Artist use the elements and principles to make art. We use the elements and principles to analyze and talk about art.
SPIDER, NAZCA, PERU
Known as the Nazca Lines
Located on the high desert plains of Peru
Enormous scale
Spider is 150 feet long
Can only be seen from the sky (discovered by aircraft)
Created by scraping off dark gravel, revealing the white gypsum that lies just beneath the surface
Possibly made using string attached to posts as guidelines
This photograph shows the Ducal Palace in Venice
It shows the division between the top of the building and the blue sky
But there is no line to indicate the division between the two
The artist uses line to show where the building meets the sky
Line also gives a feeling of depth and texture to the work
The artist indicates information that would not otherwise be apparent by using line (for example, accentuating the pattern on the facade)
Line can communicate direction and movement
Directional lines converge in the upper section of the image
Then our attention is directed to the figure at the left who is being blasted by an explosion
The strong diagonal lines add an intense feeling of movement
CLAMP is a mangaka (group of Manga artists)
Mel Bochner used ruled line in his work Vertigo from 1982
The lines, created with a straightedge, imply mechanical planning
Bochner contradicts the sense of control by applying the regular lines in a hectic crossing pattern that creates a contrasting feeling of disarray
Like a machine gone out of whack
Hepworth used regular line to plan sculptures
Lines represent feelings and sensations in her work
“I rarely draw what I see. I draw what I feel in my body.”
The artist projects four views of the planned work
Hepworth has revealed the kind of lines that she feels, rather than sees
The drawing is a translation of feelings into visual form
The feelings are then translated into a sculpture
These lines reflect Masson’s drawing and thinking process
He wanted to express the subconscious
Masson would go for days without food or sleep
He believed that this would allow him to explore deep-rooted sources of creativity and truth
The drawings are free, spontaneous expressions
Uses an uninhibited style
Lines are irregular and loose
In spite of its chaotic appearance, the work is orderly
Combines irregular lines of sky with regular lines of architecture
This work appears to be a preliminary sketch for another work
Center bottom inscription:
“all lights as high as possible / get color out of shadows.”
Probably written as a reminder of details to come
Implied lines are created with small passages of text
Detail of work shows the lines of text
The added text is more than decoration
Tiny text is a masorah
Provides pronunciation and intonation guidance
Detail
Implied line influences visual rhythms in this design
Dashes and grid imply horizontal and vertical lines
Title of work is spelled out using implied lines
Sauerkids is the name used by a pair of Dutch designers
Their names are Mark Moget and Taco Sipma
Directional lines can be either actual or implied
Goya uses implied line to direct the viewer’s gaze
Directional line is used in these instances:
(A) Actual line directs the viewer from left to right where sky meets the lighted hillside
(B) An implied line created by the feet of the soldiers leads right to left
(C) A shadow at the bottom continues the same direction
(D) and (E) Direct the viewer upward toward (A)
The strong horizontal of the rifles draws attention to victims
The viewer’s attention is directed downward as the lines of the girders get closer toward the bottom of the image
This accentuates the great height
This is a depiction of construction workers
Shows the Empire State Building being built
Tallest building in the world when completed
Background buildings add to feeling of great height
The work is drawn almost entirely using contour lines
Fingers and shirtsleeves are drawn with great economy
Lines of hair vary in thickness and regularity
Lines suggest an organic surface
Machine-like pattern of clothing, contrasting with the other lines, helps to reinforce expression of organic surface
The directions of lines both guide our attention and suggest particular feelings
Vertical lines tend to communicate strength and energy
Horizontal lines can suggest calmness and passivity
Diagonal lines are associated with action, motion, and change
Diagonals can express the excitement of athletic activity
Conveys action with a shape comprising a stylized, diagonal line
Line gives an unsettling energy to this painting of a bedroom
Lines that make up the floor are strong verticals
Suggests that Van Gogh’s bedroom was not a calm place of rest
Floor also changes in color and value, adding anxiety
Strong verticals combine with diagonals to add to uneasiness
Van Gogh committed suicide in 1890 (the following year)
He died in this bed
Named for a popular quilting pattern
The organic shapes of the flowers are clearly distinct from the hard geometric shapes of the “blocks” and the red frame
The floral shapes have an irregularity that reflects the kind of shape we find in living things
The geometric regularity of the blocks acts as a foil to the organic shapes casually arranged “on” them
Shapiro calls these works “femmages” (homages to the work of women
This work is a collage, or a work assembled by gluing pieces
Uses horizontal lines to imply a sphere or globe
Twelve horizontal lines are trimmed to form a circle
The image is simple, creating an appropriately meaningful and readily recognizable symbol for a global company
The AT&T logo was created in the 1980s by American graphic designer Saul Bass
Positive shapes include the objects or figures that viewers usually focus on when they see a work of art.
Negative shapes include what is left over in the composition, whether it is empty space or space filled with other imagery.
Black features and the blank white space contrast with and complement each other
The contrast between positive and negative shapes draws our attention
Fairey wants strong impact because he needs to catch his audience’s attention quickly as they pass by
The image is based on Andre the Giant, a professional wrestler (Fessick in The Princess Bride)
Fairey posted these images in public spaces as an act of street theater and guerrilla marketing
Shapes derive from a close observation of organic objects
Emphasis on the negative blue shape in the bottom right of the picture
Positive shape of the pink arc above
O’Keeffe’s paintings use landscape and flower shapes to make associations with the female body
The interplay of positive and negative space becomes symbolic of the erotic and life-giving nature of womanhood
Graphic designers use negative shape to convey information subtly
The alternation of positive and negative shape communicates the new and old titles of the conference in a single image
Al Grivetti ingeniously inserted the number “11” in the negative space on either side of the capital “T”
The negative shape changes from white in the upper part of the picture to black in the lower
The most refined version of each animal occurs at the top and bottom extremes of the image
Each refined version becomes more vague until it transforms into the negative ground of the other
This is a figure-ground reversal