Study Guide - A track, By Lisa Gibby

VISUAL ARTS (PART 2)
Principles of design:
1. Balance – refers to the way the elements of art are arranged to create a feeling of stability in a work; a pleasing or harmonious arrangement or proportion of parts or areas in a design or composition. Portions of a composition can be described as taking on a measureable weight or dominance, and can then be arranged in such a way that they appear to be either in or out of balance, or to have one kind of balance or another. Balance can be symmetrical, or formal; or it can be asymmetrical, or informal.
a. Symmetric balance occurs when the two sides are identical — they reflect each other: Latin syn meaning same is joined to metric meaning measure.
b. Asymmetric balance is different: the Latin prefix a- means not, so asymmetry lacks balance; it is off-kilter

2. emphasis - Any forcefulness that gives importance or dominance (weight) to some feature or features of an artwork; something singled out, stressed, or drawn attention to by means of contrast, anomaly, or counterpoint for aesthetic impact. A way of combining elements to stress the differences between those elements and to create one or more centers of interest in a work. Often, emphasized elements are used to direct and focus attention on the most important parts of a composition — its focal point.

contrast - A large difference between two things; for example, hot and cold, green and red, light and shadow. Closely related to emphasis, a principle of design, this term refers to a way of juxtaposing elements of art to stress the differences between them. Thus, a painting might have bright color which contrast with dark colors, or angular shapes which contrast with curvaceous shapes. Used in this way, contrast can excite, emphasize and direct attention to points of interest

focal point - The portion of an artwork's composition on which interest or attention centers. The focal point may be most interesting for any of several reasons: it may be given formal emphasis; its meaning may be controversial, incongruous, or otherwise compelling.


3. Movement: The act or process of moving, especially change of place or position, an effort. This can either be actual motion or it can be implied — the arrangement of the parts of an image to create a sense of motion by using lines, shapes, forms, and textures that cause the eye to move over the work. A principle of design, it can be a way of combining elements of art to produce the look of action. In a painting or photograph, for instance, movement refers to a representation or suggestion of motion. In sculpture too, movement can refer to implied motion. On the other hand, mobiles and kinetic sculptures are capable

4. Rhythm: A visual tempo or beat. The principle of design that refers to a regular repetition of elements of art to produce the look and feel of movement. It is often achieved through the careful placement of repeated components which invite the viewer's eye to jump rapidly or glide smoothly from one to the next.
a. repetition - Closely related to harmony, a principle of design, this term refers to a way of combining elements of art so that the same elements are used over and over again. Thus, a certain color or shape might be used several times in the same picture. Repetition also can contribute to movement and rhythm in a work of art.
b. regular rhythms - The background design behind this text has a regular rhythm. (In the following examples, let the letters A, B, etc. stand for visual elements of any sort)
AB-AB-AB is the most common type. Picture alternating stripes of two colors, for instance. (In English prosody, a student of poetry might read this as either "iambs" or "trochees". An iamb is a metrical foot consisting of two syllables, the first syllable accented, the second accented, as in AB-AB-AB. It becomes trochaic meter if the accenting is reversed, as in AB-AB-AB.)
c. Irregular rhythms – don’t follow the patterns of regular rhythms.

5. Pattern P- The repetition of any thing — shapes, lines, or colors — also called a motif, in a design.

a. motif - A consistent or recurrent conceptual element, usually a figure or design. In an architectural or decorative pattern, a motif is employed as the central element in a work, or it is repeated either consistently or as a theme with variations

b. wave -
6. proportion - refers to the comparative, proper, or harmonious relationship of one part to another or to the whole with respect to size, quantity, or degree; a ratio.Proportion came to English in the Latin word proportionem, meaning comparative relation

Batsford London, 1916.
a. Size - the physical dimensions, proportions, magnitude, or extent of an object. Size is one of the perspective tools an artist can use to create an illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface, in that the nearer an object is the larger it appears to be, and the farther it is the smaller it appears to be.
b. scale - A ratio (proportion) used in determining the dimensional relationship between a representation to that which it represents (its actual size), as in maps, architectural plans, and models. This is often expressed numerically as two quantities separated by a colon (:). For example, a scale noted as .measurement [inches, feet, meters, etc.] here represents fifty of the same units at full size." A size equal to actual size is full-scale. Sometimes scale is called "proper proportion."

7. Unity: The quality of wholeness or oneness that is achieved through the effective use of the elements and principles of design. Unity is largely synonymous with coherence.
a. clustering –
b. proximity -
c. dominant color- The part of a composition that is emphasized, has the greatest visual weight, the most important, powerful, or has the most influence. A certain color can be dominant, and so can an object, line, shape, or texture.
d. contour - The outline and other visible edges of a mass, figure or object.

8. variety - A principle of design that refers to a way of combining elements of art in involved ways to achieve intricate and complex relationships. Variety is often obtained through the use of diversity and change by artists who wish to increase the visual interest of their work. An artwork which makes use of many different hues, values, lines, textures, and shapes would reflect the artist's desire for variety.
a. Monotony - Monotony is the state or quality of unpleasantly lacking variety
b. Diversity – not the same, variety

9. Harmony -- Agreement; accord. A union or blend of aesthetically compatible components. A composition is harmonious when the interrelationships between its parts fulfill aesthetic requisites or are mutually beneficial. As a principle of design, harmony refers to a way of combining elements of art to accent their similarities and bind the picture parts into a whole. It is often achieved through the use of repetition and simplicity.
a. æsthetics - The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and value of art objects and experiences. It is concerned with identifying the clues within works that can be used to understand, judge, and defend judgments about those works.

10. Contrast - A large difference between two things; for example, hot and cold, green and red, light and shadow. Closely related to emphasis. A painting might have bright color which contrast with dark colors, or angular shapes which contrast with curvaceous shapes. Used in this way, contrast can excite, emphasize and direct attention to points of interest.
A. Color
B. Intensity
C. Textural
D. Pattern
E. Size

ART MOVEMENTS
Abstract Expressionism - A painting movement in which artists typically applied paint rapidly, and with force to their huge canvases in an effort to show feelings and emotions, painting gesturally, non-geometrically, sometimes applying paint with large brushes, sometimes dripping or even throwing it onto canvas. Their work is characterized by a strong dependence on what appears to be accident and chance, but which is actually highly planned. Some Abstract Expressionist artists were concerned with adopting a peaceful and mystical approach to a purely abstract image. Usually there was no effort to represent subject matter. Not all work was abstract, nor was all work expressive, but it was generally believed that the spontaneity of the artists' approach to their work would draw from and release the creativity of their unconscious minds. The expressive method of painting was often considered as important as the painting itself.

Baroque- The art style or art movement of the Counter-Reformation in the seventeenth century. Although some features appear in Dutch art, the Baroque style was limited mainly to Catholic countries. It is a style in which painters, sculptors, and architects sought emotion, movement, and variety in their works


Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606-1669. Dutch. Baroque. Portraits and religious scenes. Considered the master of Dutch art. The Man with the Golden Helmet and The Night Watch
Jan Vermeer, 1632-1675 Dutch. Dutch Baroque. Painted small very detailed pictures of daily life. The Lacemaker and The Letter.

Cubism - One of the most influential art movements (1907-1914) of the twentieth century, Cubism was begun by Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1882-1973) and Georges Braque (French, 1882-1963) in 1907. They were greatly inspired by African sculpture, by painters Paul Cézanne (French, 1839-1906) and Georges Seurat (French, 1859-1891), and by the Fauves.

In Cubism the subject matter is broken up, analyzed, and reassembled in an abstracted form.

Picasso and Braque initiated the movement when they followed the advice of Paul Cézanne, who in 1904 said artists should treat nature "in terms of the cylinder, the sphere and the cone."

Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973. Spanish. Cubism. Used many different styles. Guernica, The Aficionado, and Enamel Saucepan.

Impressionism- An art movement and style of painting that started in France during the 1860s. Impressionist artists tried to paint candid glimpses of their subjects showing the effects of sunlight on things at different times of day. The leaders of this movement were: Camille Pissarro (French, 1830-1903), Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926), and Pierre Renoir (French, 1841-1919). Some of the early work of Paul Cézanne (French, 1839-1906) fits into this style, though his later work so transcends it that it belongs to another movement known as Post-Impressionism.

Mary Cassatt, 1845-1926. American. Impressionism. Amily scenes, especially mothers and children. The Bath

Claude Money, 11840-1926. French. Impressionism. Used light, shadow, and colors effectively. Boats at Argenteuil

Berthe Borisot, 1841-1895. French. Impressionism. The Cradle

Neo-impressionism - A movement in painting which was an outgrowth of and reaction to Impressionism. It was originated by Georges-Pierre Seurat (French, 1859-1891), who employed a technique called pointillism (also called divisionism, or confettiism), based on the scientific juxtaposition of touches or dots of pure color. His most famous painting is A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, 1884, 1884-1886, oil paint on canvas, in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago). The brain blends the colors automatically in the involuntary process of optical mixing. Georges Seurat, 1859-1891. French. Post Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism. Used dots of six basic colors to create his pictures (pointillism). A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of la Grande Jatte.


Op Art - A twentieth century art movement and style in which artists sought to create an impression of movement on the picture surface by means of optical illusion. It is derived from, and is also known as Optical Art and Perceptual Abstraction. In the 1960s art world, some critics faulted Op Art's persistent involvement with optical illusion at a time when "the flatness of the picture plane" was the mantra on either side of the Color Field - Minimalist aisle. Clement Greenberg saw flatness as painting's essence. Donald Judd saw it as an escape route into three dimensions.


Pop Art - An art movement and style that had its origins in England in the 1950s and made its way to the United States during the 1960s. Pop artists have focused attention upon familiar images of the popular culture such as billboards, comic strips, magazine advertisements, and supermarket products.

Realism -The realistic and natural representation of people, places, and/or things in a work of art. The opposite of idealization. One of the common themes of postmodernism is that this popular notion of an unmediated presentation is not possible. This sense of realism is sometimes considered synonymous with naturalism.

George Bellows, 1882-1925. American. Realism. Action-filled paintings of prize fights. Member of the Ash Can School. Dempsey and Firpo.

William Harnett, 1848-1892. American. Realism. Still-life with remarkable detail. My Gems

Winslow Homer, 1826-1910. American. American Realism. Outdoor scenes with much
movement. Snap the Whip and Breezing Up.

Jean Francois Millet, 1814-1875. French. Realism. Scenes of rural life. Member of Barbizon School. The Gleaners

George M. Ottinger, 183-1917. American Romantic Realism. Immigrant Train

Frederic Remington, 1861-1909. American. Realism. Action-filled paintings of the American West. The Scout: Friends or Enemies

Mahonri Young, 1877-1957. American. Social Realism – Factory Worker


Romanticism - An art movement and style that flourished in the early nineteenth century. It emphasized the emotions painted in a bold, dramatic manner. Romantic artists rejected the cool reasoning of classicism — the established art of the times — to paint pictures of nature in its untamed state, or other exotic settings filled with dramatic action, often with an emphasis on the past. Classicism was nostalgic too, but Romantics were more emotional, usually melancholic, even melodramatically tragic.

Joseph M.W. Turner, 1775-1851. English. Romanticism. Painted landscapes with brilliant glow and pure colors. Rockets and Blue Light

Symbolism - An art movement which rejected the purely visual realism of the Impressionists, and the rationality of the Industrial Age, in order to depict the symbols of ideas. Influenced by Romanticism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, it thrived in France in the late nineteenth century, its influence spreading throughout much of Europe. Rather than the precise equivalents of ideas or emotions, its symbols were meant to be more mysterious, ambiguous suggestions of meanings.

Art Styles:
1. Impressionism: Impressionist artists tried to paint candid glimpses of their subjects showing the effects of sunlight on things at different times of day
Example: Camille Pissarro, The Beet Harvest, 1881, gouache over graphite, on linen mounted on wove paper, 10 1/8 x 14 7/8 inches, Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
2. Primitive: Early or undeveloped; simple. Caution: what one person interprets as primitive is likely to be interpreted by some as sophisticated in other ways. Such things are relative. Some prefer the term "primal." Primitive should not be confused with naive, folk, or outsider art, although some artists have intentionally made art so that it will display qualities of primitive art.
3. Naturalism - A style in which an artist intends to represent a subject as it appears in the natural world — precisely and objectivly — as opposed to being represented in a stylized or intellectually manipulated manner. Although naturalism is often used interchangeably with the term realism, there is a difference between them.
4. Romanticism: It emphasized the emotions painted in a bold, dramatic manner. Romantic artists rejected the cool reasoning of classicism — the established art of the times — to paint pictures of nature in its untamed state, or other exotic settings filled with dramatic action, often with an emphasis on the past.

Art Careers:
1. Architect: a person who designs and draws plans, elevations, and cross-sections of buildings and other environmental features. Many architects produce models, collaborate with engineers, construction personnel, and other artists.

2. Art Buyer: The person who is a link between an agency and freelance artists; buys work for the agency.

3. Art Critic: a person who describes, analyzes, interprets, evaluates, and expresses judgments of the merits, faults and value of artworks. One who produces art criticism.

4. Artist: One who makes art.

5. Art Educator: Someone who imparts knowledge, skills, or wisdom in the arts to others; assesses and praises achievement.

6. Landscape Architect: The decorative and functional modification and planting of grounds, especially at or around a building site.

7. Sculptor: One who produces sculptures. Tanagra sculptors were called "coraplasters" (in Greek, cora is a girl, plastein means to sculpt), as they were particularly drawn to representing women. Nearly all of the earlier figurines represented deities. Another archaic synonym for sculptor is statuary.

Methods of Painting:
1. Pointillism: A method of painting developed in France in the 1880s in which tiny dots of color are applied to the canvas. When viewed from a distance, the points of color appear to blend together to make other colors and to form shapes and outlines. Georges Seurat (French, 1859-1891) was its leading exponent. His most famous painting is A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (Un dimanche après-midi à l'Ile de la Grande Jatte), 1884-1886, oil on canvas, 81 x 120 inches, Art Institute of Chicago. Occasionally used synonyms for pointillism have been "divisionism" and "confetti-ism." See other examples at Neo-Impressionism.

2. Feathering: In drawing and painting, to feather is to blend an edge so that it fades off or softens. To feather is also to overlap values and colors in the manner of the overlapping feathers of a bird.



3. Divisionism: A system of painting in small dots of color placed in relation to each other based on certain color theories.

Art Tools
1. Brush: A tool used to apply paints and inks to a surface, consisting of hairs, or bristles held in place by a ferrule attached to a handle. The hair may be from any of several sources, some of which are badger, ox, fitch, squirrel (called "camel hair"), and synthetics, though perhaps the finest is red sable. Bristles are usually from hogs, bristle brushes having a characteristic taper, or curve. Brushes for acrylic and polymer paints generally have nylon bristles compatible with those paints.

2. Brayer: A tool used to roll ink onto a surface by hand, usually in block printing and in monoprinting.



3. Easel: A tool allowing the stable support and display of a painter's canvas or panel. Sturdier easels typically involve a blocky and heavy structure, while portable easels are light-weight and three-legged. Most contemporary easels can be folded for storage.

4. Eraser: A tool used in the erasure of parts of drawings. Graphite pencil drawings are erased with any of several types of rubber. (It was after this use that the substance called rubber received its name.) Lighter parts of charcoal drawings can be erased with either a kneaded eraser (also called putty rubber) or a kneaded piece of fresh bread. Wax crayons and lithographic crayons cannot be erased unless they are on non-absorbent surfaces.

5. Camera: In photography, a tool for producing photographs, having a lightproof enclosure with an aperture and a shuttered lens through which the image of an object is focused and recorded on a photosensitive film or plate.

In video, a device that receives the primary image on a light-sensitive cathode tube and transforms it into electrical impulses.

6. Chisel: A cutting tool consisting of a metal shaft beveled at one end to form the cutting edge. A chisel is specially designed for cutting a particular material — wood, metal or stone.

7. Hammer:

bush hammer - A steel stone-carving tool, often with a large, brick-like head, having two striking ends, each covered with rows of pyramidal metal points. Found in several sizes, some with a longer, thinner head. Bush hammers are used to dress the surface of stone by breaking down the rock surface, pounding and removing small amounts at a time. The textures achieved are typical among finish in traditional French masonry. Granite and other igneous rock is worked with a bush hammer, although now it is usually an electrically motorized version. Also called by its French name, "bouchard" or "boucharde."
ballpein hammer - A hammer which has one side of the head flattened for striking, and the other rounded for flattening rivets or forming a dome.


claw hammer - The head of a claw hammer has a flat striking face on one side and two heavy metal prongs on the other used to trap and lever out nail heads.

8. Kiln: A special oven or furnace that can reach very high temperatures and is used to bake, or fire clay. Kilns may be electric, gas, or wood-fired. The one pictured here is an electric model.

9. Palette: A slab of wood, metal, marble, ceramic, plastic, glass, or paper, sometimes with a hole for the thumb, which an artist can hold while painting and on which the artist mixes paint. Anything from ice trays to disposable paper or Styrofoam plates might be used as a palette. A pane of glass with a white piece of paper attached to its underside makes a fine palette. It's especially versatile because the color of the paper back can be made to match a painting's ground, making colors easier to choose.

10. Potter’s Wheel: A revolving horizontal disk, sometimes called a head, on which clay is shaped manually into pottery vessels. The simplest form of wheel is the kickwheel. To operate it, the potter kicks or propells some form of disk, crank, or treddle in order to keep the turntable spinning. Also commonly used today are power-driven wheels whose speed can be regulated by the potter as he or she works. The potter's wheel was probably invented either by the Sumerians of the Tigris-Euphrates Basin or by the Chinese around 5000 BCE, perhaps even before the use of wheels for transportation. Potter's wheels continue to be used today, though commercial ceramic manufacture is dominated by slip casting. Nevertheless, they are part of the basic equipment of the artist-potter. Kits of kickwheel parts can be purchased for as little as $200.

11. Scissors: A hand-held cutting tool made up of two crossed and connected blades whose (inner) cutting edges slide past each other as they pivot to open and close. Each blade is extended from a ring-shaped handle (called bows) through which a user inserts opposing fingers. Scissors are commonly employed to cut such thin materials as string, hair, fabric, paper and sheets of other kinds, such as cellophane, foil, etc. "Scissors" can be used either as a singular or as a plural word, and is often referred to as a pair of.

Please see separate posts for art examples.