UNITY AND VARIETY

Going Home (c. 1946). Jacob Lawrence.

Jacob Lawrence abstracted his subject in his painting - people in a train. The painting expresses unity because Jacob repeated the visual themes of – people, seats, luggage, windows, and colors in the painting. Notice the varied repetition in the green seats and window shades. However he varied the themes by first giving the people different theatrical businesses. As a unifying element, the artist used the same red to the variety of shapes.

BALANCE

Balance is the achievement of equilibrium, the condition in which acting influences are held in check by opposing forces. We often crave balance in life and art.

SYMMETRICAL BALANCE

Symmetrical Balance is the near or exact matching of left and right sides of a three-dimensional or a two-dimensional composition.

Architects often employ symmetrical balance to give unity and formal grandeur to a building’s façade.

Design for the President’s House (1792). James Hoban.

Probably on of the most symmetrical paintings ever made is the PORTRAIT OF THE HUNG-CHIH EMPEROR, executed by an anonymous court artist in 15^th century China. The ruler sits stiffly facing us, hands concealed by his rich garments. Only a few asymmetrical dragons on the screen behind him an in the medallions on his cloak relieve the overall rigidity of the compostion.

Portrait of the Hung-Chih Emperor, 15th century

ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE

With asymmetrical balance, the two sides are not the same. Instead, various visual phenomena are balanced – according to their visual and referential weights – around a felt or implied center of gravity.

What are the visual properties or weights of colors and forms, and how do we go about balancing them? As with design itself, there are no rule, only principle.

PRINCIPLES OF FORMS AND COLORS

Here are some classic and modern examples of asymmetrical balance:

The Holy Family on the Steps (1648). Nicolas Poussin.

The Holy Family on the Steps is a combination of symmetry and asymmetry. The pyramidal arrangement of the forms allow our eyes to perceive symmetry. Poussin placed St. Joseph in dark shadows leaving only the foot in the light with the staff leaning toward the right. This adds some weight to this side of the painting. Further, at the upper-right corner is the post which sets up another thrust of weight. On the other hand, Poussin created a major interest at the left side by giving St. Elizabeth a bright yellow robe. The warmth of her robe adds to the visual weight in the left side. St. Elizabeth is diagonally related with the clouds at the upper right. Thus, the clouds counter the weight created by the bright yellow form.

The most important figure in the painting is placed in the central axis. This is the strongest position in 2D art. Here, Jesus Christ was the most important figure. Indeed it is appropriate to make him the center of gravity. Mary, on the other hand, was painted in traditional red and blue.

Our eyes are first led to the form at the rightmost portion of the painting. Edgar Degas seemed to avoid the central vertical axis by placing the center of gravity near the right side as set up by the pole running vertically. Right after, our eyes are drawn from right to left to the next jockey wearing a red cap. Then, we see the third form at the farthest point in linear perspective. Finally, our eyes are led to the blue green portion going up to the circular figure at the upper left corner. The whole process is what you call as visual cuing.

Speaking of balance, the painting is asymmetrically balanced because of the diagonal association between two forms: the sun at the upper left corner, and the head of the jockey at the lower right. The sun is the only geometric figure in the painting and it counters the weight of the jockey on the horse near the corner.

Death and Life (c. 1911-1915). Gustav Klimt.

Death and Life is in asymmetry as effected by the principle of form where a cluster of forms in the right near the center is countered by the single form near the edge on the left. Another effect of countering the visual heaviness of the cluster in the right is the visual pull by the symbol of death, ensnaring the woman who is facing the form directly.

VALUE RANGE












TONALITY

Is the picture predominantly light or dark?




CONTRAST

Are the contrast in value great or small?


Great contrast


Small contrast

SEPARATION

• Do the values merge one into the other, or are they separate?

• Are the boundary lines blurred or distinct?

CHARACTER OF DARK AREAS

• Is there a single flat surface or are they subtly varied?

EMOTIONAL CONNOTATION

• How does the value affect the mood of the painting?

CHIAROSCUR0

• Italian: “light and dark”

• manipulation of light and dark to create the illusion of volume on a two-dimensional surface

• a type of modeling where a more convincing and subtle representation of reality can be created by imitating a wider range of light intensities

VALUE (LUMINOUSITY)

Value dominates our visual experience. It is the strongest element of visual contrast and largely determines our perception of form as we explore a picture. It defines our perception of space through the luminance differences between the lighted and dark surfaces of three dimensional objects and long distance effects of aerial perspective.




Value also refers to:

-relative degrees of luminosity—that is, the presence or absence of light
-the working with shadows to imply light.

COLOR

• The element of art derived from reflected light
• Has three qualities: hue, value, and intensity

HUE

• Name of a color according to the categories of the color wheel

VALUE

• Relative lightness or darkness of a hue
• Changes through additions of white and black

INTENSITY

• Relative purity of a color
• Refers to the brightness (high) or dullness (low) of a hue
• Also called chroma or saturation
• Adding a hue's complementary color lowers the hue's intensity (subtraction process)

TONALITY

• Refers to the overall effect of a work of art when one color and variations of it seem to dominate the whole

COLOR HARMONIES

1. Monochromatic

• Composed of variations of the same hue

2. Complementary


involves two colors opposite one another on the color wheel

• Complementary colors react more vividly with each other thereby creating more intense hues

3. Analogous

• Combines colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel

4. Triadic

• Composed of any three colors equidistant from each other on the color wheel

WARM COLORS VS. COOL COLORS

• Colors are relatively warm or cold only due to associations

OPTICAL EFFECTS OF COLOR

• Simultaneous contrast

ADVANCING VS. RECEDING COLORS

• Warmer, high-intensity, and dark-value hues appear larger and advancing than cooler, low-intensity, and high-value hues, which appear smaller and receding

OPTICAL COLOR MIXTURE

• When small patches of different colors are close together, the eye may blend them to produce a new color.
• Pointillism - dots of pure color are placed next to each other
  

TEXTURE

Do all surfaces have texture?

Texture is how the surface of painting, sculpture or architecture feels like in looking at it or in touching it. An illusion is set by 2-dimensional artworks that would make you believe that the surface in front of you is rough or smooth. The illusion is made because of several techniques like addition of granules to paint, or by applying thick acrylic and pasting materials (as in collage), to surfaces of compositions.

Texture adds richness to a work of art and make it more interesting.

Two kinds of texture

1. Tactile ---- touch ---- 3D texture

Painters use texture to make their works more lively. Vincent Van Gogh is know for his use of impasto, which is a technique in art that involves to thick application of paint so that the figure will stand out from the canvas.

Visual ---- illusion ---- 2D texture

A photograph is an example of visual texture. The images captured in a photograph seem rough but the surface of the photogrph remain smooth and flat.


illustrations taken from Sanford (2005)

Examples of texture:
	Smooth: No textural "barriers" or "distractions"
				La Pieta (1555-64) - Michelangelo di Buonarroti The carved marble images are finished with such high quality that the observer can imagine how smooth they would be to the touch.
	Rough: Can be created by the heavy application of paint.
				The Cathedral of Rouen (1892, dated 1894) - Claude Monet The paint is laid on this image of 1892 in such a quick manner as to suggest roughness of the surface.
	Velvety
				Portrait of a Man in a Red Cap (1486) - Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) The thick richness of oils lends the expensive clothes of this young nobleman a velvety effect.
	Silky
				The Birth of Venus (1485) - Sandro Botticelli The smooth application of oil paint to this Italian Renaissance masterpiece evokes the impression of silken skin on the beautiful gods and goddesses.
	Downy
				Young Hare (1502)- Albrecht Durer Durer was so exacting in his replication of nature, that the observer can almost feel the rabbit's soft fur.
	Bumpy
				Broadway Boogie Woogie (1943)- Piet Mondrian The superimposed squares of primary colors conjure up bumps across the flat canvas. This rhythm of color almost turns up the music.

MASS, VOLUME, FORM

MASS

• A unified body of matter with no specific shape: a mass of clay.

• a three-dimensional area or the physical bulk of a solid body of material.

Volume

• The space that is occupied by an object or shape. When mass encloses a space, the space is called volume.

Form

• Sometimes used instead of mass to refer to bulk.

LINES

Lines

-In art, we consider lines as paths of action
-they are a continuous mark made on some surface by a moving point
-implies action since it takes movement to make a line
-can lead the eyes into, around, and out of visual images in a work of art



Characters of Lines

-can be active, static, aggressive or passive
-indicates directions
-define boundaries of shapes and spaces

Kinds of Lines

1. Horizontal Lines

-run parallel to the ground
-line of rest and quiet contemplation

2. Vertical Lines

-move up nd down
-the line of potential dignity and strength
-poised; balanced, forceful, dynamic, assertive

3. Diagonal Lines

-somewhere between vertical and horizontal
-Lines of movement and action
-make viewer feel tense and uncomfortable, because they appear to be rising or falling (except when they meet at a single point)

4. Curve Lines

-change direction gradually
-the line of action and life and energy; neither harsh nor stern
-movement of grace; freely flowing

5. Zigzag Lines

-create confusion
-suggest nervous excitement

6. Axis Line