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Elements of Structure: Color is an important way of expressing feelings and moods. The use of color by an artist can convey sublime messages to the beholder that could not have been done with a thousand words. Color is just one of the many elements used by artists: there are five basic elements in any painting or sculpture line, shape, color, texture and value. This project describes some of the techniques that artists use to convey their thoughts, including color. The line is the simplest of these elements, and can be either curvilinear or rectilinear.
Curvilinear, or curved, lines appear mainly in nature. Rectilinear, or straight lines, appear in man-made objects. These lines are used to make shapes. Shapes are space bound by lines, and are two-dimensional. The space within these lines is called positive space and the space surrounding the shape is called negative space. Perspective is created by skillful use of space.
When a vanishing point is used, there is an illusion of depth, or of infinite space. Other paintings, which do not use depth, have what is called shallow space. There are numerous ways in which artists use space for example, foreshortening is a method that artists use to create the illusion of an object stretching from very near the observer into a point away from the observer. Color is described in three primaries in painting red, yellow, blue. Secondary colors are made by mixing these primary color. These are orange, green and violet.
Mixing equal amounts of two secondary colors gives tertiary colors. Mixing adjacent primary and secondary colors gives intermediate colors they are described with the primary color first and then the secondary color (Red-orange or Blue-green). Two colors, which are opposite to each other on the color wheel described by the primary and secondary colors, are said to be complementary colors. Red, yellow, orange and their derivatives are known as warm colors. Blue, green and violet are known as cool colors. The knowledge of how these colors interact with each other is very important for a good artist.
Texture is more valid in the case of sculpture than in paintings. The use of texture gives a rich feeling to the medium. The use of texture, smooth or rough, gives different impressions to people. For example, the use of a smooth metallic medium gives a different feel than a wooden-textured rendition of the same object. Paintings, even though two-dimensional in the most part, can sometimes have texture. Some painters lay on layer after thick layer of paint on the canvas.
These paintings do not always have a flat surface. Fast or agitated brush strokes leave their texture on the canvas, showing the artist s personality to the viewers. Value is a measure of how dark or light an area is. It is the use of value, that gives us the sensation of shadows and of depth. The use of dramatic shadows was made popular by the art of Caravaggio his use of light and dark was called Chiaroscuro.
Principles of Arrangement: The objects in a painting interact with each other in different manners depending on their harmony, contrast, dominance, balance and movement. Harmony between objects is achieved if the viewer observes a feeling of similarity between the objects in the painting. All the objects blend in to create the whole. There could be a harmony of any elements in the painting it can be between lines, colors or shapes. Contrast is the opposite of harmony.
A part of the painting is emphasized by making it different from the rest of the painting. This leads the eye of the beholder directly to the contrasting object. Dominance is achieved in a work of art by making some parts of the painting more important or dominant from the other parts. This achieves a similar effect as contrast does, by pulling the eye to where the painter wants it. Equilibrium is very important to make a painting pleasing.
No part should be too heavy or too light. Painters achieve this balancing every element with another, well-placed element. Movement is another method used to guide the viewers eye to the point of interest of the painting. The more active, lively parts, which are said to have movement, attract the attention of the viewer. Analysis of Style: In art, form equals function.
The form of the art depends on what function the artist wants it to serve. The distinct changes in the form of art have been documented and given specific names. These eras of different forms of painting are closely related to the outlook of artists in those eras. Art of earlier times have also influenced art from the cave art of ancient times to classical Greek and Roman art and sculpture to the didactic art of the twelfth century, all have influenced painters of later eras.
The first big change came with Renaissance, the Rebirth, which brought about new thoughts and a scientific outlook. Figures, though still didactic in nature, started using concepts of perspective and shading. Images looked more realistic than previous flat paintings. The Baroque style, which followed Renaissance, was even more realistic and was known for its use of light and dark. The painter Caravaggio was among the first users of this style.
His depiction of Biblical scenes with characters that looked like common working class people caused a sensation. The Rococo period was known for its flippant depictions of the frivolous court life in France. Most of the subject matter was fantasy beautiful locations with beautiful people. The Genre paintings of Holland were in direct contrast with the Rococo style. The newly rich Burghers of Holland were not insulted in putting up paintings of everyday scenes in their houses, and many painters picked up this style of depicting everyday scenes, the foremost amongst them being Rembrandt. The discovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum brought the classical Greek and Roman art forms back into style.
The period, called Neoclassicism, used heroic subjects from Greek and Roman history and mythology. No emotions were depicted in these paintings. After Neoclassicism came Realism. Realists painted what they saw and did not let their emotion get involved in their art. In direct contrast with Realism was Impressionism. Impressionists too drew what they saw, but they painted it as they saw and reacted to it.
Major Impressionist painters were Claude Monet and Paul Cezanne.
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