Art Final Paper
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Presentation_5_Principles.pdf
Presentation 5 Vocabulary
Elements and Principles of Art and Design
This presentation is about the Visual Elements and Principles of Art and Design.
You should refer to this presentation when writing about art for your essays!
When describing art, it’s expected that you use the appropriate vocabulary. Parts of your essays will include a formal analysis of the artwork’s composition.
Formalism is the description and analysis of the way an artwork is made and its visual aspects.
The Composition of an artwork is the arrangement of the Visual Elements using the Principles of Art and Design.
The Visual Elements
Line
Shape
Form
Space
Value
Texture
Color
Time and Motion
The Principles
Unity
Variety
Balance
Scale / Proportion
Emphasis
Repetition
Movement
Contrast
The last presentation was an introduction to the Visual Elements, now we will concentrate on how the Elements come together and create the Principles.
Let’s stick with our previous analogy of cooking. The Elements are the Ingredients, and the Principles are the recipe directions.
Here is a very basic example… One artist has created a sense of balance and unity with their repetition of vertical shapes and color. The other has created variety and movement with their use of line and color.
Unity
The appearance or condition of One-ness in an artwork.
Unity is the agreement existing between elements.
Can also be referred to as Harmony.
Variety
The differences in the artwork.
Variety can be achieved by using diverse elements.
John McCracken The Absolutely Naked Fragrance
1967 plywood, fiberglass, resin
10’x21”x3”
John McCraken’s leaning planks have a strong sense of Unity. It is one distinct form of one solid color. But the artist achieves variety in different colors.
Wayne Thiebaud. Cakes and a Counter. Oil on canvas. 1963.
Many successful works of art have Unity and Variety in their composition. How has Thiebaud created Unity? Look at the repeating elliptical cake shapes. But there
is also Variety in the lines and colors of the decorations.
Louise Nevelson Moon Garden Painted wood. 115”x135”x20”. 1960
Peter Judson Garage Conversions, Basketball
Digital drawing. 2014
Balance
Achievement of equilibrium or agreement between elements.
The distribution of weight or force within a composition.
Balance can help create Unity while imbalance can create Variety.
A few ways balance can be achieved… Symmetrical - mirroring along a vertical or horizontal axis Asymmetrical – sense of similar along a vertical or horizontal axis Radial – focal point with mirroring along both a vertical and horizontal axis
Balance through Symmetrical
Elements
Balance through Asymmetrical Elements
Unbalanced Elements
Damien Hirst. Posterity—The Holy Place
butterflies on canvas 90" × 48". 2006.
This work by British artist Damien Hirst has symmetrical balance along a vertical axis.
Linda Stark Self-Portrait with Ray, oil on canvas 36”x36”2017
Jasper Johns Target with Four Faces
Encaustic on newspaper, cloth, plaster, wood
34”x26”x3” 1955
Jasper John’s has used both radial symmetry, in the target shape, and vertical symmetry in the faces. But the work does not have a horizontal symmetry.
Thirteen Diety Mandala of Jnanadaskini Tibet, Late 14th Century
Distemper on cloth 50”x38”
This painting by Peter Paul Rubens seems to have radial balance when looking at the forms of the animals and people. The artist directs our eyes around the canvas with implied curving shapes and directional lines.
Peter Paul Rubens The Tiger Hunt
Oil on Canvas. 101”x128”. 1616
Titian Noli Me Tangere
Oil on canvas. 1581.
With asymmetrical balance a sense of balance may still be achieved through visual weight. The complexity of the tree seems to balance the forms and details of the buildings on the right. The figures even reach across an invisible vertical line. Some may disagree with how asymmetrically balanced the work is on a vertical axis, but many might agree that the composition is weighted heavily in the bottom half under the horizon line.
For this installation, Rachel Harrison has grouped some of her sculptures together on white pedestals and surrounded them with folding chairs. The work seems to have a radial symmetry of balance with the heights of the objects and overall circular shape.
Rachel Harrison From the exhibition Life Hack at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2019
Scale
Size relation of separate objects to one another.
Scale gives us an idea of size.
Proportion
Proportion is the size relationship of parts to a whole.
Do Ho Suh, 348 West 22nd Street 2011-15
The artist Do Ho Suh creates exact replicas of his homes in semi-transparent polyester. Both the scale and proportions are the same.
The size of each component (doorknobs, windows, etc.) are proportionally the same to each other. The size of the whole work are the same measurements to his apartment that he copied.
Roettgen Pietà. 1300–1325. Height 34-1/2". (unknown artist)
Michelangelo Buonarroti. Pietà. 1501. 6'8-1/2” tall
Let’s look at two sculptures that both deal with Proportion and Scale in different ways. Both have the same subject matter and even the same title.
Roettgen Pietà. 1300–1325. Height 34-1/2". (unknown artist)
Michelangelo Buonarroti. Pietà. 1501. 6'8-1/2” tall
Let’s look at two sculptures that both deal with Proportion and Scale in different ways. Both have the same subject matter and even the same title.
The Roettgen Pietá’s size almost 3 feet tall while Michelangelo’s Pietá is close to 7 feet tall. This difference in size is Scale. The Roettgen Pietá is much smaller in scale. Look at the size of the heads in the Roettgen Pietá, you’ll notice how much larger they appear compared to their bodies. The figures are not Proportionally correct. We assume the artist did this for a reason, perhaps to emphasize the emotions on their faces. Michelangelo’s figures appear proportional, the body parts are the correct size in relation to all body parts. Though actually Michelangelo's figures are a little tricky. He enlarged the body of the female figure (Mary) in comparison to the male figure (Christ). He did this so that it would appear she not overwhelmed in support a full-grown man. He carved their heads to be the same scale but created her body to be much larger, therefore, out of proportion.
Many of Ron Mueck’s hyper-realistic sculptures are proportionally correct, but he dramatically increases or decreases their scale.
Ron Mueck Big Baby II
Fiberglass, silicone 1997
Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen Shuttlecocks 18’x9’x9’, steel, paint. 1994
Peter Saul – Global Warming, The Last Beer Oil on canvas, 2017
What does such an exaggeration of proportion in Peter Saul’s painting do?
How we interact with scale is important. This small work by Johannes Vermeer will produce a much different reaction than the enormous Sistine Chapel painting by Michelangelo. The artist’s subject matter seems to match their scale in these works.
Johannes Vermeer – Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, Oil on canvas, 18”x16”, 1662
Michelangelo – The Last Judgement Fresco, Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, 1536-1541
Emphasis
The importance or prominence given to an element.
A way of combining elements to stress the difference between them.
Its opposite is De-Emphasis or Subordination.
Typically, this is what we first notice in an artwork. We sometimes use the term Focal Point.
An artist may position something in the middle but can also use color, value, size, etc.
Directional Forces, through the use of line or implied line, is very effective in emphasizing a subject. They create ‘paths’ for you eye to follow.
The artist has directed our eyes to a converging point. Goya has done it in this case to create a sense of tension and drama.
Francisco Goya – Bullfight: The Agility and Daring of Juanito Apinani in the Ring of Madrid, 1816
Juliana Huxtable, Untitled (Psychosocial Stuntin'), digital photograph, 2015
Juliana Huxtable has emphasized the figure in this work through its central placement, lack of detail in surroundings, and converging one-point perspective. The viewers eyes quickly scan the other areas but return to study the details of the figure.
Thomas Eakins – Agnew Clinic Oil on canvas, 84”x118”, 1889
Thomas Eakins creates an Emphasis of two focal points, the surgeon and the patient. Implied sight lines of the audience direct our eyes to the much brighter figures at the foreground. The contrast in value keeps the viewer focused on the two mostly white areas, causing a tension between them.
Ben Shahn Handball 23”x32”, gouache on paper, 1939
Artist Ben Shahn emphasizes the darker figures on a mostly light area that dominates the painting. Notice the way your eyes move as you look around the work.
Francisco Goya The Third of May 1808 Oil on canvas, 106”x137”, 1814
What was Goya trying to emphasize, or draw our attention to? Does this emphasis extend to concerns outside of the actual painting?
Repetition (and Rhythm)
Similar shapes, objects, elements that help create Unity, Emphasis, or Balance in their reappearance.
Rhythm are repetitive visual elements that suggest Movement, action.
Repetition can create patterns that lead to a sense of Unity.
Repetition and Rhythm can be regular and irregular.
Ogata Korin – Cranes Ink, gold, silver on paper, Japanese, Edo period (1615–1868).
Robert Delaunay Rythme san fin (Endless Rhythm)
Oil on canvas, 63”x51”, 1934
The alternating curving shapes creates a rhythm that moves the eye up and down.
René Margritte – Golconda Oil on canvas, 32”x40”, 1953
Donald Judd – Untitled Enameled aluminum, 60”x25”x65”, 1991
George Tooker – Lunch Egg tempera on panel, 20”x26”, 1964
The repetition of figures creates a rhythm in this painting by George Tooker. Does this create a certain mood? Notice the way your eyes move over the picture. Does your eye keep coming back to one section?
Hypostyle hall, Great Mosque at Cordoba, Spain, begun in 786, later enlarged
You’ll notice Repetition and Rhythm in a lot of Architecture.
The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Canberra, Australia. Lyons Architecture
Movement
The look or feeling of action to guide the viewer throughout the work.
The arrangements of Elements and Principles that lead the viewer’s eyes.
The arrangement of Elements or use of Principles that create a sense of motion.
Actual movement in an artwork.
Stuart Davis - Swing Landscape Oil on canvas, 7’x14’, 1938
Movement in this work by Stuart Davis relies on repeating shapes, lines and color.
With well placed curving shapes, Palmer Hayden’s small painting gives us a sense of dancing movement in the emphasized central figures.
Palmer Hayden - Jeunesse (Youth), watercolor on paper, 14”x17”, 1927
How does Edward Hopper move the viewer’s eye around the painting?
Edward Hopper – Tables for Ladies, oil on canvas,48”x60”, 1930
Edward Hopper – Tables for Ladies, oil on canvas,48”x60”, 1930
Repeating rectangular elements of the room. Repeating circular shapes. Implied lines and actual lines that direct our attention. The blue circles and lines help show, but you may notice many more of these repeating elements. What does this create? The viewer seems to be constantly directed back into the restaurant.
Contrast
The amount of difference between any of the Elements in an artwork.
Strongly dissimilar elements can create high contrast. While low contrast will rely on very similar elements.
Contrast in value is very common. But there can be contrast in the use of Line, Shape, Color, and Texture.
An example of Contrast in Value of this movie still.
Vija Celmins – Web #3 Oil on linen, 15”x18”, 2002
Vija Celmins created a low contrast in value to produce a fragile and delicate work, similar to her subject of a spider web.
Andy Warhol – Marilyn Diptych Silkscreen print with acrylic paint on canvas, 81”x114”, 1962
The high contrast in color between the left and right side seems to suggest a before and after. Warhol created this weeks after the famous actress’s death.
David Altmejd – The Island Polystyrene, expandable foam, epoxy clay, wood,
synthetic hair, resin, quartz, Plexiglas, coconuts, acrylic paint, wire, glitter, latex paint
12’x4’x3’, 2011
What does the contrast in texture and materials do in this sculpture? Similarly, how might the artist’s enlarged scale of the human-like sculpture effect a viewer?
The Visual Elements
Line
Shape
Form
Space
Value
Texture
Color
Time and Motion
The Principles
Unity
Variety
Balance
Scale / Proportion
Emphasis
Repetition
Movement
Contrast
Take a look back through this slideshow and pick out different Principles that are in use. As you’ll see many work together to produce reactions in a viewer.
