Chapter 4: the Visual Elements
Chapter 4: The Visual Elements
Contour & Outline -Outline: boundaries for 2-D forms
-Contours: the boundaries we perceive of 3-D forms -Contour Lines: are the lines we draw to record those boundaries Ex) Jennifer Pastor (cowboy mish-mosh drawing) “The Perfect Ride”
Direction & Movement -Directional lines: follow + create movement -Diagonal = imply action -Vertical = assertive quality -Lines formed by edges
Implied Lines -Dotted lines Ex) The Embarkation of Cythera—Jean-Antoine Watteau -Pointed finger / organisms gaze
Shape and Mass -Shape: 2-D form / occupies area w/ identifiable boundaries Ex) Emmi Whitehorse’s “Chanter” (geometric + organic) -Mass: 3-D form / occupies volume of space Ex) “The Raven and the First men”—Bill Reid’s (organic) -Geometric shapes: + masses = square, triangle, circle, cube, pyramid, sphere -Organic: + masses = irregular + evoke living forms of nature -Figure: a shape we detach & focus on -Ground: is the surrounding visual info the figure stands out from -Positive Shapes: shapes we perceive as figures -Negative Shapes: the shapes of the ground are
Implied Shapes -Optical puzzles -“The Modonna of Meadows”—Mary + John the Baptist + Jesus = triangle
Light + Implied Light (modeling mass in 2-D) -James Turell
-Model: give them a 3-D appearance—light and shadow model them -Values: shades of light and dark—White = highest value / Dark = darkest value -Chiaroscuro: Renaissance technique—Italian for “light/dark”. -15th century -Artists employ values—lights & darks—to record contrasts of light & shadow in the natural world—contrasts that model mass for our eyes Ex) Leonardo da Vinci “The Virgin and Saint Anne with the Christ Child and John the Baptist”
Colors
-Color Wheel: arrange colors
-Primary Colors: (red, yellow, blue) cannot be made by mixing colors together -Secondary (Tertiary) Colors: (orange, green, violet) Made by combining 2
Contour & Outline -Outline: boundaries for 2-D forms
-Contours: the boundaries we perceive of 3-D forms -Contour Lines: are the lines we draw to record those boundaries Ex) Jennifer Pastor (cowboy mish-mosh drawing) “The Perfect Ride”
Direction & Movement -Directional lines: follow + create movement -Diagonal = imply action -Vertical = assertive quality -Lines formed by edges
Implied Lines -Dotted lines Ex) The Embarkation of Cythera—Jean-Antoine Watteau -Pointed finger / organisms gaze
Shape and Mass -Shape: 2-D form / occupies area w/ identifiable boundaries Ex) Emmi Whitehorse’s “Chanter” (geometric + organic) -Mass: 3-D form / occupies volume of space Ex) “The Raven and the First men”—Bill Reid’s (organic) -Geometric shapes: + masses = square, triangle, circle, cube, pyramid, sphere -Organic: + masses = irregular + evoke living forms of nature -Figure: a shape we detach & focus on -Ground: is the surrounding visual info the figure stands out from -Positive Shapes: shapes we perceive as figures -Negative Shapes: the shapes of the ground are
Implied Shapes -Optical puzzles -“The Modonna of Meadows”—Mary + John the Baptist + Jesus = triangle
Light + Implied Light (modeling mass in 2-D) -James Turell
-Model: give them a 3-D appearance—light and shadow model them -Values: shades of light and dark—White = highest value / Dark = darkest value -Chiaroscuro: Renaissance technique—Italian for “light/dark”. -15th century -Artists employ values—lights & darks—to record contrasts of light & shadow in the natural world—contrasts that model mass for our eyes Ex) Leonardo da Vinci “The Virgin and Saint Anne with the Christ Child and John the Baptist”
Colors
-Color Wheel: arrange colors
-Primary Colors: (red, yellow, blue) cannot be made by mixing colors together -Secondary (Tertiary) Colors: (orange, green, violet) Made by combining 2