ARTISTIC TECHNIQUES

To Know Art Is to Love Him

Getting to know art is like getting to know another person. First impressions mean a lot, but true understanding takes time. And you're more likely to become friends if you have an open mind.

In art, as with people, "Don't criticize what you can't understand." Learn about it first. Then you can really run it into the ground.

Most works of art show two things—the physical subject and the mood or message the artist is conveying. Artists can change or distort reality (the actual subject matter) to enhance the mood. When we know why reality is distorted, we can see the world through the artist's perspective, emotions, eyes—or maybe corrective lenses.

Techniques

Artists know what catches your eye. They use this knowledge to punch the right emotional buttons to get their message across. (Modern advertisers have made a science of this.) Here are some of the techniques used to attract your attention and produce an emotional response.

Composition

Composition, the layout of the main figures, is the skeleton of the work. Imagine a painter planning out a scene on grid-lined graph paper, calculating how big the main characters will be and where to place them. Let's say the artist decides to arrange the figures into a geometrical pattern, say a pyramid like; this:

It doesn't look like much in rough form, but flesh out this skeleton composition with neat lines and real-life colors and you have Raphael's La Belle Jardiniere. The geometrical composition is what makes the picture so harmonious and pleasing to the eye.

Look at the skeleton pattern. Notice how much forethought went into the composition, how orderly and pleasing the shapes are. Imagine the rough shapes colored in. It would look something like modern art, no? Can you see the appeal of abstract art, which uses the same rules of composition; line and color but doesn't portray real-life subjects?

Line

The eye will naturally follow the curve of a line until it's broken by a line running in another direction. The artist uses this eye movement to create movement and rhythm in the scene which, in turn, creates a mood of tension or rest in the viewer. At their own pace, trained artists guide you from one figure to the next. 

In the Isenheim Altarpiece, Grunewald directs all the motion toward Christ's agonized face. From John's pointing finger, your eye travels to the face, up Christ's arm to the crossbar, out to the end, down to the grieving figures at the left, down their slanted bodies to the kneeling Mary, and up her arm, pointing again to Christ's head. Grunewald moves our attention full circle, always returning to the central figure of Jesus, where the lines intersect.

Perspective

Lines are governed by the laws of perspective—the science of painting three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface. When you draw receding lines to turn a square into a 3-D box, you've followed the laws of perspective. If the lines of the box were continued, they'd eventually converge on the horizon at what is called the "vanishing point."

Using perspective and the vanishing point, an artist can place the viewer of a painting right in the middle of .the action. Think of the picture frame as a window through which you are viewing the painted scene. Where are you in relation to the main figures? The artist lets you know, subconsciously, with the vanishing point.

The vanishing point is also the compositional center of the work. In Leonardo’s famous Last Supper, the lines converge at the center of the canvas, which is the emotional focus: Christ's head. All the linear motion flows to and from this center of calm.

Color   

Color is the flesh on the compositional skeleton, bringing the figures to life. It too plays a role in bringing order to art. The artist can make the picture peaceful by using harmonious colors or tense by using colors that clash.

Red, yellow, and blue are the primary colors; we get the rest by blending these three. Red is associated with passion, action, intensity, and (as designers of fast-food menus know) hunger. Yellow is warmth, the sun, peace. Blue is melancholy, thoughtful, the sea and sky. Some colors complement each other (red and green), while others contrast (yellow and orange). The various combinations and moods available to the artist are endless.

Some painters make broad outlines of figures, then fill them in with smooth color (like a coloring book). Giotto demonstrated this technique. Monet, however, used almost no outlines whatsoever. His paintings are more like a mosaic of minute patches of color applied by quick strokes of the brush.

Steves, Rick. Europe 101: History and Art for the Traveler. Santa Fe, N.M.: John Muir Publications, 1996.

Da Vinci’s Last Supper

ASSIGNMENT: RENAISSANCE ART

A.     Highlight arid margin note this reading.

B.     In addition, read about the artistic Renaissance in Italy and northern Europe on pages 384-387 of your textbook.

C.     Review the works of art contained on pages 374 to 387 and select what you considered to be the best example of Renaissance art.

D.    Write a detailed paragraph defending your choice by explaining how well it:

a.      Uses Renaissance artistic techniques.

b.      Captures your attention through the use of composition, line, and color.

c.       Reflects the spirit of the Renaissance.

E.     Due at the beginning of next class.