Exploring the Elements of Art

The Elements of Art

• These are the building blocks required to produce art
• Understanding these elements allows for evaluation, explanation, and shared expression about art
• Line imparts artwork structure and shape
• Line guides the viewer's eye and conveys emotion or movement
• Shape provides compositions with basic forms
• Shape organizes elements and creates patterns
• Color evokes mood, expresses emotions, and creates visual interest
• Colors convey symbolism and highlight focal points
• Space determines object relationships in composition
• Space creates depth, perspective, and a sense of openness or confinement
• Texture enhances the tactile quality of artwork
• It makes artwork visually and physically interesting by suggesting how surfaces feel
• Value contrasts light and dark areas
• It creates depth, emphasizes shapes, and gives objects solidity
• Form adds depth and realism
• Form represents three-dimensional objects to give volume

Transcreation

• This involves reinterpreting/adapting creative works
• It preserves the original essence and purpose in new cultural contexts
• Creative adaptation and cultural sensitivity maintains the original artistic vision

Examples of transcreation

• Vincent Van Gogh was influenced by Japanese woodblock prints
• Van Gogh's "The Courtesan (after Eisen)" was inspired by Keisai Eisen
• It reflects fascination with Japanese art and contemporary magazine images using unique color and style
• Van Gogh’s “Bridge in the Rain (after Hiroshige)” was directly inspired by a Japanese print by Utagawa Hiroshige
• Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” influenced modern sculpture
• Artists adapted expressive forms/themes to address contemporary issues while preserving their emotional and psychological impact
• Aristide Maillol's “La Nuit, 1902-1909” was inspired by Rodin’s innovative style

Factors Influencing Transcreation

• Distortion changes the original piece's characteristics(shape, color, form)
• Example: Van Gogh's "Bridge in the Rain (after Hiroshige)" reinterprets Hiroshige’s woodblock print with changes to colors, shapes, and brushstrokes
• The result is a vivid, swirling painting with contrasts, reflecting Van Gogh's style and personal touch
• Transformation changes the medium or context of the original work
• Example: Salvador Dalí’s “The Persistence of Memory” as a 3D digital model
• Appropriation uses elements from an existing work to create something new
• Example: Van Gogh's "The Courtesan (after Eisen)" reinterprets Keisai Eisen's Japanese woodblock print, keeping the subject/composition but modernizing the brushwork, colors, and expression

The Principles of Art

• These principles are fundamental guidelines that organizes art elements
• They create coherence, guide the viewer, and enhance aesthetic quality
• Unity ensures all composition elements work together harmoniously to create a cohesive whole
• Example: Sandro Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" uses harmonious figures, colors, and composition
• Balance distributes visual weight in a composition
• Balance can be symmetrical (equal weight on both sides), asymmetrical (unequal balance achieving harmony), or radial (balance around a central point)
• Example: Vincent Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" uses asymmetrical balance, with the swirling sky balanced by the village and cypress tree
• Emphasis is the focal point that attracts attention, often through contrast, size, or placement
• Example: Salvador Dalí’s “The Persistence of Memory” and the unusual melting clocks

More Principles of Art

• Contrast is the noticeable difference between elements, enhancing their strengths
• Example: Wassily Kandinsky's "Composition VIII" uses contrasting colors, shapes, and sizes
• Proportion refers to the size relationships between different composition elements to maintain harmony and scale
• Example: Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" illustrates ideal human proportions based on Vitruvius' writings
• Pattern arranges alternated/repeated elements like shapes, lines, colors, or motifs
• Example: Katsushika Hokusai's "The Great Wave Off Kanagawa" features dynamic, stylized waves creating a rhythmic pattern
• Variety uses several design elements to hold attention and guide the viewer's eye
• Example: Andy Warhol's "Campbell's Soup Cans" repeats soup cans as a motif but varies colors and arrangements

Rule of Thirds

• An image is divided into thirds horizontally and vertically
• Artists use horizontal lines to separate foreground and background
• Overlapping areas of the red circles are focal points
• Focal points are used to draw the viewer's attention
• It is better to emphasize only some of the focal points
• Samuel Peploe's Still Life with Coffee Pot (c. 1905) uses the Rule of Thirds
• The horizontal line of the table edge runs along the bottom third of the painting
• The reflected light down the center of the teapot is on a vertical line two-thirds of the way across the frame
• The bright orange and lemon to the left of the frame sit at one of the focal points