Formal Analysis

visual elements

 line
 shape
 space
 texture
 color
 light
 value
 LINE is an extension of a point.
Actual lines are marks on a surface.

actual line implied line Actual line & implied

curved line

line created by an edge Vertical (attitude of attention), diagonal lines (movement)

horizontal (attitude of rest)
stability

sharp, jagged line

hard line, soft line
curved lines
 A contour line describes the boundaries of an object.
Matisse used contour lines for the chairs, dresser, grandfather clock, table, vase, and wine glass.

Henri Matisse, The Red Studio, 1911, oil on canvas, 5’11 ¼” x 7’2 ¼” (Museum of Modern Art, New York)
 An implied line is created by an edge.
Chagall used numerous implied lines in his painting.

Marc Chagall, I And the Village, 1911, oil on canvas, 75 5/8” x 59 5/8”
(Museum of Modern Art, New York)
 shapes

 Geometric shapes are circles, squares,

and triangles.

 Organic shapes are found in the nature.

The plants and figures are organic
shapes .

 Abstract shapes are forms that are

simplified.

 Non-representational shapes do not

represent anything in the nature.

Marc Chagall, I And the Village, 1911, oil on canvas, 75

5/8” x 59 5/8” (Museum of Modern Art, New York)
 The positive space is the solid shape.

The negative space is the shape around the object.

←negative

a shape of space, implied shape positive

←negative

Duane Preble, Night-Life

Auguste Rodin, The Thinker, 1879-87, bronze, height 27 ½”
(Musée Rodin, Paris)
figure-ground reversal
Mass is the physical bulk, density, and weight of a solid body of material.

Antonie-Louis Barye, Tiger Devouring a Gavial of the Ganges, 1831,

patinated plaster, 17” h (Detroit Institute of Arts)
 Volume is a void or empty, enclosed space.

Willem Claesz. Heda, Still Life with Oysters, a Roemer, a Lemon, and a Silver Bowl, 1634, oil on panel, 16 7/8” x 22 7/8”
(Museum Boijmans-van Beruninge, Rotterdam, The Netherlands) Dutch Baroque – * Notice the reflections in the glass.
 Methods of showing depth in a two-dimensional work of art

overlap →

vertical placement →

diminishing size →
Pond in a Garden, Wall painting from the tomb of Nebamun, Mu Qi, Six Persimmons, c. 1269, pen and ink on paper,
Egypt, c. 1400 B.C.E. 14 ¼” w

The persimmons are parallel to the picture plane. Mi

The flat surface of a two-dimensional work of art is known at
Qi represented depth though vertical placement and
the picture plane. overlap. The persimmon that is low in the picture
plane is the closest to us.
Linear perspective is another method of showing depth in a two-
dimensional work of art.

two -point

one-point
 Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, c. 1495-97, fresco, 15’1 1/8” x 28’10 ½”,
Refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan
If you were to take a ruler and draw a line across the top of the wall hangings and over the lines in the ceiling, you would
find that the lines converge on the vanishing point located behind Christ.
 Raphael, The School of Athens, c. 1510-11, fresco, 19’ x 27’ Stanza della Segnatura (Vatican, Rome)

Foreshortening: objects diminish in size as they move away from the viewer.

Raphael foreshortened the figures in the painting and most of them placed parallel to the picture plane. The man in blue on the steps is
foreshortened and placed on the diagonal in the painting.
 Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784, oil on canvas, 10’10” x 13’11” (Musée du Louvre, Paris)
Linear perspective involves to use of orthogonal or sight lines (actual or implied) that converge on the vanishing point.
I have drawn a few of them in white over the image.
 Atmospheric Perspective or aerial
perspective is used to give an illusion of
depth in a two-dimensional work of art.
The illusion is created by changing the
color, value, and details in a work of art.

Asher B. Durand, Kindred Spirits, 1849, oil on canvas

Hudson River School – American Romantic Landscape Painters
Value is the lightness and darkness of a color, or of a neutral from black to white.
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Gray and Black: The Artist’s Mother, 1871, oil on canvas , 56.8 in × 63.9 in
(Musée d’Orsay, Paris) value/gray scale
Artists model or shade forms to make them appear three-dimensional
 Chiaroscuro is light and dark shading in a work of art. It is used to make a two-
dimensional object look three-dimensional.

Annibale Carracci, Head of a Youth, 17th c.,

charcoal and white chalk on green/gray
Caravaggio, Supper at Emmaus, 1600-1601, oil on canvas paper, 10 ¾” x 9 ½”
(National Gallery, London)
 Claude Monet , Wheatstack, Sun in the Mist, 1891, oil on
canvas, 25 5/8” x 39 3/8” (The Minneapolis Institute of Arts) Claude Monet, Haystacks at the End of the Day, 1890-91, oil
on canvas, 25 5/8” × 39 1/2” (Art Institute of Chicago)

Claude Monet, Haystack at Sunset, 1891, oil on canvas

Claude Monet, Haystack in the Winter, 1891, oil on canvas, 25
(Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
½” x 39 ¼” (J. Paul Gettty Museum, Santa Monica, CA)
In 1666, Sir Isaac Newton discovered that white light is composed of all the colors in the spectrum. He found that
when the white light of the sun passes through a glass prism, it is separated into bands of color that make up the
visible spectrum. Each color has a different wavelength and travels through the glass of the prism at a different speed.
color wheel

primary colors: red, yellow, blue

secondary colors: orange, green,

violet

tertiary or intermediate colors: red-

orange, yellow-orange, yellow-
green, blue-green, blue-violet, and
red-violet
color wheel – warm/cool

warm: red-orange side of the color

warm colors advance

cool: blue-green side of the color wheel

cool colors recede

Value refers to the relative lightness or darkness of a color.

Saturation refers to the relative purity of color.

A tint is a color lighter than its normal value.

A shade is a color that is darker than its normal

value.
Color Harmonies

analogous: colors are next to one another on the color wheel.

complementary: colors are opposite one another on the color

wheel.

Optical Effects of Color

simultaneous contrast: complementary colors appear more

intense when they are placed next to each other

after image: staring at any saturated color will fatigue the

receptors in our eyes, which compensate when allowed to rest
by producing the color’s complementary as a ghostly image

Types of Palettes

open: all of the colors on the color wheel

monochromatic: one color

limited or restricted: one or two colors

triadic: three colors equidistant from each other on the color

wheel
Complementary colors are opposite one another on the color wheel such as red/green,
yellow/purple, and blue/orange.
.

Marc Chagall, I and the village, 1911, oil on canvas,

75 3/” x 59 3/8” (Museum of Modern Art, New York)
 Arbitrary color is not naturalistic color of objects.
Gauguin painted the ground red rather than brown or
green. Artists use arbitrary color for a number of
The term local color refers to naturalistic color. reasons such as conveying an emotion or exploring
formal qualities.

John Constable, The Haywain (Landscape: Noon), Paul Gauguin, The Vision after the Sermon (Jacob
1821, oil on canvas, 51 14/” x 73” Wrestling with the Angel), 1888, oil on canvas, 28 ¾” x
(The National Gallery, London) style: Naturalism 36 ½” (The National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh)
 A limited or restricted palette is dominated by one or two colors.

James McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, c. 1875, oil on panel, 23 ¾” x 183/8” (The
Detroit Institute of Arts)
 Implied texture is an illusion of texture in a work of art.
Greuze used implied texture in his painting. The chickens are a different texture than the clothing.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze, The Village Bride, 1761, oil on canvas (Musée du Louvre, Paris)
Implied texture is an illusion of texture in a work of art. Gauguin did not use implied texture in this painting.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze, The Village Bride, 1761, oil on Paul Gauguin, The Vision after the Sermon (Jacob
canvas (Musée du Louvre, Paris) Wrestling with the Angel), 1888, oil on canvas, 28 ¾” x 36
½” (The National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh)
 Actual texture is texture that you can touch.

Meret Oppenheim, Luncheon in Fur, 1936, mixed media

(Museum of Modern Art, New York)
Surrealism Oscar Kokoschka, The Bride of the Wind, 1914, oil on canvas,
5’11 ¼” x 7’2 5/8” (Offentliche Kunstsammlung, Basel,
Switzerland)
Kokoschka used impasto or thick paint
 Principles of Design

unity & variety

balance (symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial)
emphasis & subordination
directional forces
contrast
repetition & rhythm
scale & proportion
 Principles of Design

composition: The organization of the visual elements in a two-

dimensional work of art.

design: The organization of the visual elements in all types of art.

 unity & variety

Jacob Lawrence, Going Home, 1946, gouache, 21 ½” x 29 ½” (The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.)
 Types of Balance

symmetrical balance: forms are equal on both

sides

asymmetrical balance: forms are not equal on

both sides

radial balance: forms radiate from a center point

symmetrical balance: forms are equal on both sides

James Hoban, White House, 1792 (top)

White House
 asymmetrical balance: forms are not equal on both sides

Suzuki Haranobu, The Evening Glow of the Ando ,1766, color woodblock print, 11 ¾” x 8 ½”
1. A large form is visually heavier than a small form.

2. A dark-value form is visually heavier than a light-value form of

the same size.

3. A textured form is visually heavier than a smooth form of the

same size.

4. A complex form is visually heavier than a simple form of the

same size.

5. Two or more small forms can balance a larger one.

6. A smaller dark form can balance a larger light one.

Directional forces are “paths” for the eye to follow by actual or
implied lines.

(l)=still, (_)=rest, (/) =motion

Francisco Goya, Bullfight: The Agility and Daring of
Juanito Apinani, 1814-16, etching (The Art Institute
of Chicago)
 contrast

Luster-Painted Bowl, (Hispano-Moresque, Manises, Spain, c. 1400, tin-glazed earthenware)

 repetition & rhythm

Ogata Korin, Cranes (c. 1700, ink, color, & gold on paper, 65 3/8” x 146 ¼”
Rhythm is based on repetition.
 Scale is the size in relation to a standard or “normal” size.

Proportion refers to the size relationships between parts of a

whole, or between two or more items perceived as a unit.

Hierarchical scale is the use of scale to show importance.

 scale

Oldenburg, Shuttlecocks, 1994, aluminum, fiberglass-reinforced plastic, & paint, 215 ¾” x 209” x 191 ¾”

monumental scale
scale relationships
 Proportion refers to the size relationships between parts of a whole, or
between two or more items perceived as a unit.

Michelangelo, Pietà, 1501, marble, 6 ft 8 ½ in Roettigen Pieta, 1300-25, painted wood, 34 ½”

Michelangelo took “artistic license” by making normal proportions
Mary larger than Christ.