UNIT 6

• Principles of design


  • Overall visual structure/organization of a work of art
  • Means by which the artist makes comprehensible the ideas he/she wishes to express and communicate
  • Guides for making effective choices for the artists
  • Give the audience greater insight into works of art
  • Explain systematically our sense of "rightness", and help to show why certain designs work better than others
• Principles of design


  • Harmony
  • Repetition
  • Rhythm
  • Variety
  • Balance
  • Proportion
  • Emphasis and Subordination
• Harmony


  The adaptation of the visual elements to each other, the agreement between the parts of a composition which results in unity
• Repetition


  • The use of the same visual element several times in the same composition
  • Reemphasizes visual units again and again in a marked pattern
  • Binds the work together to achieve unity
  • Does not always mean exact duplication, but it does mean similarity or near-likeness
• Repetition


  • Repeating an object or symbol all over the work of art
  • Uses the elements in planned or random repetitions to enhance the surfaces of paintings or sculptures
  • Often occurs in nature, and artists use similar repeated motifs to create patterns in their work
  • Increases visual excitement by enriching surface interest
• Rhythm


  • Can be described as timed movement through space; an easy, connected path in which the eye follows a regular arrangement of motifs; a flow, or a feeling of movement achieved by the repetition of regular visual units
  • Can be achieved through repetition, alternation, and gradation
• Alternation


  • A specific instance of pattern in which a sequence of repeating motifs are presented in turn (long/short; fat/thin; round/square; dark/light)
  • Employs a series of motifs patterned to relate to one another through a regular progression of steps
• Variety


  • Prevents utter uniformity and monotony in the environment of man
  • The use of a quality or an element that contrasts with or is slightly different from those that surround it prevents sameness
  • If shape is repeated, variety in size can prevent uniformity
  • To make differences dramatic, a contrasting quality may be introduced
  • If bright colors are used, a cool, dark color can provide a refreshing change
• Balance


  • The concept of visual equilibrium which gives a feeling of equality in weight, attention, or attraction of the various elements
  • Suggests the gravitational equilibrium of a single unit in space or a pair of objects arranged concerning an axis or a fulcrum
  • A reconciliation of opposing forces in a composition that results in visual stability
  • Many factors contribute to a sense of balance, such as the position, size, proportion, quality, and direction of all the elements
• Symmetrical balance


  • The most obvious type of balance
  • Achieved by the use of identical compositional units on either side of an imaginary vertical or horizontal axis within the pictorial space, or when one-half of a work mirrors the image of the other half
  • There is a variant called approximate symmetry in which equivalent but not identical forms are arranged around the fulcrum line
• Asymmetrical balance


  • More complex and less obvious
  • Involves placement of objects in a way that will allow objects of varying visual weight to balance one another around a fulcrum point
  • Not balanced, mirrored
  • More interesting
• Radial balance


  • Elements in the composition radiate outward from a central point
  • More common in architecture and crafts
  • Arranged around a central point in the composition
• Proportion


  • The relative size and scale of the various elements in a design
  • Deals with the ratio of one part to another and of the parts to the whole
  • Expressed in size, number, position, and space
  • The space surrounding the object also assumes an important relation to the object
  • A matter of relative size and never of absolute size
• Emphasis and Subordination


  • Principles that concern the giving of proper importance to parts and the whole
  • Involve the differentiation between the more important and the less important
  • Subordination is a technique that de-emphasizes certain elements in a work of art to make the main subject stand out
• The artists use movement to direct the viewer's eye through the work of art, often to focal areas
• Movement


  • Can be created with rhythm when repeatedly using a variation of an element
  • Using curved lines and diagonal lines creates more movement compared to straight lines
  • Use lines to trace the path to the focal point
  • Color can help enhance the feeling of movement, juxtaposing high and low-key colors to create energy
• Periods of medieval art

  • Early Medieval Art
  • Romanesque Art
  • Gothic Art
• Medieval art


  • Includes a wide variety of art and architecture
  • Refers to a period also known as the Middle Ages
• Artworks emerged from the artistic heritage of the Roman Empire and the iconographic style of the early Christian church, fused with the "barbarian" culture of Northern Europe
• Most medieval artworks focused on Christian themes and imagery
• • Prominent in European regions, the Middle East, and North Africa
  • Can be found in churches, cathedrals, and other religious doctrines
  • Use of valuable materials such as gold for objects in churches, personal jewelry, and backgrounds for mosaics, and applied as gold leaf in manuscripts
• Artists were commissioned for works featuring Biblical tales and classical themes for churches, while interiors were elaborately decorated with Roman Mosaics ornate paintings, and marble incrustations
• Byzantine art


  • Conservative in nature, primarily featuring religious subject matter
  • Characterized by a lack of realism
  • Paintings were flat with little to no shadows or hint of three-dimensionality
  • Subjects were typically more serious and somber
• Hagia Sophia was originally built as a Christian church in the 6th Century, became a mosque and a museum, and is now a mosque
• Romanesque was the first style to spread across Europe, symbolizing the growing wealth of European cities and the power of church monasteries
• Romanesque buildings were characterized by semi-circular arches, thick stone walls, and durable construction
• Sculptures were also prevalent during this time, where stone was used to represent biblical subject matter and church doctrines
• Other significant medieval media include stained glass and the continued tradition of illuminated manuscripts
• Illuminated manuscripts were decorated with gold or silver colors and used animal skin as their paper
• Gothic architecture


  • Offered revolutionary structural advancements such as ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, and decorative pinnacles all contributing to taller, lighter building designs
• Gothic art is defined by devotional, Christian subjects depicted in angular forms with sharp contours, flattened colour and gold decoration
• Byzantine mosaics featured elongated figures with angular faces, positioned face-on against ornate, gold backgrounds, illustrating Christ, the Virgin Mary, or other important figures of worship
• Types of art covered

  • Pre-history Art
  • Egyptian Art
  • Classical Art
• Prehistoric artifacts and arts

  • Produced in preliterate and prehistorical culture
• Prehistoric periods


  • Paleolithic Period or Old Stone Age (30,000 BCE–10,000 BCE)
  • Mesolithic Period or Middle Stone Age (10,000 BCE–8,000 BCE)
  • Neolithic Period or New Stone Age (8,000 BCE–3,000 BCE)
• Rock carvings


  From the Greek words "petros" (stone) and "glyphein" (to carve)
• Cave paintings


  Oldest found in southern France and Spain
• Cave paintings at Lascaux, France, have been dated around 13, 000 B.C., during the Upper Paleolithic Period
• Cave paintings


  • Made far inside of the caves and not very accessible to people
  • Experts believed it had magical function (religious or spiritual significance)
• Prehistoric art


  • Venus of Willendorf - a little female statuette made of stone, formed about 23, 000 years ago, found near a town in present-day Austria, a fertility image, meant to be carried around as an amulet (agimat/anting-anting in Filipino culture)