Photo/Sculpture Mediums and Methods

 Instant collage in photography is a process of instant assemblage.

"A MINER'S HOME"

A Miner's Home, Vicinity Morgantown, West Virginia, by Walker Evans,
1935, photograph

Walker Evans ((1903-1975) was an American photographer. Walker Evans worked during the Great Depression era.  Living in that time was the reason behind his work and by documenting the struggles of that time he achieved his goal of making pictures that were "literate, authoritative, and transcendent".  Evans typically displays American visual reality in his work, capturing moments as they come; just as they are.  This piece is called A Miner's Home by Evans done in 1935, and is an excellent example of instant collage.  A collage is defined as a work that includes different objects, materials, or pictures all put together. The photo depicts the era with the shoe-less, ragged clothes child and minimal furnishings. Evans would frequently incorporate posters and signs into his work of the times.  In 1973 Evans began using a Polaroid camera, which he used its innovative technology to achieve his style of photograhy. 

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Portrait photography or portraiture is photograph of a person or group of people that displays the expression, personality, and mood of the subject. Likes other types of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is usually on the person's face, although the entire body and background or context may be included.  

"PETE TOWNSEND"

Pete Townsend, by Annie Leibovitz, 1980, photograph

Annie Leibovitz, born 1949 in Waterbury, Connecticut is an American photographer. While studying painting at the San Francisco Art Institute, she took night classes in photography, where she found her real passion. In 1973 she became the chief photographer for Rolling Stone magazine. Pete Townsend is a portraiture done in 1980 by Leibovitz. The photo is very expressive and shows the somber mood of Townsend, as blood is streaming from his fingers. Leibovitz is considered one of America's best portrait photographers, who developed her trademark with the use of bold colors and poses. Leibovitz has photographed for dozens of magazines and continues to be in high demand today.  

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Manipulated photography is the application of image editing techniques to photographs in order to create and illusion or deception after the original photographing took place. 

"HAND HOLDING LIPS & NUDE"

Hand Holding Lips & Nude, by Jerry Uelsmann, 1972, photograph

Jerry N. Uelsmann, born 1934 in Detroit, Michigan is an American photographer.  Uelsmann's interest in photography started at the age of 14.  Uelsmann believed that through photography he could exist outside of himself, to live in a world captured through the lens. Uelsmann used his imagination and used photo-montage as a means to share his images with viewers. Uelsmann is a master printer, producing composite photographs with multiple negatives and extensive darkroom work.  He uses dozens of enlargers at a time to produce his final works.  Uelsmann frequently includes more than one focal point, using negatives as one focal point and the background as another.  Hand Holding Lips & Nude is a perfect example of Uelsmann's manipulated photography.  The first picture would have been of a hand; the second a negative of a nude woman; and the third a negative of a woman's lips. Uelsmann's works are not meant to depict a familiar object, but to allow the viewer to transcend the frames and take them through the unfathomable.  Uelsmann believes he touches his viewers on a personal and emotional level.  Formally, Uelsmann composes his works in black and white, with complements of grays and mid-tones.  

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Carving is the removal of material (as wood, ivory or stone) via chipping, gouging or hammering in order to create a desired figure or design. 

"DYING SLAVE"

Dying Slave, by Michelangelo, 1513-1515, marble, for the Tomb
of Pope Julius II

Michelangelo (1475-1564) is regarded as the most famous artist of the Italian Renaissance and a master at carving.  Michelangelo's loved quarried marble and his reverence for the stone lies at the heart of his chosen art form of sculpture. He sought to prove that devotion to the integrity of the stone block is the foundation which great sculpture is created. Dying Slave is no exception.  Dying Slave took about two years to complete and was meant for the tomb of Julius II, but was not included because of the lack of space. Michelangelo visualized the figure as imprisoned in the huge block of marble and only removing the excess marble that could set him free.  

Michelangelo's precise carving is evident in the photo above.  Note the detail of the figures hair, ear, etc.  Far from dying, the figure seems to be relaxed, arched back, extended left arm and relaxed stomach. Michelangelo's artistic mastery has endured for centuries and his name is famous to all. 

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Modeling in sculpture is the shaping of a form in some plastic materials such as clay or plaster; to create the illusion of a three dimensional form.

"JOHN WITH ART"

John With Art, by Robert Arneson, 1964,
Stoneware with glaze

Robert Arneson (1930-1992) was an American artist.  Arneson is famous for taking modern contemporary items and re-imagining them in clay form. Arneson was encouraged by his father at a young age to draw and as a teenager drew cartoons for a local newspaper. He studied art education but became interested in ceramics. Arneson was influenced by the expressionist work of Californian Peter Voulkos, who studied Picasso's works in clay. The influence stimulated Arneson to be adventurous and break through established sculptural boundaries.  He rejected decorative items and began creating non-functional clay pieces. John With Art is an example of modeling.  Arneson has modeled a ceramic toilet, attributed to sexual anatomy to the flush handle, the seat, and the opening of the bowl, put fingernails on one end of the horseshoe seat, and completed the piece with a pile of ceramic excrement inside, spelling "art" (see insert below).   John With Art is inscribed with scatological jokes.  

Arneson aimed a biting satire at the abstract expressionist aspiration of letting everything within the artist spill out freely in the work.  Arneson's work has come to be known as "Funk Art". In the early 1980s Arneson became ill with liver cancer, at that time his work became more somber in tone.  

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Earth Art is an art movement in which landscape and the work of art are inextricably linked.  It is also an art form that is created in nature using natural materials, such as rocks, twigs, etc. 

"BROKEN PEBBLES SCRATCHED"

Broken Pebbles Scratched, by Andy Goldsworthy, 1985, stones
scratched with another tone

Andy Goldsworthy, born in 1956 is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist. Goldsworthy produces site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings.  As a boy, Goldsworthy worked as a farm hand. He has linked the repetitive quality of farm tasks to making sculpture. Goldsworthy's art often includes brightly colored flowers, twigs, stones,mud, snow, and icicles.  Goldsworthy believes it is brave to use those objects because he cannot edit the materials, they are nature as a whole. Often in his works, he uses only his bare hands, teeth and found tools to prepare and arrange the materials.  Broken Pebbles is an example of earth art.  There are 34 strategically places broken pebbles formed in a spiral, with each pebble broken in half; and each half of the pebbles have been scratched white with another pebble. Goldsworthy realizes a maximal effect. Goldsworthy embodies the beauty of the act of creation of the art. Often the beauty is not only in the final piece, but rather the beauty of its creation. 

Painting Mediums and Printmaking Methods

In this blog I will show several examples of mediums and methods in painting and printmaking. 

Medium is 1) any material used to create a work of art; and 2) in painting, a liquid added to print to make it easier to manipulate.   

Method is a procedure or process for attaining an object in art; a systematic procedure, technique, or mode of inquiry employed by or proper to a particular discipline in art.

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Woodcut is a relief printmaking method in which wooden block is carved so that those parts not intended to print are cut away leaving the design raised. 

"SLEEPING WOMAN WITH CHILD"

Sleeping Woman with Child, by Kathe Kollwitz 1929, Woodcut

Kathe Kollwitz (1867-1945) was a German painter, printmaker and sculptor. Her work often was an account of the tragedy of war, and human nature along with her empathy for the less fortunate. After her son Peter was killed in battle, Kollwitz became an increasingly strong socialist and pacifist who was drawn to communism.  Kollwitz found etching insufficient for expressing her ideas and turned to woodcut.  Sleeping Woman with Child  is a prime example of woodcut. Most of the surface of the wood block has been untouched to allow for the blackness.  the areas that are to be white print have been carved or gauged away.  The shading is remarkable to show the shadows of the darkness upon the sleeping woman and child.  In 1933,  as a result of signing an appeal to unite socialist and communists leaders against fascism, Kollwitz was forced to resign from the Academy of Fine Arts.  Her work was removed from museums; however her "woman and child" pieces were used by the Nazis for propaganda. 

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Etching is an intaglio printmaking process in which a metal plate coated with wax is drawn upon the sharp tool down to the plate and then placed in an acid bath.  The acid eats into the plate where the lines have been drawn, the wax is removed, and then the plate is inked and printed. 

"THE BLINDNESS OF TOBIT"

The Blindness of Tobit: The Large Plate, by Rembrandt
1651, Etching and drypoint

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) was a  Dutch painter and etcher who embraced realism and innovative technique to become one of the greatest artists of all time. Rembrandt's religious and allegorical themes are prominent in most of his works. Rembrandt was very innovative involving his use of light. His etchings were obscured in shadow, leaving bright spots and deep darkness. He was very interested in the handling of light, drawing the viewer's eye to a general focal point before moving about the work.  The Blindness of Tobit is a moving image.   Tobit is a frail elderly blind man who was modeled after the Book of Tobit, an apocryphal book of the Old Testament, which Rembrandt was fascinated with. Rembrandt completed many etchings based on Tobit. The etching in The Blindness of Tobit is detailed. In Blindness of Tobit Rembrandt used his fingers to make a fine layer of pale transparent ink on the surface of the plate leaving a small area of Tobit's beard free of ink.

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Encaustic is a method of painting in which pigment is added to molten wax and then applied to a surface.  The technique requires fusing the layers of wax to prevent cracking.

    "FLAG"

Flag, by Jasper Johns 1954-55, Encaustic, oil and collage on fabric
mounted on plywood, three panels (107.3 x 153.8 cm)

Jasper Johns (1930) is an American printmaker, painter, and sculptor. Johns is one of the first American artists to embrace encaustic.  Encaustic painting is a medium that allows artists to create a wide variety of subject matter. Johns states 'I dreamt one night that I painted the flag of America. The next day I did it.'  Johns' Flag is his most famous work, which is an iconic image of the American flag. Flag was created after Johns returned home from the Korean War where he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  John's works are often of flags and maps, which he raises to iconic status.  Johns believed the meaning of the painting could be found in the painting process itself. He paints objects of things the mind already knows. His simple subject matter gained viewer interest in his motivation and process. Johns can be categorized as a pop artist because of his use of classic iconography.  In 2010 Christie's sold John's Flag painting for a record $28 Million. 

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Oil paint is a medium using linseed oil as a binder.  It can be blended on the painting surface to create a continuous scale of tones and hues.

"VASE OF ROSES"

Vase of Roses, by Vincent van Gogh 1890, oil on canvas, (93 x 74 cm)

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), was a Dutch painter noted for his rough beauty and bold colors. Vincent van Gogh suffered years of painful anxiety and bouts of mental illness. Since his death, his mental health has been a subject of speculation.  van Gogh and his brother exchanged hundreds of letters, which was the foundation for what is know about the artist's thoughts and beliefs.In 1888, after many disappointments with woman and frustrated and ill, van Gogh fled to a local brothel, where he visited often, he took a razor blade and cut off his left earlobe. He wrapped the severed ear in newspaper and gave it to a prostitute to keep. In 1889 van Gogh committed himself to a hospital in Saint-Remy. White a patient there, the hospital's garden became the main subject of his paintings. His paintings during this time are most characterized with expressive "swirls". In 1980, while preparing to leave the hospital, van Gogh painted Vase of Roses. Vase of Roses reflects the optimism van Gogh felt about his future, both in the joyful colors and the object of the painting. After his release, van Gogh conveyed his enthusiasm by painting flowers. In a letter to his mother, van Gogh wrote "But for one's health, as you say, it is very necessary to work in the garden and see the flowers growing."  Vase of Roses is a great example of overabundance in still life, filling the picture with a vase and overflowing flowers. 

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Watercolor is a painting medium consisting of pigments suspended in a solution of water and gum arabic. 

"CABIN IN NOON SUNLIGHT"

Cabin in Noon Sunlight, by Charles Burchfield 1925, Watercolor, gouache & pencil

Charles Burchfield (1893-1967) was an American artist who began his career as a wallpaper designer.  Burchfield used his vivid childhood memories to create some of the most beautiful art ever seen. The majority of his works were done in watercolors and show extraordinary visual imagination. To express his unforgettable childhood, Burchfield came up with a a series of symbols to express sounds, moods, and movements.  In 1917 Burchfield experiences a mental crisis or spiritual event that entirely transformed his style. He developed a detailed system of personal signs and settled on a variety of everyday symbols.  After a decade of this style Burchfield changed again to an American scene realism, bringing his style more appealing to critics and collectors. Burchfield was an American original who's paintings tell the stories of our small towns and their charm. Cabin in Noon Sunlight is a good example of oil painting as shown in the blended and continuous scale of tones and hues.  The changes in the light give the viewer a realistic three-dimensional effect.  Cabin in Noon Sunlight relies on actual appearance of the subject.  Burchfield emphasized descriptive qualities with the strokes of the brush to give the look of a log cabin, the brightness of the sun shining on the front of the cabin with the shadow from the roof appropriately set, the bright red poppies adorn the front of the cabin, the weathered log boards and the use of perspective to portray depth in the painting.  Burchfield's paintings were very expressive. The Burchfield Penney Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY is named after Charles Burchfield.  

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Gouache is a painting medium that is opaque instead of transparent,essentially watercolor mixed with Chinese white chalk . Gouache is pronounced "gwash".  

"SELF-PORTRAIT"

Self-Portrait, by Jacob Lawrence, 1977, Gouache on paper

Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) was an American painter. His style has been referred to as "dynamic cubism", but to Lawrence his use of shapes and colors are those in Harlem. In 1941 Lawrence married painter Gwendolyn Knight. During WWII he enlisted in the US Coast Guard and served in the first racially integrated crew. Lawrence's Self-Portrait is typical of gouache in color and style in its flattened and abstracted treatment of realistic subject matter.  Lawrence was drawn to gouache because of the abstract quality of the finished work.  In gouache Lawrence uses somber tones of browns and black for the shadows and outlines in his otherwise vibrate palette. Self-Portrait emphasizes the flat two-dimensional quality of the painting. Lawrence was the most acclaimed African-American artist of the 20th century renowned for his modern depictions of everyday life and narratives of African American history. In 1941 at 24 years old, when his most famous works, The Migration Series was shown at New York’s Downtown Gallery, he became the first African-American to be represented by a New York gallery.

The Principles of Design

Asymmetrical balance is when the objects on one side of the work seem to have approximately the same amount of weight as the objects on the other side.  Asymmetrical balance is also called "informal balance".

Symphony in White No. 2: The Little White Girl 

Symphony in White No. 2:  The Little White Girl,
by James McNeill Whistler, 1864, oil on canvas

James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) was an American-born, British-based artist. Whistler's art was characterized by a subtle delicacy.  The model in Symphony in White is Joanna Heffernan, Whistler's mistress.  As seen in Symphony in White, the artist places objects in the painting in a way that will allow objects to balance each other around a focal point, the woman.  Note the woman's left arm is extended horizontally following through her fingers to the vase on the fireplace mantle. Similarly, her right arm is extended vertically with her fingers coming to a point to the fan which she is holding.  The tips of both her fingers end at the point of an object, i.e. the fan and the vase, which are both similar in size and blue in color. Even though each side of the painting has different elements, it appears balanced. 

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Emphasis is a principle of art which occurs any time an element of a work is given dominance by an artist.  In other words, the artist makes part of the work stand out, to draw the viewer's eye to a focal point. There are many ways to create a focal point, contrast; isolation; grouping, direction; and scale.  

The Third of May, 1808

The Third of May 1808, by Francisco de Goya, 1814, oil on canvas

Francisco de Goya (1746–1828) was a Spanish painter. de Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was a chronicler of his era. The Third of May 1808  is a good example of emphasis, as de Goya uses 1) contrast to give light to the focal point of the painting, which is the man dressed in white and yellow with his arms held up waiting to be executed (shown with a red arrow); 2) grouping of the men on the right to gain attention as they are clustered together (shown with a yellow arrow); and 3) direction by the vertical pointing of the bayonets which draw your attention to the focal point.  

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Pattern or Repetition is a repetitive motif or design.  Rhythm is an effect achieved when shapes, colors or a regular pattern of any kind is repeated. 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread, by Rene Magritte, 1942, oil on canvas

Rene Francis Ghislain Magritte (1898-1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist.  Magritte's early paintings were Impressionistic in style, but he become bored with the style and from 1918-1924 his paintings were influenced by Futurism. His illusionist dream-like quality is a characteristic of the artist's version of Surrealism.  Magritte was known for his witty and thought provoking images which challenged viewer's perceptions of reality. Our Daily Bread is a beautiful  surreal painting, the repetitive white clouds roll vertically to create the effect of rhythm.  The naked woman at the top of Our Daily Bread gives the illusion of walking down the clouds as if they are stairs from above. The clouds inside the rock formation in Our Daily Bread gives the illusion of a loaf of bread.  For Magritte, the final painting was not an end but rather was the means of formulating an awaited response so that objects could exist with maximum impact.  He gives a unique presentation of the world.  

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Contrast is created when an artist uses elements that conflict with one another to add visual interest to the work of part, i.e. light and dark; thick and thin; big and small.  Contrast is used to make a painting more visually interesting.  Variety is the quality of having different forms or types of notable use of contract, emphasis, different sizes and colors. 

Still Life with Fruit Dish

Still Life with Fruit Dish, by Paul Cezanne, c. 1879-1880, oil on canvas

Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) was a French artist and Post Impressionist painter.  Cezanne's paintings are often repetitive, exploratory brushstrokes and clearly recognizable.  Cezanne had an intense study of his subjects.  In Still Life with Fruit Cezanne uses many design elements and principles to make a unified composition.  Cezanne uses 1) texture to smooth and rough areas of the work (as shown by white arrows); 2) shapes with various sizes of fruit in the painting (as shown by purple arrows); 3) pattern contract by the course brushstrokes on the wall and tablecloth; 4) edge contrast by having a hard edge where the table meets the wall and the soft edges of the tablecloth and fruit; 5) intensity in colors (as seen by the yellow arrows) using bright and dull or muted colors.  Still Life with Fruit is a beautiful representative painting. 

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Visual Movement/Continuation is when the work causes your eye to find a path of movement (continuous flow) around the artwork, front one point to another. 

The Tub (Bathing Woman)

The Tub (Bathing Woman), by Edgar Degas, 1886
pastel on card

The Tub (Bathing Woman), by Edgar Degas, 1886
arrows added for emphasis

Edgar Degas(1834-1917) was a French Impressionist who became renowned as a stellar portraitist. His work frequently included the female body.  Degas was also an avid collector of art. In Degas' The Tub the line starts at the women's left out-stretched arm to where the round tub meets at the woman's hairline, the line continues where her fingers meet her hair and joins the vertical line of her back to the shelf where the brush handle overlaps.  The objects on the shelf barely touch and carry the eye from one object to the other. The Tub with its style perspective, and its plunging view, make this pastel one of the most audacious and accomplished of Degas' works on the modern theme of the woman in the bath.

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Scale is the term used when an artwork has a physical size.  Scale is not only the size of the object, but the size of the object in relation to another object.  Proportion is the relationship between the parts of each other and to the whole work. 

David

David, by Michelangelo 1501-1504

marble sculpture

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni "Michelangelo" (1475-1564), was an Italian artist.  Michelangelo is regarded as the most famous artist of the Italian Renaissance.  Michelangelo took over the sculpture of David after two prior sculptors had attempted and abandoned the project.  Michelangelo turned the 17-foot marble piece in a dominating figure.  David represents the ideal portrayal of perfection in the human body. The proportions of the body are based on the ancient Greek mathematical system which defines perfection of the human body.  The scale David is overwhelming at over 13 feet tall and sits on top of a pedestal, which is taller than an average human, the sculpture stands high above its viewers.  This gives the sense of grandeur.  The sculpture is a representation of the story of David in the Bible, a shepherd boy who defeated the giant Goliath with one slingshot.  

Color, Light and Elements in Art

Chiaroscuro is the treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting, also an effect of contrasted light and shadow created by light falling unevenly or from a particular direction on something.

Saint Joseph the Carpenter

Saint Joseph the Carpenter by Georges de la Tour,
c. 1642, painting 137 x 102 cm

Georges de La Tour (1593-1652) was a French Baroque painter, who mostly painted religious chiaroscuro scenes lit by candlelight.  La Tour's education is unclear; however his entire family died of an epidemic in 1652. Saint Joseph the Carpenter is a magnificent painting. See the arrow to the left of the candle, the painting clearly depicts the light from the candle and the shadow the candle would portrays.  See also the child's brightly light face from the candle directly in front of her.  La Tour's uses various degrees of light and dark to complete the painting.   

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Cross-Hatching is a technique used in drawing when two or more sets of parallel and overlapping lines, set at an angle to one another, in order to create a sense of three-dimensional drawing.

Nude Woman, Kneeling

Nude Woman, Kneeling by Michelangelo Buonarroti,
c. 1550, pen and brown ink with white wash on
brown paper, 2.7 x 15.3 cm

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) had a remarkable career as an artist.  His most famous works include statues of David and Pieta and the ceiling paintings in Rome's Sistine Chapel.  Nude Woman, Kneeling is a great example of cross-hatching as the layers of right-angles create a mesh-line pattern.  Michelangelo's use of cross-hatching creates tonal effects in Nude Woman, Kneeling by varying the spacing of lines and adding layers of lines.

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A Primary Color Palette in Artwork is when the three primary colors are used, red; yellow; and blue.

New York City I

New York City I by Piet Mondrian, 1942
Oil on canvas, 119.3 x 114.2 cm

Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) was a Dutch painter. Mondrian first began his painting career in the representational form, favoring naturalistic and impressionistic landscapes. Mondrian's style was influenced by Picasso, which changed to his signature non-representational form.  New York City I, is a grid of the three primary colors, red; blue and yellow.  Even when the colors overlap they retain their true color and do not become secondary colors.  

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Arbitrary Color is color that has no realistic or natural relation to the object that is being depicted, but that may have emotional or expressive meaning.  For example a purple dog or a pink cat.

The Bathroom

The Bathroom by Pierre Bonnard, 1932, Painting
oil on canvas, 47 5/8 x 46 1/2

Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) was a French painter. Bonnard studied law, he graduated and practiced law briefly, but after taking some art classes quickly decided to become an artist. Bonnard's intense use of color is evident in his paintings. The Bathroom is no exception, it has intense color, but the arbitrary use of color brings out something that maybe could not have been done using "normal" colors.  As shown by the arrows in The Bathroom, the dog is orange and the nude woman is purple and red hues.  Arbitrary color is used by artists to express a mood or a feeling. 

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Impasto is a technique used in painting, where paint is applied very thick to an area on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides texture, the paint appears to be coming out of the canvas giving a three-dimensional effect.  If a painting is looked at from the side, globs of paint will be sticking out. 

Wheat Field with Cypresses

Wheat Field with Cypresses by Vincent Van Gogh, 1889
Painting, oil on canvas 

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) was a Dutch painter. Van Gogh did not start painting until his late 20's and died of a gunshot at the age of 37. Although his career was short, he a great influence on 20th century art. In Wheat Field with Cypresses Van Gogh uses impasto to his expressive lines to give weight to his colors, movement to the skies, bushes and trees, and adds emotion to the painting.  

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Optical Painting or "Op Art" is an art style where line and color are used in ways that stimulate the eye into believing it perceives movement. Op Art was popular in the 1960's. 

Current 

Current by Bridget Riley, 1964
emulsion on cardboard, 148 x 149 cm

Bridget Riley, born 1931 in London.  Riley is an English painter who is an exponent in Op Art.  Her work produces sensations of movements.  She is best known for her black and white paintings.  Riley's Current is a perfect example of Op Art.  A viewer gets the sense of movement from the painting  almost to a point of dizziness.  Riley, like Sol LeWitt, in many works has employed assistants to paint her pieces while she concentrates on the actual design of her work. 

Module 3: Vocabulary Words in Art

Seated Figure Sewing

Seated Figure Sewing by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (undated)
Drawing, ink on paper, The Phillips Collection

A contour line is the perceived line that marks the exterior edges of an object in space. A plain contour has a clean, connected line, no shading and emphasizes an open "shell" of the object.  In Henri Gaudier-Brzeska's Seated Figure Sewing (undated) a three-dimensional form can be seen using contour lines.  The contour lines in Seated Figure Sewing create the illusion of a body occupying space, the lines of the figure limit what the viewer sees in the drawing.  The lines within the drawing suggest a woman sitting on a blanket, bare footed, sewing.

Plain of Auvers

Plain of Auvers by Vincent van Gogh, 1890
Painting, oil on canvas

Expressive lines are loose and free lines. Vincent van Gogh's work is recognizable through his use of loose and free lines, which at times looks almost uncontrollable, but for van Gogh remains consistent.  Art was Van Gogh's means of personal, spiritual redemption, and his voluminous letters to his devoted brother Theo.  In Vincent van Gogh's Plain of Auvers van Gogh uses expressive lines to allow the viewer to follow the painting beautifully with swirls of brushstrokes from the grass of the plain to the clouds in the sky.  Vincent van Gogh's use of expressive lines are his personal signature and his use of color expressed his emotions.

Supper at Emmaus

Supper at Emmaus by Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio, 1601
Painting, oil and egg tempers on canvas

Foreshortening refers to the method of representing an object in a picture in depth to appear shorter than it actually is because it is angled toward the viewer. Foreshortening is an important element in art where visual perspective is being depicted and makes the view of the objects seem more natural when seen from above or below. Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio paintings combine a realistic observation of the human state, physically and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, Supper at Emmaus is a perfect example of foreshortening. see the hands of the gentleman on the right, they are the same size, there is no depth to the painting, but rather the whole painting touches the canvas.   

Maison Particuliere

Maison Particuliere by Theo van Doesburg, 1923
Architectural drawing

Axonometric projection is a technique that translates space in such a way that the changes or scale inevitable in linear prospective in which all lines remain parallel rather than preceding to a common vanishing point. Maison Particuliere is an axonometric drawing by Theo van Doesburg with assistance from Cornelius van Eeseren. The Maison Pariculiere project was one of the first designs featuring a minimal confinement of space. This drawing clearly shows that it removed any visible distinction between the building's front, side and rear elevations. 

What She Sees

What She Sees by Donald K. Sulton, 1995
Hologram and tar on tile over masonite

Positive/Negative space or shape is empty space, surrounded and shaped so that it acquires a sense of form or volume. Positive shapes occupy positive space. The area around positive shapes, the background, is negative space. Donald Sulton's What She Sees is an object surrounded by empty space, the viewer has nowhere else to look but at the point of interest, in this case an "eye". The viewer can fully appreciate the object without any distractions. With the proper use of negative space, the subject is isolated and placed in intense focus. Even the simplest and most ordinary objects can be fascinating when composed in this manner. For every positive space there is a negative space that surrounds it. 

Virtual space is a body of principles proposing a consistent and systematic understanding of the idea of virtual space, particularly with respect to its uses and occurrences in visual media, art, and architecture (http://virtualspacetheory.com/ Or Ettlinger, PhD.).  Virtual means digital. Mary Flanagan's From the Ranks, 2007 http://www.maryflanagan.com/from-the-ranks was the result from her playing an online video game called "America's Army", which was created by the US Army for recruiting purposes.  She used the basis of the video game for her work From the Ranks.  From the Ranks is a series of captured pictures and text to create a series of images reflecting the role of the military in everyday American culture. The work engages the viewer to the role of the military in everyday life.  See below additional work of Mary Flanagan's From the Ranks.