Art and the HSA

1. Art and the HSA An Introduction to Analysis of Artwork

2. Why am I making you look at Art? • The 3rd quarter assessment and the HSA will include prompts that will require you to analyze a photograph or painting and connect it to something that you have read. • In order to perform the task above, you must know how to analyze the piece of art/photograph itself. • Also, art is fun, interesting, and you can not be a good person at all unless you like it.

3. Things to note : Balance refers to the way in which the elements of art are arranged to create a feeling of stability in a work.  It can be described, among other ways, as asymmetrical, or symmetrical. 

4. Types of Balance • Asymmetrical balance (asymmetry) occurs when a design is organized so that one side differs from the other without destroying the design’s overall harmony. • Symmetrical balance (symmetry) occurs when parts of a design are arranged so that one side duplicates, or mirrors, the other. 

5. Asymmetry: The subject is clearly placed to the left of center Johannes Vermeer, Woman with a Lute, 1662

6. Vertical Symmetry: The subject can be divided perfectly in half lengthwise Leonardo DaVinci, Vetruvian Man

7. Definitions (cont’d) • Background: The most distant part of a scene.

8. Background: Everything that is not the man in the front. Anonymous, smugmug.com, 2006

9. Definitions (cont’d) • Foreground: The nearest part of the scene.

10. Foreground: Frida Frida Kahlo, Self-portrait with Monkey, 1938

11. Definitions (cont’d) • Color: a visual sensation dependent on the reflection or absorption of light from a given surface.  • Hue refers to the name of a color, e.g. red, blue, yellow. • Intensity refers to the purity and strength of a color, e.g. bright red or dull red. 

12. Hue: color Red Blue Green

13. Intensity: Bright or dull? Both paintings contain blue, but it is of different intensities.

14. Definitions (cont’d) • Contrast: refers to the use of opposites—such as light and dark, rough and smooth—in close proximity to each other. 

15. Contrast: Note how light the people are and how dark the background is. Also: JUXTAPOSITON Botticelli, La Primavera, 1482

16. The power of juxtaposition!

17. Definitions (cont’d) • Line: an identifiable path of a point moving in space.  It can vary in width, direction, and length, and can have many qualities, like jagged, curly, etc. 

18. Line: What difference do the lines make in how you perceive these paintings? Pollock, Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist) Cooney, Eleanor, 1996 Tony Foale Mould Klee, Cat and Bird

19. Definitions: Con’t • Movement: In an artwork movement is implied; it can be achieved by arranging the elements of art in such a way that the viewer’s eye is invited to jump rapidly or glide smoothly from one to the next. 

20. Movement Your eye should first be drawn to the young lady on the stairs, then down to the picnic blanket, then back up the stairs. Waterhouse, The Orange Gatherers, 1889

21. Movement: Con’t Salvador Dali, Metamorphosis of Narcissus, 1937

22. Movement: Cont’ Bernard Hoyes, Joy in Blue

23. Definitions (cont’d) Texture: texture refers to the surface quality or “feel” of an object.  Texture can be actual or visual. Actual textures are tactile and can be felt with the fingers. Visual textures are suggested by the way an artist has painted, drawn or otherwise represented certain areas of an artwork.

24. Texture A. Pomme, Ballerina Vincent Van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1888

25. Definitions: Con’t • Three Dimensional: An object that is three-dimensional has—or appears to have—height, width and depth. • Two Dimensional: An object that is two-dimensional has height and width but no depth; it is flat. 

26. Three Dimensional Heem, Still-life, 1652

27. Two Dimensional Odin Lonning, Tlinget

29. LilithDante Gabriel Rosetti, Lady Lilith, 1873 • Symmetrical or Asymmetric? • Contrast? • Foreground? • Background? • Movement?

30. What sense do you get of Lilith? Is she innocent? Sweet? Good natured? How do the artist’s choices bring you to your conclusions? What might the flowers mean? How do their colors indicate their meaning?

31. On to the project • In your groups, you will examine the paintings • For each painting, decide what the artist was trying to say about the personality of the character(s) therein. • Back up your opinion by discussing the artist’s use of balance, color, texture, line, contrasts, movement, and/or dimension.

32. Next case: OpheliaJohn Waterhouse, Ophelia, 1910 Balance: Is this painting symmetrical? Color: What hues are used? How intense are the colors? Where are they Used? To what do they draw Attention? Texture: How does the Presentation of the paint Itself impact the meaning Of the painting? Line: What kind of lines do You see? What affect does Their form have? • What’s happening in the background? • In the foreground? • Why is the placement important? • How do your eyes move when you look at this piece? • What did the artist want you to focus on first? Second? Third? • Where did he want your eyes to rest? Why?

33. Old GuitaristPablo Picasso, The Old Guitarist, 1903 Balance: Color: Line: Contrast: Foreground: Background: Focus: Movement: Texture: Dimension: What impression do you have of this man? How does he feel? What is the center of this piece?

34. CarpentersJacob Lawrence,Carpenters, 1977 • What impression do you have of these men? • What is the center of this piece? • Where should we focus? • How are the colors of this piece different from the others? Balance: Color: Line: Contrast: Foreground: Background: Focus: Movement: Texture: Dimension:

35. Ophelia RevisitedPaul Steck, Ophelia • How does this Ophelia differ from the last one? • How does this Ophelia feel? • How do the colors share that with you? • What is the focus of this painting? • How can you tell? • How is the painter using intensity of color? • What sense of motion do you have with this painting? Balance: Color: Line: Contrast: Foreground: Background: Focus: Movement: Texture: Dimension: