.

;pChapter 4-The Visual Elements

4.1 Elizabeth Murray. The Sun and the Moon. 2004-2005. Oil on Panel mounted on wood, 9’9” x
8’11 ½” x 2”.

When looking at the piece the best description is probably that it looks like some sort of explosion,
however, the longer that we look the more we see, such as a redish-pink figure that looks to be stepping
over what could be describe as a cat looking shape, as we can make out it’s ears and open mouth, which
has a cartoonish representation of sound coming out, and a curling tail that looks like it is winding
through something that looks representative of a window frame.

We see other things, that we might not recognize, however, we can generally assume that they might be
some abstract representations of sights or sounds.

This painting blurs the line between abstract and representational art as there is some of both elements
present.

While we view this work, not only are we trying to understand what is going on, but also the range of
colors that have been used in the work, some shapes are outlined, with matching lines that might be
representing some sort of texture. We also notice that there are spaces between items, the use of
repetition of shapes that seem to create patterns, and the use of a light source which creates shadows,
giving the illusion of mass to the image.

This chapter we will focus of the formal elements that artists use in order to analyze a visual experience,
and are the things that we are responding to when we are looking at a work of art.

4.2. High angle view of Nasca lines, Nasca Peru.

The definition of a line, is that it is a path traced by a moving point. So if you were to take your pencil,
and move it along the surface of the page, you would effectively create a line.

This is a large scale earth drawing, that would’ve been created in the first Millennium CE, made from
simply removing a top layer of stones away from the desert floor. What it leaves us with is exposed
sand of a lighter colors.

The configureation of the lines here come together to create the silhouette of a humming bird, that
were created from using parallel lines that had been connected at the ends, and repeated to give the
illusion of feathers.

The only way to see the shape is form the sky, which asks the question of what was the use of these if
they could only be seen from the sky.

As this is so large, it would’ve taken a significant amount of itme and a workforce to create, which
means that this had a great significance to the people of Nasca.

4.3. Claude Mellan. Sundarium of St. Veronica. 1649. Engraving, 17” x 12 ½”

This is a handkerchief that features the image of Christ’s face. This piece is notable because it is literally
created from a single line, that begins at the tip of the nose, and ripples out in concentric circles until it
reaches the edge of the material.
This single line literally defines the entirety of the face, even the deatialed featurels, the hair, and the
halo around his head. This showed a great deal of skill and control, and was very appealing because it
was a playful use of such a formal element.

4.4. Sarah Sze. Hidden Relief. 2001. Installation at the Asia Society, New York. 2001-2004, Mixed
Media dimensions variable.

Line can also be used to create a sense of motion. This installation features curved lines, and circles,
against a lattice. She uses various items to create her assemblage, including measuring sticks, string,
ladders, toothpicks, lamps, plastic tubes, and an assortment of kitchen utensils.

In other settings, we would not see them as such, but in the way that she presents them, they become
visual element, every day items that have turned into lines, shapes, colors, and mass.

The piece was installed in the corner of a room, which photographed at the proper angle, gives the
viewer the idea that this could be some sort of universe.

We find that our eye subconxciouosly follows the yellow line, that is arcing between other lines and
shapes that create a flow that help us explore the space more thoroughly.

Line is typically used to form borders, define shapes and surfaces, and give the viewer and
understanding of motion and/or direction.

4.5. Jaques Callot. Study of a Rearing Horse. CA. 1616. Pen and ink, 12 ¾” x 7 ¼”

We typically use outlines to create the definition of a two dimensional shape. While Contour lines are
used to create further definition of the outline to give the indication of a three dimensional form, and
give us boundaries to help us discern the image as 3 dimentionals.

In the image we are presented with an outline that would easily be identifiable as a house, however, the
artist has gone beyond the basic outline, to add countour lines, so that we see the definition of the
main, tail, muscles, flanks, etc.

4.6. Henri Cartier-Bresson. Auila, Abruzzi, Italy, 1951. Gelatin Silver print, 12 ½” x 9 ½”.

This image captured a split second of woman carrying a tray of small bread loaves up the stairs. She is
almost framed in the lower portion by the lines, which we have been drawn to by the railing on the right
hand side, to show us this motion, which is why he characterized the capturing of this image as decisive.

Howeer, our eye is not done yet, as they we are attracted by another railing, that is almost at the same
level from our perspective, that then carries our attention down through the rest of the image
seamlessly, where we see move of the city people in the square, which without the help of the artists,
we might not necessasrily have seen what he was wanting us to without the use of this line.

In this piece, we find that our eyes were most willing to follow the diagonal lines first. This is due to the
instinctive direction of line and it’s relation to gravity, as we have experience with it.

While flat lines seem calm, and usually represent a horizon or a reclining body, vertical lines represent
an assertive quality as they represent an upright body or some sort of structure coming form the
ground, diagonal lines happen to be the most dynamic however as, they usually indicate some sort of
motion because they appear to be unstable to us.
4.7. Thomas Eakins. The Biglin Brothers Racing. Oil on canvas, 24 ½” x 36 1/16”

In this piece we see the calm horizon line of the shore. We then also see the boats, which when
compared to the shoreline, actually have a slight diagonal to them. We then go on to see more overtly
diagonal lines when viewing the mens arms and the oars.

Eakins did this specifically to imply to motion, but also to imply the strength and power necessary to row
the boat.

He also replicated the pattern of diagonal with the clouds above, which gave the over piece the sense of
movement, as if you are seeing a split second of the boats moving smoothing through the water,
unhindered.

What this proves to us is that we experience lines as much more than linteral lines, that we experience
them through linear forms and edges.

4.8. Linear analysis of The Biglin Brothers Racing

4.9. Peter Paul Rubens. The Raising of the Cross. 1609-1611. Oil on panel. 15’ 1 1/16” x 11 1 ½”

In the image we are witnessing the exact moment that Christ is being hoisted on the cross into the
vertical position of a crucifixion.

This work is being done by very large and muscular men, who when combined with Christ, create a very
large diagonal line that spans from the top left corner down to the bottom right. You see this line
repeated by a man hoisting with a rope directly to the right, we also see smaller diagonals of the legs of
the men on the left, that almost elevate the main diagonal directly to the viewer.

Our eyes are further directed, as the gaze of Christ is indicating towards the heavens.

4.10 Jean-Antoine Watteau. The Embarkation for Cythera. 1718-1719. Oil on canvas. 4’ 21 3/16” x 6’
4 3/16”

The next type of lines that we have to consider are implied lines. An example of this that we would see
in the real world is that of a dotted line, which then allows our brains to connect them into a line. This is
what the artist effectively did here, using the cherubs to create the implied lines.

We also see this in representation art, such as when we see a subject gazing at something, that implies
that there is a line, though one is not present.

Implied lines can also be created by seeing someone point as well.

We also see this a most of the couples as glancing backwards to the original couple where the first line
begins, which gently pulls the viewer back to this couple, who also seem to be at the implied attention
of the statue of venus above them.

4.11. Lilnear analysis of The Embarkation for Cythera

Next we move on to shape and mass. A shape is anything that is a two dimensional form, which means
that an image is simply a system of shapes that are interlocking. Boundaries between these shapes are
often created by lines, texture change, or color change.

A mass on the otherhand is a three dimensional form, that occupies a volume of space. So when we
think of mass we think of things like sculptures, clay, mountians, etc.

Shapes and masses are typically divided into two categories geometric and organic. Geometric are
things that we can identify by typical shapes, rectangle, cube, sphere, circle, etc. While organic shapes
are often irregular and remind us of living forms found in nature.

Here we see a two dimensional painting, in which we see a young Irishman who is dressed to attend the
Venice Carnival, paitnied with his mask askew on his head. For the most part, we see the definition of
shapes in the changes of color, with the whole figure being comprised of mostly triangular shapes.
There is also the use of different textures to define this space as well.

This shape that we are focused on, overall, is what we would call a positive shape. The background
however, creates a shape of it’s own, complimentary to the positive shape, and often devoid of great
detail, which is known as a negative shape.

4.13. Bill Reid. The Raven and the First Men. 1980. Laminated yellow cedar height, 6’ 2 ¼”

This piece is a representation of the birth of humans, in reference to the creation stories from the Haida
in the Pacific Northwest Coast.

We see the giant bird, who is a spirit hero, known as Raven. This Raven discovers the first humans, who
have been hiding in a clamshell, and encourages them out into the word.

In this image, we see a great distinction between shadow and light, and how they interact to show us
this tree dimensional form, including all of it’s mass.

First the clamshell has a great amount of mass, and is then topped with what appears to be an even
greater amount of mass from the bird.

This also allows us to see not only the convex and concave forms, but also the positive masses and
negative masses that are created with the open spaces.

Though we can see much from this photograph, to get an actual true reading of the effectiveness of the
mass of this piece, we would need to view it in the round as a sculpture is meant to be.

For our minds to be able to perceive shapes, we tend to detach them from their surroundings in order to
distinctly recognize them and their coherency with the piece. Something that we selectively focus on
like this, is called a figure, while all of the information that we have detached it from is the ground.

For example, if we go back to Gustavus Hamilton, the man is very obviously our figure, while the
background turns into our ground.
Here is is the distintion between the mass and the background. We learn here that artists pay attention
to this negative and positive space while they are creating, which is why it is important that we observe
it.

4.14. Jar (olla), Black on white pitcher, Pueblo period, ca. 1000 CE. Height 8”

In this piece however we don’t have such a clear distinction between a figure and ground or positive and
negative shapes.

Here we see continuous lines, that end in triangular shapes, create in black lines against a white ground.
However, when you get to the end you see that they maybe they don’t end in the black triangular
shapes, but intead they end in the white triangular shapes, which completely reverse sthe field and
changes what was the psotive and the negative in this iamge.

4.15. The Triangle that isn’t there

It is also necessary for us to talk about implied shapes. Literally the only thing we see here is three black
circles with wedges cut out of them, however, our mind first sees the white triangle that is created in
the middle of the three ciricles instead, perceiving it as a whole, when indeed, this triangle doesn’t
actually exist.

4.16. Raphael. The Madonna of the Meadows. 1505. Oil on panel. 44 ½” x 34 ¼”

Optical illusions like this being used can be traced to psuychology and scientific reasoning, as artist had
been doing this as part of their intuition in order to unify the compositions that they were creating.

Here we see the grouping of Mary, with the young Jesus on the right and John the Baptist on the left.
We see the definition of the corners of the triangle with the expose foot of mary, her head as the apex
or tallest point, and then John the Baptists.

Our eyes move around this triangle as they are connected by the common color and boundary of the
flesh of our subject and how that is contrasting with the dark colors of Mary’s clothes.

He used this triangle to bring a sense of wholeness and harmony to the images and it seems to perfectly
fit in.

4.17. Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida. Boys ono the Beach. 1909. Oil on canvas, 46 3/8” x 72 4/5”

The Phenomena of light seemed like something of a miracle to our ancestors, which often prompted
them to consider the sun as a god and the moon as a goddess.

Though we have learned to capture the power of light, there are still the qualities of the variation of
light that have the power to change everyday experiences.

When artists talk about light, we are talking about the real representation of light in a piece of work,
which indicates how the object is interacting with it’s environment
Artists create their compositions keeping in mind how light will interact with what they are createing,
especially in drawing and painting light is used to convey that something might have mass in two
dimensional media.

This artist expresses light in several ways. These three boys have been captured playing in the wet sand.
First you see the reflection of each boy next to them in the water surrounding them, which shows this
light on the wet sand. Next we see various small white areas on the boys’ bodies that are meant to
show the glare of the light reflection off of their wet skin.

The artists is trying to convey that they are all experiencing the same king of light, which from the angle
of these lights, you can tell that the sun is overhead and slightly to the right. We also see this from the
shadows created from the boy’s heads as the shadows fall opposite from the sun.

4.18. Manuel Alvarez Bravo. La Visita (The Visit). 1935 or 1945. Printed 1979. Gelatin silver print, 6
5/8” x 9 3/8”

Lights and shadows are used in two dimensional media to give the viewer the idea that they actually
have three dimensional qualities. In this work we see and unknown source of light, but again, we
understand where it is coming from as the fron of the figures are well illuminated and the shadows are
falling behind them, indicating that the light is coming from the right.

This also tells us that the statues are looking directly into the light source, and gives us a visual
understading of the masses that are encased in the robed sculptures.

We understand this because of our real world experience, in which we know, the things that are the
most brightly highlighted will be those things that are the closest to the light source, and as things get
further and further away we see an increase in shade and shadow.

4.19. Value scale in gray

Escpeically as this image in black and white, it also makes us have an understanding of value. Value is
the continuous evolution of a color from it’s lightest color to it’s darkest color, typically ending in black.

We often break this down into scale, which essentially gives us the steps that were used to get from the
lightest value to the darkets and vice versa. We see the evolution from black to white in 9 steps in this
value scale.

What is interesting about black and white photography though , si that we are strictly able to see our
world in lights and shadows, in a range of values, before we even add any sort of pigmented color.

4.20. Leonardo da Vinci. The Virgin and St. Anne with the Christ Child and John the Baptist. Ca. 1499-
1500. Charcoal, black and white chalk on brown paper, 54 7/8” x 39 7/8”

Before the camera existed, artists were also concerned with expressing these shades and values. This
technique, called chiaroscuro, which translastes from Italian to light/dark, was the use of subtle shading
to create values.
Leonardo Da Vinci was particularly skilled in this technique.

This drawing was unfinished, but we have a very good idea of the spectacular effect that he was able to
create.

He used a middle value of brown paper, that seems to have a soft light that almost radiates throughout
the whole composition. The then went on to define the lights with white chalk and charcoal to create
the range of darks and shadows.

It is also evident the mastery that he used by looking at the hand of st. Anne, which is only in the
contour stages of the drawing.

4.21. Charles White. Untitled. 1979. Etching. 4” x 5 ½”

In this image we can see that the shading came solely from the use of line. We see that the artist also
incorporated the natural paper as their highest value. To illustrate the evlolution of the value, he begins
with using the technique of hatching, meaning that paralleli lines are used consecutively to illustrate
light shading.

To illustrate darker shades, the artists when on to cross hatching, meaning that a set of perpendicular
set of parallel lines was placed on top of the original hatching.

When seen up close, these lines seem very crude, and rudimentary, hwoever, when seen from a
distance, they blend together to torn into a finer gradient, which is an effect called optical mixing.

4.22. Techniques for modeling mass with lines: hatching, cross-hatching, and stippling.

A technique that also relies on optical mixing is call stippling. Meaning that small dots are use, with the
darker shaded areas contain a greater amount of dots.

4.23. A. White light separate into spectral colors by a prism.

Typcially there are very few artistic elements that are going to be enjoyed by a viewer as much as color.
Think about when you are getting to know a person, you typically ask their favorite color, or people are
attracted to buy clothing item of certain colors because they lie it.

There have been many studies throughout the years that believed that color can have psychological and
physiological affect on the viewer. For example, there was a German study that concluded that the
color green could actually boost creativity.

We were introduced to our modern day color theory by Sir Isaac Newton, the same man who also came
up with the laws of gravity.

He created a setup in which he shined a ray of sunlight, through prism, he saw, that the ray of sunlight
was broken up into various colors, that so happened to be in the exact order of a rainbow.

He then went on to set up a second prism, which when he combined the two rainbows, he actually
created white light again, therefore proving that colors are actually made of components of light.
This means that no object possesses color, but is instead dependent on light.

What we call color, is actually the reflection of the light rays.

And example of this is when you see something that’s red, it means that the shirt is absorbing all of the
other colors and reflecting the red, meaning that your eye see red.

This relies both the human eye and physiological response in addition to the science of wavelengths in
order for use to properly understand color.

B. The colors of the visible spectrum.

4.24. Color Wheel

This brings us to the necessirty of the color wheel, if all of the colors and their intermediaries were
expressed, they would form the circle of continuous color.

Primary

Secondary

Tertiary/Intermediate colors

Warm colors

Cool colors

This is a standard cholor wheel

4.25. Iranian coronation carpet. Ca. 1520-1530. Textile.

Here we see a predominantly cool palette of blue and green, that is used along with some tertiary colors
such as yellow orange and beige in order to showcase the warmth of the red tone.

4.26. Color Value and Intensity

A. The Spectral colors and their corresponding gray-scale values

Hue is anything that we see on the color wheel, so yellow, red-violet, blue-green, blue. Etc. We already
understand that value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. We also have preconceived
notions of what value is, so we consider yellow to be light, and purple to be dark.

This color wheel shows the correlating black and white values.

Any color that is lighter than the normal value is called a tint, and anything darker that the normal value
is called a shade. For example, pink would be a tint of red and maroon would be a shade of red.

B. Blue in a range of values.

Figure B shows value using an actual hue.

D. Yellow-orange progressively dulled with blue-violet

When referring to color we also need to talk about the intensity, which is also known as the chroma or
saturation, typically the purest colors are through to have the highest saturation or intensity, while
duller colors, that have been softened or dulled typically by adding grey or black, or the complimentary
color.

4.27. Diamond-pattern blanket rug. 1885. Textile

In this piece we predominantly see Red and Yellow. There are actually three values of red that have
been used.

All of the colors in this piece are very saturated, althrough the yellows appear to have a lower intensity
as they seemed to have been somewhat dulled, which allowed the saturated reds to pop from the
rest of the pattern.

4.29. Emmi Whitehorse. Chanter. 1991. Oil on paper, mounted on canvas, 39 1/8” x 28”

This then brings use to color harmonies or schemes, with is the use of two or more colors within a
composition. This is what we would consider a monochromatic color scheme as it uses mostly
tints and shades of blue, specifically cool blues, as she is showing her interpretation of the symbols
found in Navajo rock art.

This also helps the red element down at the bottom of the composition to pop out in contrast.

Other color schemes include complementary colors schemes, where colors are chosen that are across
each other from the color wheel, as complements make each other stand out vividly, known as
simultaneous contrast.

4.30. Louis Comfort Tiffany. Magnolias and Irises. 1908. Stained Glass, 60 ¼” x 42”

Here we see a Triadic harmony, meaning that the colors used are equidistant from each other in relation
to the color wheel.

There is also such thing as a restrictive palette, which means the artists uses few colors, or an open
palette, where the artist uses an color they please.

4.31.

4.32. Georges Seurat. Evening, Honfleur. 1886. Oil on canvas, 25 ¾” x 32”

Seurat created the process of pointlisim, in which he would use tiny dots of pure pigment located next
to each other, in order to create an image, that would blend to creat and image from the distance.
Due to the small patches of color located close together, the eye tends to blend them in a new
color, in what is called optical color mixture, which this painting heavily relies on.
4.35. Johannes Vermeer. Young Woman with a Water Pitcher. 1662. Oil on canvas, 18” x 16”.

Most people don’t realize the effect that color has on us emotionally, however we find that we are more
so culturally and personally affected by it, as good example being that Americans tend to associate
red and green with Christmas.

In this image we see different hues and values of blue that are used to create a calming and quiet mood.
The color is significant in creating this subdued fessling, but we also get this from the filtered blue
light, and seeing a familiar scene of a woman who going through the daily routine of a morning at
home, all of these factors combined help to give us the emotional connection and speed of the
work.

4.36. Edvard Munch. The Scream. 1893. Tempera and casein on cardboard. 36” x 29”

The scream on the other hand, uses color for it’s expressive effects. We see a scene that was depicting a
sunset, he expresses in his diary that he was using the red to depict blood, however, this would
also be a typical color seen during a sunset, which means that he is not solely relying on color to
create the emotional connection.

The horizon line here seems to disappe while we see an almost skull like appear of the figure holding his
head between his hands, his mouth open, screaming, however, you see two figures moving on the
boardwalk almost as if nothing had happened, meaning that this scream was internal, no one
actually heard it, but it was project onto nature here.

4.37. Mona Hatoum. Dormiente. 2008. Mild Steel, 10 5/8” x 90 9/16” x 39 3/8”

When we think of texture, we think of how something feels when we touch it, soft blankets, smooth
metal, etc. Humans often can’t resist the urge to touch something that looks as if it has an
interesting texture to it.

This also means that there are various types of texture, demonstrated here we see actual texture, which
means that it is something that will be experienced through touch.

The smoothing areas look so inviting to run a hand over, but while touching the piece, the viewer would
want to be careful, as the center area has the texture very close to that of a cheese grater.

Dormiente translates to sleeping person, which means the artists is asking us to consider this large scale
grater as a bed, which makes use have to think about the idea of a human interacting with this,
vulnerable in their sleeping position, and likely in clothes that would not protect soft flesh.

4.39. Cornelius Norbertus Gijsbrechts. Trompe l’Oeil with Studio Wall and Vanitas Still Life. 1668. Oil
on canvas, 59 7/8” x 46 ½”

A hallmark of Dutch still life paintings was their integration of visual texture into paintings. Those who
were so good at recreating these textures that were able to convince the viewer it was almost
real, were called Trompe l’Oeil, meaning fool the eye in French.

This artists would meticulously renderd the surfaces, all the way down to the smaller textural detail in
order to fool the viewer. You have no problem identifying the subject matter in this image, as the
 visual textures are tangible things that we have experience with, such as you have no doubth that
is wood behind the iage, and then there is paint running down the palette,a dn we can see
refeltino on the glass, and highlights of the brass item, as well as the soft canvas pulling away from
the rigid frame.

4.40. Samuel Fosso. The Chief: He Who Sold Africa to the Colonists, from Self-Portraits I-V. 1997.
Chromogenic print, 20” x 20”

A pattern is categorized as any sort of repeating of a decorative motif or design.

Pattern has the ability to create visual texture, though not every visual texture will have a pattern.

Pattern has an interesting ability that typically represented, it actually tends to flatten any idea of space
of mass that we might have.

This piece here fights for out attention, the patterns that we would not normally notice are pulled
forward

This has also caust most everything to flatten, when looking at the chair we know it has mass, however,
it is very hard for use to disern that s it’s spread over three different patterns.

We then come to see a paradoy of a traditional ruler the artists is portraying, however, we still have a
hard time discerning his mass as well.

4.41. Anish Kapoor. Cloud Gate. 2006. Steel, 33’ x 66’ x 42’

Architecture, sculpture, or anything that has mass, has to occupy in a three dimensional space, your
body also exists in this same space.

What makes artwork recognizable is how it establishes it’s space, by the volumes, and area that it takes
up around it.

This piece specifically takes a great amount of space as it’s 65’x42’x42. Inspired by liquid mercury, this
oversized piece exists in the same space as human, who are able to walk around it and under it,
which continues to remind us of the space that we are sharing with it. Will also understand the
sense of space when we see the reflective surface of the Chicago skyline as well.

4.44. Maharana Ama Singh II, Prince Singh, and Courtiers Watch the Performance of na Acrobat and
Musicians. Rajasthan, Mewar, Ca. 1705-1708. Ink, opaque, watercolor, and gold on paper; 20
½” x 35 ¾’

When talking about space in reference to two dimensional media, it is also important to talk about
implied depth, historically, there were two conventions, that would typically always convey depth,
one of which is overlapping, which tells us that one thing is infront of the other, and another is
placement, the thigns we see as the bottom of the frame is what we perceive as the closest, while
the figures at the top are perceived further away.
During this time period, Indian artists preferred the profile view, which despite the overlapping, still
created a flatness throughout the image, in addition to the lack of light and shadow.

4.45. Basic Principles of Linear Perspective

The ideals of linear perspective includes, that as forms recede from us, they also become smaller as well
as the fact that parallel lines that recede into the distance will eventually converge on a point that
is located on the horizon line, known as the vanishing point.

This allowed a greater expression of depth, and actually allowed the artists to create a space, almost as
if the viewer was able to look through a window to access a scene. This was so effective because
this is the actual way that our eye interpret real space.

4.46. Leonardo da Vinci. The Last Supper (after restoration). Ca. 1495-1497. Fresco. 15’ 1/8” x 28’ 10
1/2”

In this scene, da Vinci effectively used linear perspective to convey the scene when jesus is telling his
disciples during the last supper that one of them will betray him. All of the desciples have a
different reaction to being told this, we also view Judas with his bag of coins, as he was paid 30
pieces of silver for giving Jesus to the authorities.

He created the scene in what looks to be large banquet hall, created withing the boundaries of linear
perspective. We see the cloth panels on the side walls in addition to the ceiling receding into the
backgroung, all of them receding to the vanishing potion that is located just above the head of
Jesus, which then brings our attention almost forcefully to Jesus himself, as he is considred to be
most important part of the composition.

We also see a window on the back wall that also gives him somewhat of a halo effect around him.

Not only was linear perspective a great way to express space and depth, but it also could have meaning,
if we were to see all of the lines drawn out here, we would see that this image seems as if it is
radiating from the head of Christ, which implies that creation comes from the mind of god.

4.47. Hans Baldun Grien. The Groom and the Witch. Ca. 1540. Woodcut, 13 15/16 x 7 7/8”

We also must talk about foreshortening, which means that any object that seems to be projecting away
or twards the viewer, will actually appear shorter than it actually in length, almost as if it’s been
compressed. We understand that what we are looking at is the same length as it would normally
be, however, it typically appears much shorter than our previous knowledge indicates.

In this image we see both the foreshortened figure of the horse and the groom. The groom appear at a
perpendicular angle compared to the picture plane, which makes it look as if his body is much too
short, which we would not see if he were laying parallel with the picture palne.
The horse is actually turned to a 45 degree angle, however, the distance between his rear and his font
legs has been significantly compressed from what we know it actually would be, however, if the
artist were to represent this, we would have a pretty evil and weird looking horse.

Foreshortening is extremely difficult, as while rendering it, the artist can struggle as it does not seem all
that natural, and it doesn’t follow the natural lines of recession like architecture would.

4.48. John Frederick Kensett. Lake George. 1869. Oil on canvas, 3’ 8 1/8” x 5’ 6 3/8”

Next is atmospheric perspective, which asserts that things that are further away, tend to appear less
distinct, hazy, paler, and bluer due to the moiste in the atmosphere interacting with light and
scattering it.

Atmospheric perspective was a very naturalistic way of suggesting a receding landscape.

IN this image we see a shore line, very distinct and coloruly, however as the painting recedes, the hills
and water are progressively getting more hazy, less distinct, and even have a blueish tinge, which
marks the successful recession, we even see the hills curving away from us and disappear from the
view.

4.52. Bim Gujarati. Alexander the Great Enthroned at Persepolis, from Kjamsah by Nizami Ganjavi.
1595. Ink and pigments on light brown paper.

Isometric perspective is typically seen in Islamic and Asian art, as it indicates recession into the
background, without allowing the parallel lines to converge.

We see this in the image with the canopy that is over the head of Alexander the great.

4.53. Alexander Calder. Carmen. 1974. Aluminum sheet, iron sheet, and paint. 38’ x 25’

Calder wanted to set art in motion, and did so with what Duchamp would call mobiles, and become very
famous for them.

Calder’s work specifically focused on hanging abstract forms from thin wires, that would respond to
their own weight, she slight shifts in air currents would occur.

This mobile is almost always in motion, keeping the viewer aware that time is always constantly passing.

This is what is considered kinectic art, as it incorporates motion as part of the expiernce.

There is also movement in the fact that the viewer can walk around and under the mobile. Changing our
perception of motion and time in this instance.

4.56. Asif Khan. MegaFaces Kinetic Façade. 2014. Installation with LED lights, 59’ x 24’ 3”

This piece uses digital images in order to create kinective art. This was originally create for the winter
Olympics in Sochi, Russia during 2014.

The goal of the artist was to include people from a variety of backrounds, ages, etc, in his work which led
to the 3 d scanning of the faces of 30 people across Russia.
There are projecting arms, that create the facial shape, tha then interacts with led lights that have been
placed on the tips, to create these portraits from this wall.

These emerge from the wall for a time, but then will disappear.

When viewers would see this it was constantly changing, and they would become familiar with new
faces, etc, however, for the people who allowed their faced to be scanned, they would get atext
message to view webcams to see how people interacted with their images.