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.