1. Exploring Art:A Global,Thematic
Approach
Chapter 2
The Language of Art and Architecture

2. Formal elements
• Just as words are the basic
elements of oral/written languages
• Formal elements are the basic units
of visual arts
– Line
– Light and value
– Color
– Texture and pattern
– Shape and volume
– Space
– Time and motion

3. Line…a moving point having
length/width.
In art, a line usually has length
and width, but length is more
important.
• Actual line—they physically exist
and can be broad, thin, straight,
jagged
• Implied lines—do not physically
exist, yet they seem quite real
to viewers—dotted line,
unconnected parts

6. The Creation of Adam (Detail)

7. Note the line quality:
Thick strokes—bottom of hem
Wispy lines—beard
Crisp lines—sword blade
Utagawa Kunishada, Shoki the Demon Queller, c. 1849-1853. Woodblock print

8. Line quality can
express a range of
emotions. Contrast the
thick, angular lines
of Shoki with the
thin, playful lines of
Klee.
Also the arrangement
of lines can seem
organized or
disorderly. Klee’s
lines seem arranged
whimsically.
Paul Klee. They’re Biting, 1920. Drawing and oil on paper

10. Line that depict three-dimensional
objects:
• Outline—follows the outer edges of the
silhouette of a three-dimensional for with
uniform line thickness. Outlines flatten a
three-dimensional form into a two-
dimensional shape.
• Contour lines—mark the outer edges of a
three-dimensional object—with varying line
thickness and some internal detail.
• Cross-contours—repeated lines that go around
an object and express its three-
dimensionality
• Hatching—lines that product tones or values
(different areas of gray)
• Cross-hatching—parallel Lines in

11. Durer, Artist drawing a model in foreshortening through
a frame using a grid system, woodcut (crosshatching)
Foreshortened: the size of an object's dimensions along the
line of sight are relatively shorter than dimensions across
the line of sight

12. Light and value
• In art and architecture, light
might be an actual element. In
buildings, the control of light
is an essential design element.

13. Bruce Nauman. (American, born 1941). Human/Need/Desire. 1983. Neon tubing
and wire with glass tubing suspension frames, 7' 10 3/8" x 70 1/2" x 25 3/4"
Nauman believes that
language is "a very
powerful tool"; he was
inspired to use neon
tubing because of the
convincing messages and
hypnotic aura of neon
advertisements. Ironicly,
he uses this flashing
commercial medium—with
all its wires exposed—to
address fundamental
elements of human
experience.

14. Light and Value
• Most art does not emit or
manipulate light but relects
ambient light (the light all
around us)
• In two-dimensional art artist
use value to represent the
various levels of light that
reflect off of objects.

15. • Value (or tone) is one step on
a gradation from light and dark
• Achromatic value scale—the
extremes are white and black
(grey in between)
• Chromatic value scale—different
values of color
• Shading (modeling) manipulate
gradations in values to create
the appearance of natural light
on objects
• Chiaroscuro—light-dark

16. Achromatic value scale,
showing only black, white,
and gray tones.
Chromatic value scale,
showing various values of
red.
Values can create the
illusion of volume.
Light and Value

17. Rosso Fiorentino, Recumbent Female Nude Figure Asleep, 1530
Chiaroscuro—use of various tones
(black, white, grays) to create the
illusion of volume

18. A range of values can
express emotion.
Kunishada’s print
carries a strong
emotional charge.
While Fiorentino’s
nude may lull the
viewer.
Utagawa Kunishada, Shoki the Demon Queller, c. 1849-1853. Woodblock print

19. Louise Nevelson, Mirror-Shadow VII, 1985, wood painted black, 9'
Sculpture and architecture have value
difference because of the many angles at which
light hits and refects off their three-
dimensional surfaces.
Nevelson’s sculpture is painted black, but the
light bouncing off of various surfaces appears
as gray or as black.

20. Examining Color
• Consider the various concepts and
properties of color—hue, value and
intensity

21. • Hue it the pure state of color in the spectrum
an is that color’s name, such as red, blue,
yellow, green violet and orange.

22. Hue: This is what we usually mean when we ask "what color
is that?"
The property of color that we are actually asking about is
"hue".
For example, when we talk about colors that are red, yellow,
green, and blue, we are talking about hue. Different hues are
caused by different wavelengths of light. Therefore, this
aspect of color is usually easy to recognize.
Hue Contrast - strikingly different hues
Hue Constancy - different colors, same hue (blue)
Value in color is the lightness and darkness within a hue

23. Value: When we describe a color as "light" or "dark", we are discussing its value
or "brightness". This property of color tells us how light or dark a color is based on
how close it is to white. For instance, canary yellow would be considered lighter
than navy blue which in turn is lighter than black. Therefore, the value of canary
yellow is higher than navy blue and black.
Low value—same brightness level
Contrast of value—grayscale, no chroma
Contrast of value—stark differences in
brightness

24. Tints, Tones and Shades:
• These terms are often used inappropriately
but they describe fairly simple color
concepts. The important thing to remember
is how the color varies from its original hue.
If white is added to a color, the lighter
version is called a "tint". If the color is made
darker by adding black, the result is called a
"shade". And if gray is added, each gradation
gives you a different "tone."

25. • Tints (adding white to a pure hue)
• Shades (adding black to a pure hue)
• Tones (adding gray to a pure hue)

26. • Intensity/Saturation—tells us how a color
looks under certain lighting conditions. For
instance, a room painted a solid color will
appear different at night than in daylight.
Over the course of the day, although the
color is the same, the saturation changes.
• Be careful not to think about SATURATION
in terms of light and dark but rather in terms
of pale or weak and pure or strong.

27. Gainsborough, M/M Andrews
Most saturated color—blue
satin dress, modified with
tints and shades
Warm—foreground greens
Cool—distant blue-grey
greens
Local colors—the colors we
normally find in the objects
around us.

28. RED, YELLOW, BLUE:
Thought of as the “original” colors
since they are the starting point
for all other colors and cannot be
recreated by the mixing of any
others. They are thought to be
exuberant, decorative and
decisive.
For light-emitting media, the
primary colors are red, blue,
green
Primary Colors (R/Y/B): For paints and pigments, the primary colors are red, yellow
and blue

29. It is from the blending of the
primary colors that secondary
colors are born.
There are three secondary
colors.
Red + yellow = orange
Blue + yellow = green
Blue + red = purple
SECONDARY COLORS

30. TERTIARY COLORS
Tertiary colors come to life when
primary and secondary combine.
There are six:
Red-orange
Yellow-orange
Yellow-green
Blue-green
Blue-violet
Violet-red

31. If we are working on a
computer, the colors we see
on the screen are created
with light using the additive
color method.
Additive color mixing begins
with black and ends with
white; as more color is
added, the result is lighter
and tends to white
ADDITIVE COLOR SYSTEM—applies to light-emitting media, the primary colors
are red, blue, green

32. When we mix colors
using paint we are
using the subtractive
color method.
Subtractive color
mixing means that
one begins with white
and ends with black;
as one adds color, the
result gets darker.

33. Complementary colors are opposites of each other and,
when mixed, give a dull result.
Red and green are complementary colors.

34. COMPLEMENTARY VERSUS ANALOGOUS COLORS
• complementary colors
are opposite each
other on the color
wheel and
dramatically different
in wavelength
• Analogous colors
are next to each
other on the color
wheel and similar in
appearance
•

35. A good example of the use of color complements is in
this 15th Century painting.
The rich reds and greens of the bed canopy and
Cenami’s dress contrast with the dark robes of Arnolfini.
Light, entering from a side window provides brightness
which contrasts with areas left in shadow.
Colors are subtly blended, creating great depth.
The work is well balanced, with the two figures framing
the mirror
Contrast is given on each side, with the dark clothed
Arnolfini standing next to the bright clear light of the
window, and green robed Cenami set against red.
"The Arnolfini Wedding" by Jan Van Eyck

36. primary colors (red, yellow, and blue)
are those that cannot be produced by
mixing two other colors together
secondary colors (violet, orange, and
green) are those that are produced
when two primaries are mixed
analogous colors are those that are next
to each other on the color wheel and
share similar wavelenghts

37. LOCAL VERSUS OPTICAL COLOR
• local color is the color that an object has in
normal light
• optical color is color produced through our
visual perception

38. Haystack at Sunset Near Giverny
Clause Monet. oil on canvas, 1891 (Impressionism)
a great example of optical color

39. The Night Cafe
by Vincent Van Gogh, oil
on canvas
1888 (Post Impressionism)
• Expressive use of color (non-realistic)
• Harsh palette (a place where one can ruin oneself)
• Red (walls) green (ceiling) clash
• Billiard table and floor (contain red and green) marry the two
• Lamp light—agitated swirls of local color—psychological
brillance/agitation.

40. Sensory overload—installation immerses
viewer in cool and highly saturated
BLUENESS
LED—points, lines, and grids—used as a
medium for sensory stimulation.
Erwin Redl. Installation view of Matrix IV
30/5/01 at Creative Time’s “Massless
Medium: Exploration in Sensory
Immersion.” Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage,
Bklyn. NY

41. Color Properties inVarious Media
Paint Light-Emitting
Media
Commercial
Printing or
Computer
Printer
Color System subtractive additive subtractive
Effects of
Environmental
Light Levels
more room light, the
brighter the colors
less room light, the
brighter the colors
more room light, the
brighter the colors
Primary Colors blue, red, yellow red, green, blue CMYK
Secondary Colors purple, green, orange yellow, cyan, magenta red, blue, green
Complementaries blue – orange
red – green
yellow – purple
red – cyan
green – magenta
blue – yellow
cyan – red
magenta – green
yellow – blue
Mixture of all
Primaries
gray or dull neutral white black

42. The Relativity of Color Perception

44. Explore Texture and Pattern
• Texture refers to the surface
characteristics, and may be tactile or visual.
• Pattern is the regular repetition of a visual
form.
• Describe both the texture and pattern
displayed in the 6th century mosaic below.

45. Texture
• ACTUAL TEXTURE is tactile it is more
than visual information
• VISUAL TEXTURE is the illusion of texture
– trompe l'oeil is a method of art that is intended
to create a realistic illusion of texture and
depth in a work of art. The term means "fool
the eye" in French.

46. Tactile texture
• Lion Capital from
Asoka pillar
• Sarnath, India
• ca. 250 BCE
• Culture:
Buddhist/Indian

47. Detail of Deesis Mosaic in
Hagia Sophia. Believed to be
1185-1204. Mosaic tile.
Each mosaic piece reflects
ambient light in a slightly
different direction.
Visual texture is illusionary.

48. James Rosenquist
Gift Wrapped Doll IV
1992
VISUAL TEXTURE
• Simulates texture of cellophane
• Transparent wrap reflect light, tearing across the innocent
face like white-hot rods
• Doll—haunting and sinister
• Commentary—ideal of beauty—blue eyed blonde

49. SUBVERSIVE TEXTURE contradicts our past visual experience by using texture in
ways that are unexpected.
Birth of Venus, by Ralph Larmann—good examples of this.

50. Considering Shape and Volume
• Shape refers to two-dimensional art,
and volume refers to three-dimensional
works.
• Shape and volume may have simulated
reality, may be abstracted or invented.

51. Examining Space
• Space refers to the actual space in which a work of
art exists, or an illusion of space created.
• An illusion of space (depth) may be created by
shading, overlapping, and atmospheric or linear
perspective.
• Artists may also use isometric, oblique, and mid-
point perspective.
• Compare the different illusions of space between
Piranesi’s Prisons and the detail of a Muromachi
period screen.

52. One-point perspective

53. Two-point perspective

54. Three-point perspective

56. • 1. Turn your paper horizontal ("landscape"
orientation)
•
1. Turn your paper horizontal ("landscape" orientation)

57. • 2. Line the end of your ruler up with the side
of your page.
• Be sure the ruler is straight and flush with the
edge of the page or everything will be
crooked!

58. • 3. Draw a horizontal line one or two inches
down from top of the page. This is your
horizon line.
•

59. • 4. Draw a dot in the middle of your horizon
line. This is your vanishing point.

60. • 5. Now draw a square or rectangle in the
right or left bottom area of your page.

61. • 6. Now connect three corners of your
rectangle or square to the vanishing point.
These are orthogonals.

62. • 7. Draw a horizontal line between the top
two orthogonals where you want your form
to end.

63. • 8. Draw a vertical line down from the
horizontal line to complete the side.

64. • 9. Erase the remaining orthogonals.

65. 10. Add details and experiment!

67. Albrecht Durer,
The Adoration of the Magi (1511) woodcut
• Follow converging
parallel lines to
vanishing point
• This woodcut is
an exercise in
one-point
perspective

68. linear perspective is a
mathematical system for
organizing space in a
convincing way.
It is used in Piranesi's
Drawbridge drawing

69. • ATMOSPHERIC
(AERIAL) PERSPECTIVE
• is a convention of art that
was invented by
Leonardo da Vinci for
creating an illusion of
depth by incorporating
the natural effects of
atmosphere.

70. Multipoint perspective

71. Time and Motion
• ACTUAL MOTION is
live movement. A
work of kinetic art
like Alexander
Calder's Untitled
mobile in the East
Wing of the National
Gallery of Art in
Washington D.C.
displays actual motion
when we see it in
person.

72. THE ILLUSION OF MOTION
• is what we experience when we see a
movie or series of shapes that note a
passage of time. A movie is a series of still
frames that do not contain actual motion,
but when shown in a time sequence, create
an illusion of motion.

73. Apollo and Daphne. Gianlorenzo Bernini, marble sculpture, 1622-24 (Baroque)
IMPLIED MOTION AND TIME
is a non-moving image that
shows movement through the
attributes present in the
image.
Good examples of this are
found in Bernini's Apollo and
Daphne

74. Examining Time and Motion
• Consider how time and motion may be
incorporated in visual art, usually
understood as static, by examining
issues of Marcel Duchamp’s Nude
Descending a Staircase.

75. Marcel Duchamp. Nude
Descending a Staircase (No. 2),
1912. Oil on canvas, 57 7/8” X
35 1/8”. Philadelphia Museum of
Art, Philadelphia.

76. Boccioni, Umberto. Dynamism of a Cyclist. 1913

77. Chance/Improvisation/Spontaneity
• Strongly affects visual organization of an
artwork
• Opportunity for uniqueness
• Uncontrolled outcomes

78. Cai Guo-Qiang. Black Rainbow:
Explosion Project for Valencia,
Spain. 2005.
Omens for international unease—
frightening—but also attract with
their power and beauty.

79. Principles of Composition
• Balance
• Rhythm
• Proportion and scale
• Empasis
• Unity and variety

80. POLYKLEITOS
Doryphoros (Spearbearer)
ca. 450-40 B.C.
[actual balance]

81. Leonardo da Vinci , Vitruvian Man, c.1490 [symmetrical balance]

82. Lindisfarne Gospels, Carpet Page
[bilateral symmetry]

83. The U.S. Capital Building
[Symmetrical balance—bilateral symmetry]

84. Arnold Newman,
Georgia O’Keeffe,
Ghost Ranch, NM (1968)
[approximate symmetry]

85. Asymmetrical Balance
Your eyes tell you the elements are
skewed
Your brain registers balance

86. Miro, Birth of the World
(1925) MoMA
[asymmetrical and balanced]

87. Helen M. Turner (1858-1958), Morning News, 1915
[well-placed touches of color …overall visual balance]

88. Horizontal,
Vertical,
and
Radial Balance

89. Gertrude Kasebier
Blessed Art Thou Among Women
[horizontal balance…elements on left and
ritght seem to be equal in number or visual
emphasis]

90. [vertical balance…top and
bottom are in balance]

91. [radial balance...design elements radiate from a center point]

92. Barbara Morgan, Martha Graham (GSP)

93. Angkor Wat. Central Temple Complex. C. 1113-1150 CE. Cambodia.
The temple is laid out in a modified radial plan.

94. IMBALANCE
Balance…comfort/aesthetically pleasing
Imbalance…discomfort/shock

95. Robert Capa. Death of a Loyalist Soldier (9/5/1936)
imbalance..intensified drama

96. Niki de Saint-Phalle. Black Venus,1967
[precarious balance suggest weightlessness]

97. Proportion and Scale
• Proportion refers to size of one part in relaton to
another within a work of art.
• Scale is the size of something in reation to what we
assume to be normal

100. Count of Montizon. Obaysch, London Zoo's first hippopotamus, 1852
The hippopatamus named Obaysch arrived at the London Zoo in May 1850

101. René Magritte, Personal Values. 1952

102. The Annunciation
From the Lectionary of Henry II
1002 - 1014, approximately
17" x 13”
Hieratic scaling

103. Pannini. Interior of the Pantheon,
Rome (c.1734)

104. Jan Van Eyck. Madonna in the
Church
c. 1425
Oil on wood, 32 x 14 cm

106. Marisol. Baby Girl. 1963

107. Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen, and Frank O. Gehry. The
Binocular Entrance to the Chiat Building, Venice, California.

108. Claes Oldenburg. Clothespin (1976)
Corten steel with stainless steel base. 45’ H

109. Emphasis, Unity and Variety
• Emphasis is the creation of focal points.
• Unity is the quality of overall cohesion within a
work of art.
• Variety is the element of difference in a work of art.
• Examine how the principles of emphasis, unity and
variety are used in works of art.

110. Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen, and Frank O. Gehry. The
Binocular Entrance to the Chiat Building, Venice, California.
The Binocular Entrance is the focal point!

111. PROPORTION
Everything is relative

112. POLYKLEITOS
Doryphoros (Spearbearer)
ca. 450-40 B.C.
“The Canon of Proportions…ideal
beauty”

113. Alice Neel. The Family
(John Gruen, Jane Wilson,
and Julia). 1970
• What is not
idealized?

114. Structural Systems in Architecture
• Traditional building methods
– Load-bearing construction
– Post and lintel construction
– Wood frame construction
– Arches, Vaulting, Domes
• Recent Methods and Materials
– Steel Frame construction
– Reinforced concrete
– Suspension and tensile construction

115. Compare load-bearing with
post and lintel construction:
El Castillo, Chichen Itza, Mexico. See
the elevated view in the textbook.
Mnesicles. The Temple of Athena Nike
and the Proplylaea. 437-432 BCE.
Athens.

116. Post and lintel construction at Stonehenge.

117. arcade: A series of arches supported by columns or piers.

118. colonnade: A row of columns which support horizontal members,
called an architrave, rather than arches

119. Diagram of the Greek and Roman Orders

120. Parthenon

121. Temple of Athena

122. Vault systems

124. Barrel vault

125. Groin vault

126. to suggest direction and movement:
• horizontal lines tend to communicate suggest
stability and calm, vertical lines suggest
strength and authority (architecture), and
diagonal lines tend to represent movement.
These characteristics can all be seen in
Botticelli's Birth of Venus.

128. Lines—firm carve out figures (from rigid horizontal and vertical trees)
Lines—zephyrs—straight breath—curved drapery (imply movement)
Lines—implied—compositional (overall triangle)

129. Jacob Lawrence, Harriet Tubman Series. 1939–40 . Panel #4
On a hot summer day about 1820, a group of slave children were tumbling in the sandy soil
in the state of Maryland - and among them was one, Harriet Tubman

130. • Lines—horizontal (like horizon) suggest stability
• Lines—vertical (skyscrapers) defy gravity, suggest assertiveness
• Lines—diagonal—movement/directionality (i.e. zephyr)