A brief overview of the elements of value and space, including isometric and linear perspective, within art. Based on Gateways to Art (2012).

1. ART APPRECIATION:
VALUE & SPACE
PROFESSOR PAIGE PRATER
T, R, 9:30-10:50AM

2. 10 ELEMENTS OF ART:
1. COLOR
2. FORM
3. LINE
4. MASS
5. SHAPE
6. SPACE
7. TEXTURE
8. TIME/MOTION
9. VALUE
10.VOLUME

3. VALUE & SPACE
INTRO
• 2D = ILLUSION
• TECHNIQUES FOR CREATING ILLUSION OF DEPTH:
• VALUE: LIGHTNESS OR DARKNESS
• SPACE: DISTANCE BETWEEN POINTS
OR PLANES
• PERSPECTIVE: USES
MATHEMATICAL PRINCIPLES

4. René Magritte, The Treachery of Images (“This is not a pipe”), 1929. Oil on
canvas, 23¾ x 32”. LACMA

5. BUCKMINSTER FULLER, GEODESIC DOME (ART
DOME), 1963–79, REED
COLLEGE, PORTLAND, OREGON

6. BUCKMINSTER FULLER‟S
GEODESIC DOME (1963-79)
• DEMONSTRATES THE EFFECT OF LIGHT ON
PLANES
• EACH OF THESE PLANES HAS A DIFFERENT
RELATIVE DEGREE OF LIGHTNESS OR
DARKNESS
• VALUE CHANGES OCCUR GRADUALLY
• THE RELATIVE DARK VALUES INCREASE AS THE PLANES GET
FURTHER AWAY AND FACE AWAY FROM THE LIGHT
• THERE IS A VALUE RANGE OF BLACK, WHITE, AND EIGHT VALUES
OF GRAY
• FORMERLY USED AS A SCULPTURE STUDIO
AT REED COLLEGE IN PORTLAND, OREGON
• HTTP://YOUTU.BE/JN3FMX1TYT8

7. VALUE: LIGHTS & DARKS

8. CHIAROSCURO
 ITALIAN FOR “LIGHT DARK”
 A METHOD OF APPLYING VALUE TO A TWODIMENSIONAL PIECE OF ARTWORK TO CREATE
THE ILLUSION OF THREE DIMENSIONS
 RENAISSANCE ARTISTS IDENTIFIED FIVE
DISTINCT AREAS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW

HIGHLIGHT, LIGHT, CORE SHADOW, REFLECTED LIGHT,
AND CAST SHADOW

10. VALUE: LIGHTS & DARKS
Pierre Paul
Prud‟hon, Stu
dy for La
Source, c.
1801. Black
and white
chalk on blue
paper, 21¾ x
15¼”. Sterling
and Francine
Clark Art
Institute, Willi
amstown, Ma

11. CARAVAGGIO, TH
E CONVERSION ON
THE WAY TO
DAMASCUS (1601).

12. HATCHING & CROSS-HATCHING
• HATCHING CONSISTS OF A SERIES OF
LINES, CLOSE TO AND PARALLEL TO EACH
OTHER
• CROSS-HATCHING (LINES OVERLAP) IS
USED TO SUGGEST VALUES; GREATER
SENSE OF FORM AND DEPTH

13. HATCHING

14. CROSS-HATCHING

15. PUT „EM TOGETHER AND
WHAT‟VE YOU GOT?
Michelangelo, Head
of a Satyr, c. 1520–
30. Pen and ink on
paper, 10⅝ x 7⅞”.
Musée du
Louvre, Paris, Franc
e

16. SPACE
• SIZE
• OVERLAPPING
• POSITION
• ALTERNATING VALUE AND TEXTURE
• CHANGING BRIGHTNESS AND COLOR
• ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE

17. SPACE:
SIZE/OVERLAPPING/POSITION
Katsushika Hokusai, “The Great Wave off Shore at Kanagawa,”
from Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, 1826–33 (printed later).
Print, color woodcut. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

18. FUNNY!

19. SPACE: ALTERNATING VALUE &
TEXTURE
• Each area of light and
dark occupies different
amounts of
space, making the design
more interesting
• Note the change in visual
texture from bottom to top
• These visual layers create
a sense of depth
Fan Kuan, Travelers among
Mountains and Streams, Northern
Sung Dynasty, 11th century. Hanging
scroll, ink and colors on silk, 81¼ x
40⅜”. National Palace

20. SPACE: CHANGING BRIGHTNESS
& COLOR
• LIGHTER AREAS SEEM TO BE CLOSER AS
DARK AREAS APPEAR TO RECEDE
• INTENSITY OF COLOR AFFECTS
PERCEPTION

21. Thomas Hart Benton, The Wreck of the Ole ’97, 1943. Egg tempera and
oil on canvas, 28½ x 44½”. Hunter Museum of
Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee

22. SPACE: ATMOSPHERIC
PERSPECTIVE
 DISTANT OBJECTS LACK CONTRAST, DETAIL,
AND SHARPNESS OF FOCUS BECAUSE
SURROUNDING AIR IS NOT COMPLETELY
TRANSPARENT
 THE ATMOSPHERE PROGRESSIVELY VEILS A
SCENE AS THE DISTANCE INCREASES

CONTEMPORARY FILMMAKERS USE THIS
ATMOSPHERIC EFFECT TO GIVE THE
ILLUSION OF GREAT DEPTH

24. • ASHER BROWN
DURAND, KINDR
ED
SPIRITS, 1849.
OIL ON
CANVAS, 44 X
36”. CRYSTAL
BRIDGES
MUSEUM OF
AMERICAN
ART, BENTONVI
LLE, ARKANSAS

25. PERSPECTIVE
• ISOMETRIC : PARALLELS COMMUNICATE
DEPTH; USUALLY DIAGONAL PARALLEL
LINES
• LINEAR: LINES APPEAR TO CONVERGE AT
POINTS IN SPACE

26. ISOMETRIC PERSPECTIVE

27. Graphic detailing isometric perspective: The
Qianlong Emperor’s Southern Inspection
Tour, Scroll Six: Entering Suzhou and the

28. LINEAR PERSPECTIVE
• USES MATH AND LINES TO CREATE THE
ILLUSION OF DEPTH IN A 2D ARTWORK
• BASED ON OBSERVATION OF SPACE IN THE
WORLD
• THE THEORY OF LINEAR PERSPECTIVE WAS
DEVELOPED IN DETAIL BY THE FIFTEENTHCENTURY ARTIST LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI
• THE ITALIAN FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI WAS THE
FIRST ARTIST TO APPLY THE THEORIES OF

29. FILLIPPO BRUNELLESCHI, PERSPECTIVE
DRAWING FOR CHURCH OF SANTO SPIRITO
IN FLORENCE (1428).

30. 1 POINT PERSPECTIVE
• SINGLE VANISHING POINT
• UNLESS THE VIEWER IS SITUATED IN
DIRECT LINE OF SIGHT IT IS NOT AS EASY
TO SEE HOW THE PERSPECTIVE
CREATES THE ILLUSION OF A RECESSION
OF SPACE

31. 1 POINT
PERSPECTI
VE
• EDITH HAYLLAR, A
SUMMER
SHOWER, 1883. OIL
ON PANEL, 21
X 17⅜”.
PRIVATE
COLLECTION

34. Masaccio, Trinity, c.
1425–6.
Fresco, 21‟10½” x
10‟4⅞”. Santa Maria
Novella, Florence, It
aly

35. 2 POINT PERSPECTIVE
• TWO VANISHING POINTS
• RELIES ON HORIZON LINE

36. Raphael, The School of Athens, 1510–11. Fresco, 16‟8” x 25‟. Stanza della
Segnatura, Vatican City

37. 2 POINT PERSPECTIVE

38. PERSPECTIVE: 3 POINT +
• NEEDS POINTS AWAY FROM THE
HORIZON LINE AND OTHER VARIATIONS
ON PERSPECTIVE
• MULTIPLE ANGLES THAT NEED EVEN
MORE VANISHING POINTS
• A VANISHING POINT IS PLACED ABOVE OR
BELOW THE HORIZON LINE TO
ACCOMMODATE A HIGH OR LOW ANGLE
OF OBSERVATION
• WORM‟S-EYE VIEW: LOOKING UP

39. HUMAN VIEW: CONE OF VISION

40. M. C. Escher, Ascending and
Descending, March 1960.
Woodcut, 14 x 11¼”. The M. C.
Escher Company, Netherlands

41. Perspective: 3
POINT (Bird‟s
Eye)

42. FORESHORTENING
Albrecht Dürer, Draftsman Drawing a Recumbent
Woman, 1525. Woodcut. Graphische Sammlung
Albertina, Vienna, Austria

43. Andrea Mantegna, The Lamentation over the Dead Christ, c.
1480. Tempera on canvas, 26¾ x 31⅞”.
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, Italy

44. PRACTICE! WHICH TYPE OF
PERSPECTIVE?
Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1877. Oil on canvas. Art
Institute of Chicago.