Mona Lisa （Artist: Leonardo da Vinci）5 page Research Paper. Read requirement carefully please
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StudentChapter5PrinciplesofDesign.ppsxChapter Five Principles of Design
Unity
Variety
Repetition
Rhythm
Balance
Emphasis/focal point
Proportion/scale
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The organization of elements is called composition or design.
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The definitions are within the slide show, as there wasn’t enough room on this slide for terms and definitions. Students will want to leave room under each definition for notes.
Instructors may want to use an elements and principles chart so that students can follow the handout as you are pointing out how these work together. It is helpful for the instructor to discuss how each principle combines with elements in this visual.
Have students break into groups and, using the chart, do an analysis of a slide they haven’t seen before. You may want to take them to a gallery to do the analysis.
Unity:
The sense of oneness, of things belonging together and making up a coherent whole
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Figure 5.1 Henri Matisse, Memory of Oceania, 1953.
Variety:
Differences that provide interest and contrast
Unifying Principles of Design
Composition is the organization of all the visual elements within a work of art. Artists design their compositions using guidelines known as the Principles of Design.
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These are the two principles that must be present in a work of art. A piece with little or no variety can become boring, causing the viewer to scan quickly. Variety is what holds our attention for longer periods of time. On the other hand, a piece with too much variety can be chaotic or overwhelming.
Color and shape provide the variety in this piece, but the colors are repeated to create unity and visual connections for our eyes to follow. The shapes consist of rectangles, simple curves, and waves which alternate in positive and negative shapes. The pale yellow shape has no echo, and provides a focal point. This French artist traveled to Tahiti to experience painting in a different kind of light. This painting is a distillation of his voyage.
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Figure 5.2 Jackson Pollock, Shimmering Substance, 1946.
Unifying Principles of Design
Figure 5.3 Annette Messenger, Mes Voeux, 1989.
Visual Unity: Based on using the visual elements.
Conceptual Unity: Created through tying a group of ideas together.
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Visual Unity : based on using visual elements repeated in a work of art.
Jackson Pollock-repetitive use of color and bush strokes help to create unity and variety. Surface is woven into a unified work.
Conceptual Unity: created through tying a group of ideas together.
Annette Messenger-Mes Voeux , French for “My Wishes” The grouped ideas in this work are the photographs of body parts (knee, throat, mouth, ear, hand) Also the framed text (they ask not to just be looked at, but to be read)
Restricted color help to achieve visual unity.
This work ask for us to interpret the message and unity within it.
Balance Visual Weight
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Visual Weight: Refers to an apparent “heaviness” or “lightness” of forms arranged in a composition.
When visual weight is equally distributed to either side of the implied center of gravity a composition is felt to be visually balanced.
Figure 5.7 Georgia O’Keeffe, Deer’s Skull with Pedernal, 1936.
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Symmetrical balance is considered to be the least interesting format for design. Symmetrical balance, however, is often used in religious images that emphasize a central, important being. This Tibetan Buddhist mandala, a diagram of a cosmic realm, emanates from the female buddha, Jnanadakini. Everything radiates outward from her, including four more buddhas, deities of the cardinal points. A mandala serves to focus meditation in the goal of achieving enlightenment. The basic geometry and the formal order of symmetry gives the message: We are living in a universe that makes sense, even if its logic and order are hidden from us during our brief lifetimes.
Balance Visual Weight
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Symmetrical balance: Mirror image of shapes/ forms on either side of an imaginary axial dividing line; elements correspond to one another in size, shape, and placement
Figure 5.8 Newar artists at Densatil Monastery, Tibet, Thirteen-Deity Jnanadakini Mandala, 1417-47.
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Symmetrical balance is considered to be the least interesting format for design. Symmetrical balance, however, is often used in religious images that emphasize a central, important being. This Tibetan Buddhist mandala, a diagram of a cosmic realm, emanates from the female buddha, Jnanadakini. Everything radiates outward from her, including four more buddhas, deities of the cardinal points. A mandala serves to focus meditation in the goal of achieving enlightenment. The basic geometry and the formal order of symmetry gives the message: We are living in a universe that makes sense, even if its logic and order are hidden from us during our brief lifetimes.
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Relieved symmetry or Approximate symmetry: Slight differences between axial areas of a work
The Luo Brothers, Welcome to the World Famous Brand Name
Balance
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The symmetrically designed Welcome to the World Famous Brand Name depicts an extravagant patriotic pageant. Overhead is a heavenly pageant aloft with famous products.
Balance
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Asymmetrical balance: Two sides that do not correspond to one another in size, shape, and placement
Figure 5.11 Tawaraya (Nonomura) Sotatsu, The Zen Priest Choka, late 16th-early 17th century.
Figure 5.10 Gustav Klimt, Death and Life, Before 1911-1915.
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Asymmetrical balance tends to allow the most variety; therefore, it tends to be more interesting. The heaviness or lightness of each form varies depending on its size in relation to other forms around it; its color in relation to other colors around it; and its placement in the composition in relation to other forms.
The asymmetrical balance emphasizes the opposition between life and death. The woman Death has come for is placed in the center of the painting, a symbolic border between life and death. She is the only waking person, and gestures as if to say, “Me?” What links the two halves of the painting is the gaze that passes between Death and his victim. The figure of Death is so compelling that Klimt consciously balances this visual weight with a myriad of patterns at the lower right of the painting.
Japanese artists often use dramatic asymmetrical compositions. This image is an example of economy, resulting in a peaceful, meditative scene. This ink painting of Choka is placed so far to the left as to be barely on the page. An implied line of vision is used both to balance the composition and to reveal its meaning. We naturally raise our eyes to look at the priest- that’s all there is to look at. We then follow the direction of his gaze down to…nothing. Meditation on emptiness is one of the exercises prescribed by Zen Buddhism, and Sotatsu makes it clear in this daring composition.
Balance
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Principles of Asymmetrical Balance:
1-A large form is visually heavier than a smaller form.
2-A dark valued form is visually heavier than a lighter valued form of the same size.
3-A textured form is visually heavier than a smooth form of the same size.
4-A complex form is visually heavier than a simple form of the same size.
5-Two or more small forms can balance a larger one.
6-A smaller dark form can balance a larger light one.
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Asymmetrical balance tends to allow the most variety; therefore, it tends to be more interesting. The heaviness or lightness of each form varies depending on its size in relation to other forms around it; its color in relation to other colors around it; and its placement in the composition in relation to other forms.
The asymmetrical balance emphasizes the opposition between life and death. The woman Death has come for is placed in the center of the painting, a symbolic border between life and death. She is the only waking person, and gestures as if to say, “Me?” What links the two halves of the painting is the gaze that passes between Death and his victim. The figure of Death is so compelling that Klimt consciously balances this visual weight with a myriad of patterns at the lower right of the painting.
Japanese artists often use dramatic asymmetrical compositions. This image is an example of economy, resulting in a peaceful, meditative scene. This ink painting of Choka is placed so far to the left as to be barely on the page. An implied line of vision is used both to balance the composition and to reveal its meaning. We naturally raise our eyes to look at the priest- that’s all there is to look at. We then follow the direction of his gaze down to…nothing. Meditation on emptiness is one of the exercises prescribed by Zen Buddhism, and Sotatsu makes it clear in this daring composition.
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Emphasis: The viewer’s attention
will be centered more
on certain parts of
the composition
than on others
Focal point: A specific spot to which one’s
attention is directed
Subordination: A less visually interesting area
Figure 5.14 Henry Tanner, The Banjo Lesson, 1893.
Emphasis and Subordination
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Emphasis and subordination are complementary concepts. An artist draws our attention to the important elements in a composition and purposefully makes other areas less interesting so that the focal points stand out.
Tanner uses size and placement to emphasize the figures in the foreground. It is as if they have combined to form a single mass, emphasizing their bond. Additionally, he uses strongly contrasting values to create further emphasis. The directional lines of sight create a small focal point of the banjo. Tanner has subordinated the background, blurring the detail and working in a narrow range of light values.
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Emphasis: The viewer’s attention will be centered more on certain parts of
the composition than on others
Focal point: A specific spot to which one’s attention is directed
Figure 5.15 Paul Cézanne, Still Life With Compotier, Pitcher and Fruit, 1892-94.
Emphasis and Subordination
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This artist arranged a white napkin to create a central focal area and subordinated the rest with earth tones. The napkin is peaked at the center, like a domestic version of Mont Saint-Victoire, the mountain that Cézanne painted so often. The white fruit dish (compotier) and white pitcher flank the peak, lending additional visual weight to the center. Patches of intense color are scattered throughout the fruits. This busy still life is ordered through the white cloth and pyramidal form.
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Scale: Size in relation to a constant or “normal” size
Proportion: Refers to size relationships between parts of a whole or between two or more items perceived as a unit
Figure 5.18 René Magritte, Delusions of Grandeur II, 1948.
Proportion and Scale
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Each portion of this figure maintains expected proportions, but the scale is unexpected. This Belgian painter tells us that the world around us might not be as rational and ordered as we like to think. He uses a shift in scale to create a telescoping woman. The sky looks perfectly normal at the horizon. As our eye gazes upward, we realize Magritte has broken the sky into cubes. He has also thrown in a small hot air balloon to equalize a sense of balance.
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Proportion and Scale
Figure 5.20 Benin, A Royal Altar to the Hand, 18th century.
Hierarchical Scale: Using size change to indicate relative importance.
Figure 5.19, Stele of the sculptor Userwer,
1991-1783 BCE
Scale in ancient times were
often based on measurement
using the hand.
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Ancient Egyptian artists relied on a squared grid to govern the proportions of their figures. This unfinished fragment gives us a rare insight into their working methods. In a finished work, the grid would no longer be evident. Egyptian artists used the palm of the hand as a basic unit of measure, with each square of the grid representing this unit. For example, a standing figure measures eighteen units (hands) high and six units at the shoulders.
African kingdom of Benin – altar is based on the King’s hand. Hands around the base where they alternate with rams heads. King seated on top of altar flanked by attendants in a symmetrical composition.
Expresses social hierarchy with king being of greatest importance he is the largest and attendants smaller.
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Figure 5.22 Proportions of the golden section and golden rectangle.
Figure 5.21 Leonardo da Vinci, The Study of Human Proportions According to Vetruvius, c. 1485-90.
Proportion and Scale
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Ancient Greeks and Romans believed that numerical relationships held the key to beauty, and that perfect human proportions reflected a divine order. Leonardo da Vinci was one of many artists fascinated by the ideas of Vetruvius, a Roman architect. Vetruvius’s treatise on architecture related the perfected male form to the perfect geometry of the square and the circle. Leonardo’s figure uses these numerical concepts to depict the proportion of the human figure in movement.
Ancient Greeks also formulated the golden section that essentially mimics the proportions of the natural phenomenon of the spiraling outward growth of a shell. The intellectual and mathematical aspects of the resulting rectangle is one of innately pleasing visual proportion. The ratio of the golden rectangle is 1:1.6178. The Greeks applied this to the design of such structures as the Parthenon, which we will study later. Today your printer paper and business cards adhere to this ancient invention.
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Rhythm is based in repetition and is a basic part of our world.
Visual Rhythm: Depends on the repetition of accented elements, usually shapes.
Figure 5.27 Paul Klee, Landscape with Yellow Birds, 1923.
Rhythm
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Rhythm is repetition and is part of our lives: The rhythm of seasons, waves on the shore, and cycles of the moon. It is an integral part of music, dance, poetry, and visual art. A beat in music is the underlying rhythm that unifies the composition. In visual art, rhythm is used to structure a composition and lead our eyes.
In “Easy to Remember,” Lorna Simpson uses music to suggest a profound human connectedness that lies beyond material concerns. Shapes are repeated to create a visual rhythm, or grid. She used a tune by Rogers and Hart, “Easy to Remember,” and invited people to individually hum along to a jazz version recorded by the saxophonist John Coltrane. She played the music over a headset, so that only they could hear it. She recorded each person’s humming, filmed their faces as they hummed, then isolated their mouths, devoid of details of race, age and gender. For the sound she combined all of the humming, without the music. At first the sounds are a calming drone, then differences begin to emerge. In the end, Simpson’s work presents a vision of a harmonious society, connected to a community that is bigger than we know. We are different and yet together, living with art.
Yusho used line to create two starkly contrasting rhythms- the long, swooping lines of the drying nets at the left, and the short, straight lines of the leaves on the right. If we imagined the lines as music, we might hear a beautiful, arching melody played by cellos, interrupted suddenly by chirping and twittering from the flutes.
Elements and Principles: A Summary
Unity
Variety
Balance
Emphasis/
subordination
Scale/proportion
Rhythm
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Figure 5.29 Pablo Picasso, Girl Before a Mirror,1932
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The motif of this painting is connected with the European subject: vanitas, which we studied previously. This particular type of mirror is called psyche in French, named for the Greek goddess. The model is presumed to be his lover. This design, with relieved symmetry, divides the composition in two. As in Frida Kahlo’s double self-portrait, the two sides are set in opposition. Warm colors are reflected as cool colors and firm shapes become fluid in reflection. It evokes a mysterious, shadowy realm of uncertainty. The girl’s gesture, almost an embrace, unifies the two halves. Picasso reinforces this gesture with a red striped shape. Together, gesture and shape set up a pendulum motion, or rhythm. The scale is larger-than-life and the subject is out of proportion, creating a distance between Picasso’s image and reality. The rhythmical curves and repeating circles are only some of the aspects that unify this piece. Another unifying device is the wallpaper, which extends across the entire canvas. Its geometric pattern acts as a foil for the organic curves of the model. Color unifies the composition as well. In spite of the variation, these colors have the same range of intensities and values, with the important exception of the girl herself. Her face is a natural focal point which seems to be almost a source of light. The pale violet portion of her face is depicted in profile, gazing at the mirror. In the yellow portion, she turns her head to look at us, or perhaps the painter for whom she is modeling. Her body is also divided vertically, half clothed, half nude. Picasso gives us an X-Ray view straight through to the womb.
Chapter Five Principles of Design
© 2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Unity
Variety
Repetition
Rhythm
Balance
Emphasis/focal point
Proportion/scale
The organization of elements is called composition or design.
‹#›
The definitions are within the slide show, as there wasn’t enough room on this slide for terms and definitions. Students will want to leave room under each definition for notes.
Instructors may want to use an elements and principles chart so that students can follow the handout as you are pointing out how these work together. It is helpful for the instructor to discuss how each principle combines with elements in this visual.
Have students break into groups and, using the chart, do an analysis of a slide they haven’t seen before. You may want to take them to a gallery to do the analysis.
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