounding space.

The difference between mass and shape is that mass must be encountered in the round (in 3 dimensions), and shape exists (primarily) in terms of two dimensional form. When referring to mass we generally speak about sculptural forms. Shapes may allude to having mass by shifts in texture, color, or value.

Figure – is the shape we detach from its surroundings and recognize as distinct. Ground- is the surrounding visual information the figure stands out from (background). Positive shapes- are the shapes we perceive as figures. Negative shapes- are the shapes that appear in the ground after the application of the positive shapes.

Implied Shapes If you remember we spoke about the pieta Bellini painting and how Bellini was trying to force geometry in the painting by the unfolding of Mary’s dress. This an actual positive shape.

Raphael The Madonna of the Meadows 1505 Oil on Panel 44 ½” x 34 ¼” Unlike the positive shape shown in the pieta by Bellini (where Christ broke the form of the triangle in Mary’s dress), Raphael has grouped the figures of Mary, the young John the Baptist, and the young Jesus so that we perceive them as a singular triangular form. Mary’s head defines the apex, and John the Baptist the lower left corner. Defining the lower right corner is Mary’s exposed foot, which draws our eye because of the way the pale flesh contrasts with the darker tones around it. Implied shapes give us a sense of order.

Shapes As we’ve learned now, geometry, be it implied or actual, gives us order to the artwork and is a tool used to move our eye about the work. Certain shapes demand more attention than others. Just as we explained about diagonals being a dynamic line versus the flaccid horizontal lines. Some shapes force our attention and artists use this tool in terms of balance to direct your attention.

The circle is a powerful dynamic form. It forces the eyes attention because it has no ending, it makes the eye move around it constantly. Artwork may be broken down into basic shapes as previously shown. However, the circular forms become dominant by the nature of their shape. We can create balance by adding similar shapes throughout. Here, even with dynamic diagonal lines, the circle is still the most dominant shape.

With the addition of the smaller circles, the larger circle is less dominant . Now the tendency for the viewer is to visually move their eye throughout the composition.

Light or Value There are two types of light. Implied light and Actual light. Actual light is radiant energy that has different colors depending on their wave length. Implied light is conveyed through the use of pigments.

Light travels as waves of energy. Waves of light have different wavelengths (the distance between the top of one wave and the top of the next). Different colors of light have different wavelengths. Purple and blue light waves have short wavelengths. Red light has a longer wavelength.

Values- shades of light to dark Our eyes pick up the slightest degrees of change between light and dark (value changes).

Italian painters during the Renaissance period developed a technique called Chiaroscuro – Italian for light/dark. They attempted to render mass in two dimensions by using extreme value shifts between light and dark. This had not been attempted in this way in 25,000 years of painting.

Know this piece as an example of chiaroscuro. Gerard Von Honthorst The Matchmaker 1625 Oil on Canvas

Know as an example of chiaroscuro Leonardo Da Vinci The Virgin and Saint Anne with the Christ Child and John the Baptist Charcoal, Black and white chalk on brwon paper 55” x 40”

Leonardo da Vinci was one of the great masters of this technique. The chiaroscuro technique began on illuminated manuscripts and carried over into drawings on colored paper such as this piece by da Vinci. It eventually became very pronounced in later periods such as the Baroque period by masters such as Caravaggio.

Another way to convey value shift is through line alone in a technique called Hatching, Cross-Hatching and Stippling. Hatching- closely spaced parallel lines. The closer the lines are the darker the values appear between them. Cross Hatching- crisscrossing lines (parallel, perpendicular and diagonal). The more space between the lines the lighter the values appear. Stippling- using dots or marks to create the appearance of value change. The closer a cluster of dots, the darker the values appear. Scumbling- To soften the colors or outlines of (a painting or drawing) by covering with a film of opaque or semiopaque color or by rubbing.

Cross hatching

hatching

Scumbling

Contour hatching

Stippling

Example of stippling.

Gregory Masurovsky, Eve, 1994, pen and ink on paper, 88” x 26”

Color Sir Isaac Newton is credited for discovering light refracted into colors as he shined light through a prism. Color is dependant on light. All color we see is reflected light rays. When we see colors such as a blue paint swatch it is because that paint swatch is absorbing all light except for the blue light waves. The swatch is reflecting those back us.

Primary Colors- red, yellow and blue Secondary Colors- made by combining primary colors. Orange, green, violet.

Tertiary Colors- Mixing primary colors with Secondary Colors. Yellow-Green, Blue-Green, Blue-Violet, Red Violet, Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange. Browns are made by mixing opposites of the color spectrum. Black is the absence of reflected light White is all the light ranges feflected. Warm colors are colors on the red –orange side of the color wheel. Cool colors are colors on the blue-green side of the color wheel.

Color Properties Every color has three properties: Hue, Value, and Intensity. Hue-is the name of the color according to the color wheel. Value- lightness or darkness of the color Tint- is a color lighter than the hue’s normal value. Shade- is a color darker than the hue’s normal value. Intensity or Chroma or Saturation- is the relative purity of a color. Pure colors have high intensity; duller colors have a lower intensity. This is accomplished by adding black, white or another color.

A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light. Many materials selectively absorb certain wavelengths of light. Materials that humans have chosen and developed for use as pigments usually have special properties that make them ideal for coloring other materials. A pigment must have a high tinting strength relative to the materials it colors. It must be stable in solid form at ambient temperatures. For industrial applications, as well as in the arts, permanence and stability are desirable properties. Pigments that are not permanent are called fugitive. Fugitive pigments fade over time, or with exposure to light, while some eventually blacken.

Pigments are used for coloring paint, ink, plastic, fabric, cosmetics, food and other materials. Most pigments used in manufacturing and the visual arts are dry colourants, usually ground into a fine powder. This powder is added to a vehicle (or binder), a relatively neutral or colorless material that suspends the pigment and gives the paint its adhesion.

Light and Pigment A color behaves differently depending on whether an artist is working with light or pigment. With light; adding a red, green and blue light will give you a white light. The more colored light you ad, the closer to white you get. Pigments absorb and reflect light. The more colors you mix together the more less light will be reflected. The more complementary the colors are in pigment, the duller the mixture appears because you are taking away more of the spectrum of reflection.

Color Harmonies A color harmony may also be called a color scheme. It is the selective use of to or more colors in a single composition. Monochromatic harmonies are composed of variations on the same hue, often with differences of value and intensity. Complementary harmonies involve colors directly opposite one another on the color wheel. Red and green, violet and yellow, blue and orange. Example of a Complementary Harmony. Henri Matisse, Woman with a Hat, 1905, Oil on canvas, 31 1/4 x 23 1/2 in

Color Harmonies continued… Analogous harmonies- combine colors adjacent to one another on the color wheel, such as red, red-orange, and orange. Triadic harmonies- are composed of any three colors equidistant from each other on the color wheel. Right - Example of triadic harmony Gaugin, Te Aa No Areois, (The Seed of the Areoi) 1892, Oil on burlap, 36 ¼” x 28 3/8”

Optical Effects of Color Certain color combinations may fool our eyes as to what color they register. Simultaneous contrast- is where complementary colors appear more intense when placed side by side. Afterimage- is when prolonged staring at any saturated color fatigues the receptors in our eyes. Our eyes compensate, when allowed to rest, by producing the color’s complementary as a ghost afterimage in the mind. Optical color mixture- when the eye mixes two colors that may be near one another to form a new color.

Texture and Pattern Texture refers to a surface quality. The perception of smooth or rough, flat or bumpy, fine or course. Actual Texture- is literally tactile. A surface you are able to experience with touch. Visual Texture- is texture we perceive through the eyes by techniques the artist uses. Pattern- Any decorative, repetitive motif or design.

Actual Texture

Robert Rauschenberg, Charlene, Mix Media, 1954.

Visual Texture Gustav Klimt Portrait of Adele Bloch – Bauer Oil Silver and Gold on Canvas 1907 54” x 54”

Pattern A page from the Book of Kells (sometimes known as the Book of Columba)

An illuminated manuscript in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was transcribed by Celtic monks ca. 800.

Space Three-Dimensional Space- Actual space we can move through. Space that applies to architecture, installations, sculpture or areas that hold art. Implied Space- Space that is suggested in two dimensional art. As we learned with line, drawing one horizontal line from left to right in a picture plane we give the illusion of the existence of space.

Picture plane- the space that exists within the borders of a two dimensional work of art.

Linear Perspective Linear Perspective- is an approximate representation, on a flat surface (such as paper), of an image as it is seen by the eye. Developed by Renaissance artists, linear perspective attempts to create and optically convincing space to set form in. Forms seem to diminish in size as they recede from us Parallel lines receding into the distance seem to converge until the meet at a point on the horizon where they disappear. This point is the vanishing point.

Leonardo Da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1497, Fresco, 15’1 1/8” x 28’ 10 ½” Many Renaissance artists took up linear perspective just for the sheer joy and challenge of attempting it. Leonardo da Vinci used linear perspective to construct The Last Supper and this piece is often used as a benchmark to show how linear perspective was utilized.

The new Italian discoveries of perspective took some time to reach the North. There the advance towards realism was achieved without central perspective. Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Wedding, is not drawn in central perspective, but the ceiling, floor, and walls each to separate points. Evidently it is not easy to tell without a minute examination whether a systematic construction has been used. None of the Flemings used central convergence consistently, i.e. for the whole picture, until Petrus Christus as seen for instance in the Virgin and Child with S. Francis and S. Jerome (1457; Frankfurt, Städelsches Kunstinst.). Geometrically controlled foreshortening did not appear north of the Alps until the next century, after the treatises by Viator (1505) and by Dürer (1525) had become widely known.

Forshrtening- Foreshortening refers to the visual effect or optical illusion that an object or distance appears shorter than it actually is because it is angled toward the viewer. Andrea Mantegna, The Mourning over the Dead Christ, tempera on wood panel, (c. 1475)

Andrea Mantegna, born in 1431, was a Venetian Renaissance artist, a student of architecture, and the son of Jacopo Bellini. Mantegna experimented with perspective by lowering the horizon line to create a sense of great monumentally.

Atmospheric Perspective- Refers to the effect the atmosphere has on the appearance of an object as it is viewed from a distance. As the distance between an object and a viewer increases, the contrast between the object and its background decreases, and the contrast of any markings or details within the object also decreases. The colors of the object also become less saturated and shift towards the background color, which is usually blue, but under some conditions may be some other color (for example, at sunrise or sunset distant colors may shift towards red).

Leonardo da Vinci Year, c. 1503–1506, Type Oil on poplar, 30 in × 21 in Leonardo da Vinci coined the term Aerial Perspective, which we now call Atmospheric Perspective. He was one of the pioneers of this technique.

Isometric Perspective- is a form of perspective that allows diagonals to be parallel and are never on an angle to move towards one another. It is more specifically, a form of axonometric projection. It is a method of visually representing threedimensional objects in two dimensions, in which the three coordinate axes appear equally foreshortened and the angles between any two of them are 120 degrees.

Gu Hongzhong, The night revels of Han Xizai, Song Dynasty copy, ink and colors on silk; 11 ¼” x 11’

The Principles of Design •Balance •Emphasis/Dominance •Rhythm/Movement •Unity/Harmony •Scale/Proportion

Unity and Variety Unity is a sense of oneness, of things that belong together. Variety is the opposite of unity. Picture a scale moving from one end to another with total harmony at one end and chaos at the other. This is the difference between unity and variety. Ben Jones, Black Face and Arm Unit, 1971, Painted Plaster.

This piece shows both unity and variety. The unity occurs in the grouping of faces and arms whereas the variety occurs in the various patterns painted on the faces and arms.

In the piece Memory of Oceania, by Henri Matisse, we see a unity begin to form around the use of geometry and a simple color scheme.

Henri Matisse, Memory of Oceania, 1953, mix media collage on paper, 9’4” x 9’4”

In the piece Mes Voeux, by Annette Messager in your text page 122, we see an example of conceptual unity. The ideas behind the images in each individual photo link the work as a whole. While they may be different, each in approach, the whole of what the images relate to is united in one concept. Annette Messager, Mex Voeux, 1989, Framed Photographs and handwritten texts, suspended with twine.

Sometimes artists try to go to extreme ends of variety in order to accomplish their goals. Here we have a work by Jackson Pollock where he uses short, lashing brush strokes thick with paint, weaving a visual texture that is anything but united.

Jackson Pollock, Shimmering Substance (sounds in the grass series), Oil on Canvas, 1946, 30 1/8” x 24 1/4”

Balance Much about balance in a composition depends on what we call Visual Weight Visual Weight – refers to the apparent “heaviness” or “lightness” of the forms arranged in a composition, as gauged by how insistently they draw our eyes attention. When Visual Weight is distributed to either side of the center of gravity, we feel that the composition is balanced.

Symmetrical Balance Symmetrical Balance- the implied center of gravity is the vertical axis, an imaginary line drawn down the center of the composition. Forms on either side of the axis correspond to one another in size, shape and placement. Georgia O’Keeffe, Deer’s Skull with Pedernal, 1936, Oil on Canvas, 36” x 30”

Symmetrical compositions are often used in the making of religious images. They imphasize a central placement of the religious figure and try to show order around this figure by using geometry and symmetry. In the Shaka Triad, by Tori Busshi, the Buddha depicts the Buddha in monk’s robes. His gestures (mudras) promise believers tranquility and a path to salvation. Behind him is a halo of flames. On each side of him are two bodhisattvas (slightly less elevated spiritual beings).

Tori Busshi, Shaka Triad, in the golden hall of the Horyu-ji Temple, 623, Guilt Bronze, 46” tall.

Frida Kahlo painted many self portraits that displayed much about her psyche. In the piece The Two Fridas, she displays a symmetrical balance in showing the duality of her heritage. Being half Spanish and half Indian (Mexican descent), she painted a portrait displaying her two heritages. In the Frida to the left she is wearing a very European white gown and the right, the Mexican Frida is wearing more traditional Mexican clothing. The Mexican Frida is holding a portrait of Diego Rivera (whom she was married to). The Spanish Frida has severed her vein and is bleeding out on her dress.

Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas, 1939, Oil on Canvas, 5’ 8 ½” square.

Asymmetrical Balance Asymmetrical Balance- occurs when several smaller forms on one side of a composition are balanced by a large form on the other side, or smaller forms are placed further away from the center of the composition than larger forms. One darker item may need to be balanced by several lighter items. This type of balance requires careful attention by the artist. How do you know if the composition is properly balanced? No correct answer other than, it is balanced when it looks balanced.

Gustav Klimt, Death and Life, 1915, mix media on canvas, 5’ 10” x 6’ 6” In this piece by Klimt we see the asymmetrical balance dramatized by the opposition between life, envisioned to the right in a lightly colored and patterned conglomeration of people versus the left, which is death portrayed in primarily black with patterned crosses for the garment. The motion of the cloud of humans comes to a point at the upper left where the gaze of the woman meets death and he singles her out, beaconing her.

Degas, Edgar L'etoile OR La danseuse sur la scene (The Star OR Dancer on Stage) 1878 Pastel on paper 23 5/8” x 17 3/8” Gustav Klimt and Edgar Degas were several European artists who had been looking to Japanese art for inspiration. What the found fascinating about Japanese painting was the asymmetrical balance they possessed. Japanese art had long cultivated dramatic asymmetrical compositions as well as dramatic play between objects which appear very close in the composition contrasted with forms appearing very far back in the composition. Note the wide open space in the painting Etoile by Degas.

Sakai Hoitsu, Summer Rain, one of a pair of folding screens. Edo Period late 18th to early 19th century. Color on Silver paper, 5’ 5 3/4” x 6 13/8”

Hiroshige, Ohashi Bridge in the Rain 1857, "The Bridge in the Rain" by Vincent Van Gogh, 1887, Wanted to show you how European Artists at this time were looking to Asia for new ideas.

Emphasis and Subordination Emphasis and subordination are complementary concepts just as unity and variety or red and green. Emphasis- means that our attention is drawn more to parts of a composition than others. Subordination means that certain areas of the composition are purposefully made less visually interesting so that areas of emphasis stand out.

Henery Ossawa Tanner used size and placement to create emphasis in his painting The Banjo Lesson. The painting, of an old man and a young boy, sets the pair in the foreground, and he posed them so that their visual weights combined to form a single mass (the largest form in the composition). Within this emphasized area, Tanner uses directional lines of site to create a focal point on the circular body of the banjo and the boy’s hand on it.

Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Banjo Lesson, 1893, Oil on canvas, 49” x 35 ½”

Color is often the most used element chosen to provide emphasis because color is direct. What makes it so powerful is a reaction to slight muscle movements in the eye. This can make color more powerful than shape and scale.

On the left we have an example of the design principle of balance at work. The left side of this painting by Miro is weighted heavily by the shapes and values. The eye doesn’t want to move the right side much. With the element of color, the red now dominates attention and challenges all the shapes on the left, leaving the piece more balanced.

Francisco de Goya, Executions of the Third of May, 1808, 1815, Oil on Canvas, 8’9” x 13’4”

Francisco de Goya used a dramatic color scheme to bring emphasis to the man being executed in his painting Executions of the Third of May. The white, yellow and red demand your attention. He uses directional lines as well to focus your attention to the man being executed. The scene Goya is depicting occurred during the invasion of Spain by Napoleon, when a popular uprising in Madrid was brutally suppressed by occupying French soldiers. The only faces being shown are those of the soon to be or already executed. The soldiers faces are not show to minimize their emphasis.

Scale and Proportion Proportion and Scale both have to do with the appearance of size in two dimensional work and actual size in three dimensional work. Scale- means size in relation to a standard or “normal” size. Normal size is the size we expect from relating forms to our life experiences. Rene Magritte used scale efficiently in his surreal paintings to give the viewer and a sense of his forms being almost otherworldly or dreamlike.

Rene Magritte, Personal Values, 1952, Oil on Canvas

Rene Magritte Delusions of Grandeur II 1948 Oil on Canvas 39 1/8” x 32 1/8”

Proportion- refers to size relationships between parts of a whole, or between two or more items perceived as a unit. Sometimes scale is meant to denote a hierarchical scale which we see in the Shaka Triad where the bodhisattva's are of a smaller size than the Buddha because they are not as high in spiritual enlightenment than the Buddha.

Rythm Rhythm is based on repetition of forms, and it is a basic part of the world we find ourselves in. Through repetition, any of the visual elements can take on a rhythm within a work of art. In Broadway Boogie-Woogie, Piet Mondrian creates shapes that provide the main rhythm. As squares and rectangles repeat obediently in a single file, then suddenly break out in larger accents. Colors add a layer of crossrhythms in red, yellow, and blue. The Negative white shapes and soothing gray shapes repeat rhythmically as well. Piet Mondrian, Broadway Boogie-Woogie, 1943, Oil on Canvas, 50” square

Another example of rhythm in painting. Friedensreich Hundertwasser - Der große Weg (1955)

Vocabulary and things to know from the elements and principles of art/design. Line – a mark that is longer than it is thicker or a mark traced by a moving point. Line might be the most important and dynamic element of art. Contour lines – are the lines we draw to record boundaries of subject matter. Diagonal lines almost always imply action because of the lean of the line. This lean implies dynamism (motion). Flat lines imply something at rest or stationary because they relate to gravity pulling down. Vertical lines imply a resistance to gravity. A Shape is a two dimensional form. It occupies an area with identifiable boundaries. Boundaries may be created by line, a shift in texture, or shift in color. A Mass is a three-dimensional form that occupies a volume of space. Figure – is the shape we detach from its surroundings and recognize as distinct. Ground- is the surrounding visual information the figure stands out from (background). Positive shapes- are the shapes we perceive as figures. Negative shapes- are the shapes that appear in the ground after the application of the positive shapes. Actual light is radiant energy that has different colors depending on their wave length. Implied light is conveyed through the use of pigments. Chiaroscuro – Italian for light/dark. They attempted to render mass in two dimensions by using extreme value shifts between light and dark. model effect - Light and shadow or value shifts create what is called a model effect. Values- shades of light to dark

Color is dependant on light. All color we see is reflected light rays. When we see colors such as a blue paint swatch it is because that paint swatch is absorbing all light except for the blue light waves. The swatch is reflecting those back us. Primary Colors- red, yellow and blue Secondary Colors- made by combining primary colors. Orange, green, violet. Tertiary Colors- Mixing primary colors with Secondary Colors. Yellow-Green, Blue-Green, BlueViolet, Red Violet, Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange. Browns are made by mixing opposites of the color spectrum. Black is the absence of reflected light White is all the light ranges reflected. Every color has three properties: Hue, Value, and Intensity. Hue-is the name of the color according to the color wheel. Value- lightness or darkness of the color Tint- is a color lighter than the hue’s normal value. Shade- is a color darker than the hue’s normal value. Intensity or Chroma or Saturation- is the relative purity of a color. Pure colors have high intensity; duller colors have a lower intensity. This is accomplished by adding black, white or another color. Monochromatic harmonies are composed of variations on the same hue, often with differences of value and intensity. Complementary harmonies involve colors directly opposite one another on the color wheel. Red and green, violet and yellow, blue and orange.

Analogous harmonies- combine colors adjacent to one another on the color wheel, such as red, red-orange, and orange. Triadic harmonies- are composed of any three colors equidistant from each other on the color wheel. Simultaneous contrast- is where complementary colors appear more intense when placed side by side. Afterimage- is when prolonged staring at any saturated color fatigues the receptors in our eyes. Our eyes compensate, when allowed to rest, by producing the color’s complementary as a ghost afterimage in the mind. Optical color mixture- when the eye mixes two colors that may be near one another to form a new color. Actual Texture- is literally tactile. A surface you are able to experience with touch. Visual Texture- is texture we perceive through the eyes by techniques the artist uses. Pattern- Any decorative, repetitive motif or design. Three-Dimensional Space- Actual space we can move through. Space that applies to architecture, installations, sculpture or areas that hold art. Implied Space- Space that is suggested in two dimensional art. As we learned with line, drawing one horizontal line from left to right in a picture plane we give the illusion of the existence of space. Picture plane- the space that exists within the borders of a two dimensional work of art. Foreshortening- Foreshortening refers to the visual effect or optical illusion that an object or distance appears shorter than it actually is because it is angled toward the viewer.

Atmospheric Perspective- Refers to the effect the atmosphere has on the appearance of an object as it is viewed from a distance. As the distance between an object and a viewer increases, the contrast between the object and its background decreases, and the contrast of any markings or details within the object also decreases. The colors of the object also become less saturated and shift towards the background color, which is usually blue Unity is a sense of oneness, of things that belong together. Variety is the opposite of unity. Symmetrical Balance- Forms on either side of the axis correspond to one another in size, shape and placement. Asymmetrical Balance- occurs when several smaller forms on one side of a composition are balanced by a large form on the other side, or smaller forms are placed further away from the center of the composition than larger forms. One darker item may need to be balanced by several lighter items. Emphasis- means that our attention is drawn more to parts of a composition than others. Scale- means size in relation to a standard or “normal” size. Normal size is the size we expect from relating forms to our life experiences. Proportion- refers to size relationships between parts of a whole, or between two or more items perceived as a unit. hierarchical scale- scale that denotes rank in hierarchy. Rhythm is based on repetition of forms

Know the following slides and the information about them.

The Visual Elements of Design: • Line • Shape/Volume • Texture • Space • Value • Color

The Visual Elements of Design: • Line • Shape/Volume • Texture • Space • Value • Color

Know as an example of chiaroscuro Leonardo Da Vinci The Virgin and Saint Anne with the Christ Child and John the Baptist Charcoal, Black and white chalk on brwon paper 55” x 40”

Leonardo da Vinci was one of the great masters of this technique (chiaroscuro) . The chiaroscuro technique began on illuminated manuscripts and carried over into drawings on colored paper such as this piece by da Vinci. It eventually became very pronounced in later periods such as the Baroque period by masters such as Caravaggio.

Henery Ossawa Tanner used size and placement to create emphasis in his painting The Banjo Lesson. The painting, of an old man and a young boy, sets the pair in the foreground, and he posed them so that their visual weights combined to form a single mass (the largest form in the composition). Within this emphasized area, Tanner uses directional lines of site to create a focal point on the circular body of the banjo and the boy’s hand on it.

Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Banjo Lesson, 1893, Oil on canvas, 49” x 35 ½”

Frida Kahlo painted many self portraits that displayed much about her psyche. In the piece The Two Fridas, she displays a symmetrical balance in showing the duality of her heritage. Being half Spanish and half Indian (Mexican descent), she painted a portrait displaying her two heritages. In the Frida to the left she is wearing a very European white gown and the right, the Mexican Frida is wearing more traditional Mexican clothing. The Mexican Frida is holding a portrait of Diego Rivera (whom she was married to). The Spanish Frida has severed her vein and is bleeding out on her dress.

Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas, 1939, Oil on Canvas, 5’ 8 ½” square.

Gustav Klimt, Death and Life, 1915, mix media on canvas, 5’ 10” x 6’ 6” In this piece by Klimt we see the asymmetrical balance dramatized by the opposition between life, envisioned to the right in a lightly colored and patterned conglomeration of people versus the left, which is death portrayed in primarily black with patterned crosses for the garment. The motion of the cloud of humans comes to a point at the upper left where the gaze of the woman meets death and he singles her out, beaconing her.

Francisco de Goya, Executions of the Third of May, 1808, 1815, Oil on Canvas, 8’9” x 13’4”

Francisco de Goya used a dramatic color scheme to bring emphasis to the man being executed in his painting Executions of the Third of May. The white, yellow and red demand your attention. He uses directional lines as well to focus your attention to the man being executed. The scene Goya is depicting occurred during the invasion of Spain by Napoleon, when a popular uprising in Madrid was brutally suppressed by occupying French soldiers. The only faces being shown are those of the soon to be or already executed. The soldiers faces are not show to minimize their emphasis.