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Art is a form of expression giving order to a human's reaction to his/her environment.
The components of a work of art - subject, form, content.
Form is all the perceivable characteristics of a work,
and their arrangement.
Design is activity by or for a definite reason.
Design is structure, order, organization.
Design elements - physical realities. line, shape, color, value, texture.
Design principles - guidelines to establish form unity: harmony, variety, dominance, balance, movement, proportion, economy.
The principle of harmony is used to promote and maintain a sense of unity among the elements of the design. Unity in a visual work can be achieved by "proximity," "repetition," or "continuation." Elements that share similarities can also produce a sense of rhythm.
The principle of variety is used to promote and maintain interest in a design. This interest is accomplished through contrast or differences of elements and/or through the use of elaboration or increased complexity of certain elements.
Art has the potential to guide the people and values of the culture that has produced it.
Art can instruct, remind, and persuade. Art is the sharing of experience, sensation, and reaction through aesthetically coherent composition. Art communicates and extends experience, gives form to feelings, searches for and demonstrates reality.
Perception/reality, very often "the medium is the message."
A focal point (area of emphasis or dominance in a visual work) can be achieved by "contrast," "isolation," or "placement."
Abstraction is the simplification, distortion, exaggeration, or rearrangement of natural objects to meet the needs of artistic organization or expression.
Other terms: figurative, representational, non-representational (non-objective).
Form follows function - The appearance or structure is determined by the performance objective. Establish function first, then create form to fulfill it.
ART CRITICISM - (fine art) Inventory, formal analysis, interpretation, judgment.
A quick sequence of critique for design: execution, correct information, parameters followed, appropriate to communication task, well designed, creative.
CREATIVITY: A unique response to stimulus
Creative people:
- record and report experience in a unique manner.
- are curious and discerning.
- have a fluency of ideas, generalize ideas, elaborate on ideas.
- are not afraid of the unknown.
- would rather suffer a result of commission rather than omission.
- resist premature closure.
The creative process
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INCUBATION: subconscious assimilation of stimuli and past experiences. | |||
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ILLUMINATION: conscious awareness of possible solution or direction toward a solution. | |||
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EXECUTION: verification of possible solution. Translation from idea to reality. | |||
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The paradox of design/creativity.
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The nature of a mark, such as a line or a letterform is dependent on: inter-action of tool and surface, response of the surface to the tool or pigment, speed or technique of execution.
Design Terms: plastic/decorative, picture plane/picture frame, figure/ground - positive/negative - biomorphic/geometric - hard edge/soft edge, motif, hatching, cross hatching, stippling, Value Key, symmetrical balance/asymmetrical balance, expressive directional quality.
Color
Color is not pigment! Color is not light!
Color does not occur in the eye, or on a surface.
Color occurs in the brain.
Color is . . .
a neurophysiological, psychological, response associated with light frequency stimulus.
Color names are labels we use to describe our responseYes! Black and white are colors.
when we experience different frequencies of light.Our response to frequencies toward the
Our response to frequencies toward the
3800 Ångstrom region of the spectrum, we call blue.
7600 Ångstrom region of the spectrum, we call red.Our response to no frequencies of light is called black.
Our response to all frequencies of light is called white.
They are achromatic, however, without hue. Since they do not have a hue, they do not have a chroma. They exist as value only.
Color is very persuasive, but not essential.Hue, Value, Chroma (intensity)
Many great works exist in black, white, and gray.Color is not absolute, it is a subjective perception influenced by experience and environment.
Color Terms: analogous, complementary, monochromatic (one hue), achromatic (no hue), polychromatic (many hues), primary, secondary, tertiary, neutrals,
Warm colors are associated with heat, sun, fire, etc., (appear to advance toward the front of the picture plane).
Cool colors are associated with coolness, sky, water, forests. (appear to recede toward the back of the the picture plane).
Hue is the color name, the position on the color wheel.
Value is lightness or darkness of the color.
Chroma is the intensity or purity of the color's hue
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The Munsell Color Wheel
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Roll over hues to see their complements.
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Munsell color system:
Five primaries, Five secondaries, but a base color wheel of 100 hues.
Munsell color notation
R 5/10 (Red, value 5 / chroma 10), A pure red.
BG 7/6 (Blue-Green, value 7 / chroma 6) A tint of blue-green.
(A munsell chroma number of 7 or more indicates strong chroma.)
Additive color: light primaries RGB (red, green, blue). (used in film, computer monitors, the world wide web)
Subtractive color: pigment primaries (cyan, magenta, yellow).
Full color printing (process printing) four inks CMYK, (cyan, magenta, yellow, black)
Linear approach to form: shapes are defined by outline or contour.
Painterly approach to form: imagery is developed as open masses of color or value rather than closed edge shapes.
Local color is the natural color of an object regardless of surrounding color influence. (Local value is the natural lightness or darkness of an object regardless of surrounding light or shadow.
Optical color is the visual appearance of an object which is influenced by quality of illumination, reflected light, shadow, and atmospheric conditions,
Arbitrary or subjective color is not dependent on visual description but on the expressive and aesthetic intention of the artist
Value scale (ten step standard 0 = black, 10 = white)
Value key is the overall tonality of a work (overall light is high key, overall dark is low key, intermediate key falls between. Major value contrast occurs when the lightest and darkest values used are more than three steps apart. A difference of three steps or less is considered minor value contrast.
Neutralizing a color means reducing its chroma.
Chroma is a measure of hue. The amount of "color" present. Lower chroma means less color, less pure, less amount of hue.
Mixing colorColors are like men, they don't change unless they have to.
Adding a lower value (darker) color will lower the value of the original color.
Adding a higher value (lighter) color will raise the value of the original color.
Adding a color of the same value will not affect the value of the original color.
Adding a direct complement or achromatic color will reduce chroma without affecting hue.
Adding white to a color produces a tint.
Adding black to a color produces a shade.
Of course this will also lower chroma.
Simultaneous contrast is a color effect that affects the appearance of adjacent colors by emphasizing their differences.
A gray square on a black field will appear lighter in value than the same square on a white field because the white in the gray is different from the black field and this difference is exaggerated making the square appear lighter (whiter).
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Roll mouse over field squares to see an explanation
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A Yellow-Green square on a yellow field
will appear darker in value and more green.
A Yellow-Green square on a green field
will appear lighter in value and more yellow.
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Roll mouse over field squares to see an explanation
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| Uses of color: | ||
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Description | |
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Attract attention | |
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Aesthetic appeal through well ordered color arrangements | |
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Emotion, mood, feeling | |
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Information through symbolism | |
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Spatial quality | |
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Hierarchical relationships |