Domain Four - Visual Art Flashcards
Balance: Asymmetrical and Symmetrical
Sense of visual stability in a composition - harmonious arrangement of elements in order to create a feeling of equilibrium
Symmetrical = feeling that weight is equally distributed (formal balance) Asymmetrical = visual emphasis on one side of the composition (informal balance)
Contrast
Two things that are opposite - used to show dramatic differences - helps to make objects become apparent to the viewer
can be heavy and light, curved or straight, or positive and negative
Emphasis
Draws your eye to a visual focal point - used to help an object stand out and grab your attention
Center of interest
Pattern
Objects in a composition that are repeated
regular patterns appear as predicted designs with easily identifiable features so that the viewer can visually recognize what may appear next
Random patterns = no exact predicted design, but can generally predict what’s next
Can use repeating shapes, colors, or lines
Unity
Sense that all components of a composition belong together - shape, line, and color appear to fit together as the viewer gazes on the art with nothing left to complete, delete, or change - creates a sense that the art is whole and complete on its own
** intention of every successful artist is to master this
Linear perspective
Technique for representing 3D objects on a flat surface / developed during the Renaissance
when converging lines meet at a single vanishing point, all shapes and objects become smaller, giving the illusion of depth and stance
Closer = larger, smaller = more distant
Atmospheric perspective
Used to create depth and dimension - use overlapping, color, size, and contrast to reproduce the effects of distant objects
lighter objects lose focus and clarity as they appear farther away
Color
Visible light reflected off objects - used to imitate the colors of reflected and refracted light - can be symbolic of mood and emotion
Hue
Characteristic feature by which we distinguish one color from another - particular point on the color spectrum
Primary colors (1)
Red - yellow - blue
Foundation for the color wheel (hue) and are the only colors that can be mixed to create secondary colors
Secondary colors (2)
Orange - green - violet (purple)
Created when mixing two primary colors
Orange = red and yellow green = yellow and blue Violet = red and blue
Tertiary colors (3)
Mixing secondary colors - when mixed, secondary color tends to be muted/grayish to provide a variation of the secondary color
Complementary colors (4)
Pairs of colors that sit opposite one another on the color wheel and do not share any common characteristics
Example: purple - yellow
When mixed, they produce a neutral color such as gray - used to create contrast that can be interpreted as vibrant
Value
Lightness or darkness of color - range is from white to black and is changed by adding either white or black - creates mood
Intensity
The brilliance or dullness of color
Line
Continuous mark that can change direction, length, and width
when joined, they form a shape - can also create an outline, silhouette, or contour - can be straight curved jagged diagonal horizontal vertical, etc
Horizontal = state of rest, continuity, and stability / sense of space
Vertical = sense of strength, rigidity, or height / can suggest spirituality
Diagonal = opposition or movement
Curved = sensual or softening quality
Shape (form/contour)
Shapes = continuous line that meets to create a closed shape - have two dimensions (height and width)
Form = three dimensions (height, weight, depth)
contour line creates dimension
Texture
The way a composition might actually feel or the way it might apear to feel with our eyes
Space
Gives art a feeling of depth - use positive and negative space to influence how an object might appear
negative space = space between or around the object
Classical (400 BC - AD 400)
Ancient Greece and Rome
Art encompassed: architecture (Parthenon, Coliseum) sculpture (ideal form, beauty) pottery (black on white, daily life) painting (murals, portraits) frescoes (pigment with water)
Key characteristics: physical beauty mathematical definite proportion celebrated great events
Byzantine (400-1400)
Eastern Roman Empire
Key characteristics: religious imagery mosaics (flat, 2D) icons elongated bodies stylized background gold leaf mosaics decorated churches triptych (three panels)
Early Middle Ages (500-1000)
Greco-Roman influence - influence of religion - sacred art - spatially flat - Illustrated Book of Kells
Romanesque architectural style: heavy walls - round, ribbed arches - transept and nave - grand
Later Middle Ages (1000-1400)
Gothic art: religious (church was almost sole patron of the arts) - spatially flat - shape of human body used to communicate emotions - manuscript illumination
Gothic architectural style (1200): influenced by Christianity - Age of Chivalry - rapid growth of commerce - led to proliferation of majestic cathedrals (Norte dame) - gothic window (stained glass) - flying buttress (higher, lighter) - towering monuments to God
Frescoes - tempera painting (1400s), with egg tempera as binder - illuminated manuscript vegetable oils
Renaissance (1400-1600)
Rebirth of Greco-Roman classical forms - development of cities (Florence) - art patronage: church or court/private collectors - humanism (individuality and self worth) - sculpture (“David”) - art and architecture (Sistine Chapel)
Art influenced by religion - Raphael (unity of subject, style, and technique) - Humanism - depictions of the natural world - study of light and perspective - complex and crowded space
New tech = printing press - use of oils (lasting) - landscapes
Drawings = Michelangelo’s studies
Influence of Northern Europe/Flemish: surface details - realistic light - religious - portraits
Baroque (1600-1750)
Foundations in Italy and Germany (regional differences) - influenced by Scientific Revolution (newton, galileo) - Age of Enlightenment - counter-reformation (against Protestantism) - age of absolute monarchs
Characteristics:
complex style
appeal to senses/spectator involvement/drama
strong emotion
emphasis on depth/space
genre scenes (landscapes without people)
movement with grandeur
Rococo (1750s-1800s): influenced by the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution (drastic societal changes) - salons - carefree lifestyle/high fashion - moved away from Baroque heroic subjects and dark color - moved to more delicate/pale colors - theme of romantic love
Revolt against Rococo: movement toward naturalism and romanticism (1850s)(beauty of nature - senses over intellect) - love of ruins and exotic cultures - new sense of nationalism - uniqueness not conformity
Impressionism (1860s-1900) - origins of modern art
Influenced by science (principles of harmony - contrast of colors - reaction of eye in viewing composition) - concern for light and color on object
Experience of the fleeting moment: new techniques allowed for painting outside - rejected themes of the French Salon (not grand subjects but daily life) - emphasis on primary colors and small brush strokes - side-by-side placement of primary colors (optimal mixing) - little white or black
Manet - Monet - Renoir - Cassatt - Degas
Sculpture: Rodin (rebel against the perfect body type) - rough hewn
Neo-Impressionism (pointillism) - tiny dots of primary colors to produce secondary colors - colors placed in scientifically measured dots
Post-Impressionism (1880s-1900s)
Characteristics:
paint indoors or outside
emotions through the use of color/swirling color/thick applications
complementary colors
new subject matter
away from the narrow spectrum of viewing
Examples: Van Gogh - Gauguin - Cezanne
Watercolor (transparent) - overpainting
Twentieth Century
Fauvism (early 20th) influenced by tech of the early 20th - expansion of color (right from the tube in assertive brush strokes) - discord of color - non-western themes
Cubism (early 20th) traditional subject matter portrayed by overlapping geometric forms (reduced to cubes) - fragmentation of form - influenced by African tribal arts (masks and sculptures) - move towards abstract art (exploration of space and color) - multiple images of one subject on a 2D surface - development o collages - found sculpture
Surrealism (1920s): metaphysical painting - evolved from Dada art (reaction against commonplace and WWI) - workings of the subconscious mind (Freud) through fantastic imagery
Abstract Impressionism (1950s): dribbles, splatters, splashes - everyday objects to apply art - influenced by Navajo sand paintings
“Pop” Art / Popular Art: “why is it art?” reaction against abstract painting - Warhol
American Regional Art (from 1930s/rural art): everyday life - expanded on landscape painting of the 1870s
