What is a left leaning diagonal line called

A Virtual Gallery Or Museum

Visit a virtual gallery or museum and choose a work of art to critique. Visually analyze the work of art and critique it based on the visual elements of art (line, shape, color, etc. – use your lecture notes and Chapter 4), principles of design (rhythm, composition, balance, etc. – use your lecture notes and Chapter 5), subject matter, content, and function. What is the medium? Who is the artist? What is the title and what was the date when it was created?

Next, choose a work of art we have studied in class, or a work of art from your textbook, and conduct a visual analysis of it. Include the visual elements (line, shape, color, texture, etc.), principles of design (rhythm, composition, balance, etc.), function, subject matter, and content. What is the medium? Who is the artist? What is the title and what was the date when it was created? Compare your virtual art gallery or museum choice with the work you choose from class. Describe why it is an interesting comparison – the works of art must have something in common, whether it is the subject matter, the content, the medium, the artist, or the function. Use at least 5 vocabulary words from lecture and/or your textbook to describe the work of art at the gallery or museum and 5 vocabulary words to describe the other work of art from lecture/textbook. This exercise is intended for you to apply concepts and vocabulary learned in class to a work of art in a gallery or museum. Go look at some works of art and enjoy yourself!

Online Lecture: The Visual Elements

The visual elements of art are the components artists have available to create a work of art. In one particular work of art all can be used; in another work of art only a few may be used. These elements help us to decipher what we see. The visual elements are:

1. Line

2. Shape

3. Mass

4. Light

5. Value

6. Color

7. Texture

8. Space

9. Time

10. Motion

Line

Line is one of the simplest elements

Line is “a path traced by a moving point” (for example, writing the letter “R” on a piece of paper is an example of a line)

Line can be expressive in a work of art. It can be the boundary that separates an object from its surroundings. Line can be symbolic and suggest things like energy (such as wavy lines), motion (such as diagonal lines), or shapes and forms (such as boundary/contour lines)

Contour vs. Outline

Outline: the line that defines a two-dimensional shape (such as a square or triangle drawn on a piece of paper)

Contour lines: lines that represent boundaries of three-dimensional objects (such as a person, dog, house, banana, etc.)

The lines around this two-dimensional triangle are outlines

The lines around the bananas create the illusion of a three-dimensional form and are therefore considered contour lines

Implied Lines

In the work below, the two figures at left create a strong implied diagonal line because of the tilt of their bodies. The painted breath from their mouths direct our eyes to the central figure (a nearly vertical line) whose hair (in diagonal implied lines) leads our eyes to the third figure on the right (another implied diagonal line leaning inward). Please see the black lines drawn on the image to show the implied lines.

Sandro Botticelli The Birth of Venus 1486 Tempera on canvas

Direction and movement

Directional lines move our eyes through a work of art.

Movement can be implied through lines.

Vertical lines suggest assertive qualities, horizontal lines suggest peace and stability, and diagonal lines suggest motion and energy.

Thomas Eakins, The Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake, 1873-74, oil on canvas

In this work of art, the diagonal line of the boat guides our eyes across the painting and suggests motion of the boat. The brothers’ arms are diagonal lines as well, suggesting motion. Even the oars are diagonals, giving a sense of motion. The nearly horizontal shoreline creates a calm and peaceful background.

Here we also see direction and movement. Look at the implied line of the two figures at left. They indicate a diagonal line moving toward the right of the canvas. We can tell this because of the tilt in the bodies (feet at lower left and heads at upper right) and also because of the implied lines of their garments which seem to flow away from them. Look at the central figure’s hair. It appears to be blowing in the wind from her head to the right of the image, suggesting the implied motion of wind.

Psychological Lines

These are implied lines created by line of sight. When we look at a person in a work of art or in daily life, we follow where their eyes are directed. When one sees figures in a work of art glancing in a direction, one automatically follows the line of sight.

Here, the viewer is guided with the line of sight of Jesus (the baby on the viewer’s right with his right hand up) to Saint John the Baptist, at left, with hands in prayer. Jesus’s eyes gaze directly at Saint John, allowing our eyes to gaze at him as well. Mary’s eyes are lowered, allowing the viewer to focus back down on Jesus. On the following slide, imagine a line drawn from each set of eyes. Which figure seems to gaze out at you (the viewer)?

Shape and Mass

Shape is two-dimensional – identifiable due to outlines. Shape can be determined by a shift in color (a red square in the middle of a larger blue square), line (such as the outline of a triangle using a pencil), or change in texture (a circular cement area in the middle of a yard full of pebbles).

Mass is a three-dimensional form that “occupies a volume of space.” When discussing architecture, sculpture, and other three-dimensional forms, we use the term mass. When discussing mass in a painting, drawing, or print, (which are two-dimensional surfaces), we use the term implied mass.

Unknown artist, The Winged Victory of Samothrace, c. 190 BCE, marble (mass)

The architectural work, Notre Dame de Paris (mass)

Circular shield with stepped fret design, Aztec, before 1521, feathers (geometric shapes)

Organic and Geometric Shapes: Organic shapes or forms are those shapes found in nature (a human, a dog, a tree, a flower, etc.). Example at left – a female human form. Geometric shapes are those shapes made up of rectilinear (straight) or curvilinear (curved) lines. Geometric shapes include squares, rectangles, circles, half circles, triangles, etc. Example at right: rectilinear lines and a bold red outline create geometric shapes.

Exercise

Think of some shapes you see around you….I see an oval shape on my forearm (a freckle – a shift in color from the skin around it), I see a square shape on my pajama pants (an outline of black on white pants).

Think of mass around you….I see a couch in my living room (geometric), my dog (organic), my cell phone on the floor (geometric).

Do you see geometric shapes? Organic?

Implied Shapes

These shapes can be found in works of art based on implied lines.

In this work of art, the implied shape of a triangle is created due to the placement of the figures, with the head of Mary as the apex of the triangle. From her left hand, our eyes are drawn (with an implied line) down past the angel’s (in red and green) billowing garments to the corner of the triangle. In the left corner, we see a shrub, which anchors this side of the triangle. Saint John’s back creates the implied line of the other side of the implied triangle shape. Put your thumb over the shrub. Without it, the balance of the composition is lost (St. John looks lost in space).

Artists use implied shapes to create harmony and order in their works of art.

Light

Light helps viewers “understand forms and spatial relationships.”

Modeling is creating the impression of a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional surface (such as a drawing, painting, or print, with shading or highlighting.

Value is the continuum of light and dark from white to black.

Value Scale

Chiaroscuro

Italian for “light/dark”. Modeled forms with high contrasts of light and dark.

During the Renaissance in Italy, artists perfected this technique to render the illusion of three-dimensionality. To imply mass, the artist renders objects according to a specific light source. The area where the light source hits the object directly will be highlighted (in the highest value); where there is shadow, the artist will use a lower value.

One way to suggest high and low value using lines is with hatching, cross hatching, and stippling. Hatching = parallel lines placed closely together (to create darker areas) or placed farther apart (to create lighter areas). Stippling is the same idea, but with dots used. Closer dots = darker area. Dots further apart = lighter area. See the image below.

In this etching, Self-Portrait, made in 1630, Rembrandt models himself to imply three-dimensionality. Notice the low values where shadows would be on his cheek (created with many cross hatched lines). Also note the garment around his shoulders: it is rendered mostly in outline and appears flat compared with his face, which is in the light source, and is therefore, in high value.

Tints and Shades

Artists can use the principles of light with color, too.

Color mixed with white is called a tint (seen at the left). Color mixed with black is called a shade (seen at the right). For example, pink is a tint of red. Maroon is a shade of red.

Color

Color affects the viewer psychologically and physiologically (imagine your favorite color – how does it make you feel? Why?)

Palette – refers to both:

1. The actual wooden board on which artists set out their pigments or paints.

2. The range of colors artists select. For example, if an artist chooses many reds and yellows, we would say the work of art is in a warm palette.

A restricted palette: when an artist limits his/her range of colors (for example, when an artist uses only green, red, and orange, this is known as a limited palette).

An open palette: when an artist uses all (or almost all) of the colors on the color wheel.

Color Wheel

All of the colors (also known as hues) of the rainbow

Primary colors – red, blue, yellow – these cannot be made by the mixture of other colors

Secondary colors – orange, green, violet – created by combining two primary colors

Warm colors – on the side of the color wheel from red to yellow-green

Cool colors – on the side of the wheel with green to red-violet

Color Harmonies

Complementary colors are colors opposite one another on the color wheel. Example: green and red; yellow and violet. When placed next to one another in an image, complementary colors appear more intense and appear to “pop”

Analogous colors are colors next to one another on the color wheel. Example: Red-orange and red; violet and blue-violet

Monochromatic color harmony: this is a work of art created using only one color with variations of tints and shades

Color schemes

A sampling of Vincent van Gogh 

Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889, oil on canvas; complementary color scheme: yellow and violet and blue (these are the predominant colors in the work). See how the colors “pop” because they are far from one another/opposite on the color wheel?

Vincent van Gogh, The Night Café, 1888, oil on canvas; complementary colors: red and green are the predominant, complementary colors.

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 1889, oil on canvas; mostly analogous colors: green, yellow, orange (coat, face, wall)

How about a Picasso?

Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto (The Absinthe Drinker), 1903, oil on canvas; monochromatic color harmony: only tints and shades of blue are used to create this work of art.

Actual vs. Implied Texture

Actual texture refers to the real texture of a work of art.

Implied texture refers to the texture that the artist implies in a painting, sculpture, drawing, etc.

Meret Oppenheim, Object, 1936, fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon; Actual texture: fur. If you touched this work of art, you would feel fur.

Implied textures:

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Apollo and Daphne, 1622-25, marble; the actual texture of this sculpture is smooth marble. The implied textures of the work of art include: flowing hair, human skin, soft fabric, a rocky outcropping, and tree branches and leaves (Daphne’s hands). For more on this work, research the Greek myth: Apollo and Daphne (this will help you understand why she has leaves as hands  ).

Space and Depth

To convey depth, or recession into space, artists use various techniques. These include:

Overlapping

Linear Perspective

Atmospheric Perspective

Foreshortening

Overlapping

This is one of the simplest ways to demonstrate depth.

When we view an object that overlaps another object, we understand that the obscured or overlapped object is further away.

Maharana Amar Singh II, Prince Sangram Singh and Courtiers Watch a Performance, c. 1705-08, ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. Note how the elephants in the ‘front’ (called the foreground) are more fully visible than the horses and elephants toward the back (background).

Also note how our mind understands the figures toward the bottom of the page are nearer to us than the figures at the top of the page. Therefore, the prince in the architectural setting is further away from us than the musicians and acrobat at the front. The prince is in the background; the acrobat is in the foreground.

Linear Perspective

During the Italian Renaissance, artists noticed that optically:

Forms seem to get smaller in size the further they are from the viewer. This is called relative scale.

Parallel lines receding into the distance appear to merge and meet at a point on the horizon line. This point on the horizon line is called the vanishing point.

Below, note how the telephone poles appear to diminish in size and the railroad tracks converge and vanish at a point in the distance where the sky and earth meet (this is the vanishing point on the horizon line).

Linear perspective forever changed the course of art.

Before linear perspective, the picture plane was accepted as flat and was covered with shapes and colors.

After the advent of linear perspective, the picture plane became a window into an imaginary world.

Not all artists favor linear perspective, as we will see in Modern art and works of art from around the world.

Below, we see one point linear perspective and two point linear perspective. Two point linear perspective has two vanishing points on one horizon line.

Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, c. 1495-97, fresco; one-point linear perspective. Can you guess where the vanishing point is? What implied shape does Jesus form?

Note how the rectangular shapes on the walls create parallel lines which recede into space and converge at the vanishing point: Jesus’s head! The lines on the ceiling also act as parallel lines, appearing to get closer together as they recede in the distance. The artist has used linear perspective to not only convey depth, but also to focus on the most important figure in the scene. Jesus is rendered in the implied shape of a triangle – a very stable shape.

Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street: Rainy Day, 1877, oil on canvas. This work of art demonstrates two point linear perspective and relative scale (note how the figures diminish in size as they disappear in the background).

There is still one horizon line, but there are two vanishing points at which parallel lines converge. Notice how the roofline and the windows on the building become receding parallel lines.

Foreshortening

Along with linear perspective, this technique helps artists render objects and figures as they would appear in the natural world.

This technique relies on the concept that as an object or figure becomes perpendicular with the picture plane, it appears shorter – hence the term “foreshortened.”

Hans Baldung Grien, The Groom and the Witch, c. 1540, woodcut; note how as we, the viewer, look at the image of the man and the horse, the man’s body and the horse’s body appear foreshortened. If we turned them to the side (running from left to right across the picture plane), they would stretch out and we could view the man’s neck and the horse’s full body. So, how does an artist convey this illusion?.....

Albrecht Durer, Draftsman Drawing a Reclining Nude, from The Art of Measurement, c. 1527, woodcut; to render the optical illusion of foreshortening, the artist closes one eye and looks through a gridded screen (which emulates the picture plane). On a matching gridded surface, he sketches what he sees through the screen. The obelisk in front of his face allows him to keep his eye in the same exact spot the entire time, because the illusion would be ruined if he moves his head ever-so-slightly.

Atmospheric Perspective

With this technique, artists render objects/figures in the foreground (closest to the viewer) in greater detail and more clearly than objects/figures in the background (furthest from the viewer).

This is because this optical illusion occurs in real life too. When we look at things far away, the dust, moisture, and atmosphere get in between our line of sight and the objects far away. It was in the Italian Renaissance that atmospheric perspective was first developed in artistic practice.

Albert Bierstadt, The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak, 1863, oil on canvas; note the amount of detail in the figures in the foreground compared with the ‘blurry’ mountains in the far background. The viewer can make out details of the rocks and horses and people closest to us, but in the distance, we cannot make out details of the snowcapped mountains.

Time and Motion

Motion

Works of art which move are called kinetic works of art. The 20th century artist, Alexander Calder, was one of the founders of kinetic art.

Motion can also be implied in works of art. Even if a work of art cannot move on its own, motion can be implied.

Alexander Calder, The S-Shaped Vine, 1946, sheet metal, rod, wire, paint; this kinetic work of art actually moves with the air current. Calder was concerned with movement and technology. He carefully created these “mobiles” to shift and “float” in the air (suspended from the ceiling). He wanted his works to always be different at different moments in time (depending on the air currents) and liked the idea of chance altering his artwork (a chance breeze would change the way the work looked at any given moment).

Please visit the following website for more info:

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/art-between-wars/american-art-wwII/v/motion

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Apollo and Daphne, 1622-25, marble;. Apollo, in love with Daphne, pursues her. She does not love Apollo and asks to be changed into a tree to thwart his advances. Motion is implied by the swirling garments, flowing backward as the figures move forward. Her hair also flows as she twists her head. His arms and legs imply the direction he is moving. The passage of time is implied in the moments as she morphs from human into tree (note her hands/branches and legs/trunk).

For more on this work: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/monarchy-enlightenment/baroque-art1/baroque-italy/v/bernini-apollo-and-daphne-1622-25

Review

Can you describe: Implied lines? Psychological Lines? How lines demonstrate motion? Implied shapes? Geometric shapes? Organic Shapes? Light? Modeling? Value? Figure vs. Ground? Primary colors? Secondary colors? Warm colors? Cool Colors? Hue? Tint? Shade? Monochromatic, complementary, and analogous color harmonies? Restricted or open palette? Actual vs. implied texture? Linear perspective (including horizon and vanishing point)? Foreshortening? Atmospheric perspective? Kinetic art?

Bibliography

DeWitte, Debra J, Ralph M., Larmann and M. Kathryn. Shields, Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2015.

Sayre, Henry M, A World of Art. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2010.

Getlein, Mark, Living with Art. New York: McGraw Hill, 2013.