Moving the Eye Through 2-D Design: A Visual Primer

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Shaver

Moving the Eye Through

Design A Visual Primer Buy Shaver

Buy Shaver is Professor in the Foundation Program at The University of the Arts, Philadelphia.

ISBN 978-1-84150-363-9

Moving the Eye Through 2-D Design

An overview of the visual arts fundamentals, Moving the Eye Through 2-D Design provides a step-by-step approach to understanding what causes us to look at a painting, photograph, or any two-dimensional media and what is needed to maintain visual interest. This volume introduces a goal-oriented method that applies aspects of line, shape, value and colour directly to moving the viewer’s eye to and through a composition. With this method, artists learn to incorporate feeling into the creative process from the outset rather than leaving it as a subjective afterthought. Equally applicable to the fine arts, applied arts and digital media, Moving the Eye Through 2-D Design provides a simple and comprehensive methodology through which artists can create dynamic art.


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intellect | www.intellectbooks.com

Buy Shaver

Design


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Moving the Eye Through 2-D Design A Visual Primer

Buy Shaver

intellect Bristol, UK / Chicago, USA


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published in the UK in 2011

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Intellect. The 1,1'11. Pamall Road. f iVIllOO(ls. Bristol. 8516 JIG. UK published in tile USA in 2011 bv mtene«. The university 01 Chicago Press. 14Z7 E. eom Street. Chicago. IL 60637. USA f i~

Copyrigh t 0 zonmreuect Ltd All rights rese rved. No part of this publication may be reproduced. stored in a retrieval system. or transmitt ed. in any form or by any means. electronic. mechanical. photocopying. recording. or otnerws e. without written cerrmsston. A catalogue reco rd for this book is availabl(> trom the British Library. All illustratiOll5 credi ted with name onlywerecreated by students. Illustrations withOUt erects were created by the author. Cover designer: Holly Rose (opy.{'(j tor: Dani(>lIe Styles

Typesetting: Mac Style. Beverley. E. Yorksh ire. UK ISBPII978+84!50-36J-9/ EISBN 978+84150-439·1 Printed and bound by Cambrian Printers. Aber'{5twytt1. UK.


Contents Introduction

7

Chapter 1: Visual Dynamics

11

Chapter 2: Line

17

Chapter 3: Shape

45

Chapter 4: Value and Depth

63

Chapter 5: Visual Interest

87

Chapter 6: Colour

101

Chapter 7: Feeling

125

Chapter 8: Colour Systems

137



Introduction

I

don’t quite remember when I began to teach using the method that I have described in this book. I know that it has developed incrementally over the past fifteen years. Since 1990 I have taught at a number of Philadelphia area art institutions, instructing students in drawing, painting (both watercolour and experimental), installation art and two-dimensional design. By the time my daughter was born in 2001, I was regularly teaching a first-year college course on the basic elements of two-dimensional design. At the introductory level, the visual arts are typically separated into three categories – drawing, two-dimensional design, and three-dimensional design or sculpture. Two-dimensional design, the focus of this book, is the study of the basic elements – line, shape, value, texture, motion, depth and colour. These are the components of any artwork created on a flat surface such as a page or canvas. In twodimensional design you learn how to create the basic elements and how their relationships to each other and to the picture plane, affect the composition’s feeling or meaning. For example, if an image of a tiger is rendered realistically, photographically or in a simplified manner as in a logo, the tiger will be perceived differently in each version. And the tiger’s relationship to the other elements, whether it be alone against a green background, crouching at the top of a composition or one of many tigers moving across the page, will each affect the composition’s feeling or meaning. Is the tiger ferocious, meek or majestic? Generally, it is not just one element but the combination of many elements and how they relate to each other and to the picture plane that evoke feeling. Any two-dimensional composition or design – a photograph, painting, drawing, magazine or web page – is dependent on the ability to create and control these various relationships. And in order to understand the complexity of these relationships, you must understand the individual elements – line, shape, value, texture, motion, depth and colour. Typically, most first-year courses focus on one element at a time. For instance, students learn process and vocabulary of line, then move on to shape. To ensure that each element is discussed, courses often amount to a brief introduction to the fundamental skills and the concepts behind them. For example, with line, students are often taught how to make lines – straight and curved, thin and thick – using various tools such as pencils (hard to soft) and pens (markers, technical



and ruling). Much time and energy is spent learning the process of creating painterly lines, evenly spaced lines, and lines that are crisp and mechanical. This approach develops the hand skills inherent in freehand and mechanical mark-making. However, too little time is devoted to understanding the complex relationships between the basic elements, which affect how a composition is perceived. So when students are required to apply lines to their own work, they typically do not have a clear understanding of how to proceed. The students revert back to making art as they had done in the past and their work does not progress. Understanding and developing these skills is important, but there hasn’t been an easy-tounderstand and widely accepted approach to connect these skills to each other and to the art-making process as a whole. Beyond teaching a work ethic inherent in the acquisition of these hand skills, what are we doing with line? How do you use line to clarify a composition’s feeling or meaning? In many university and college art programmes, the basic elements are taught to students who are interested in a wide variety of art practices – painting, graphic design, industrial design, photography, film-making, illustration and printmaking, to name a few. In addition, first-year college students have various skill sets. Some are proficient in the hand skills required of drawing and painting, and some are better acquainted with photography and film-making. So I wondered: how do these hand skills help a student to become a better graphic designer when they could use a computer to produce a crisp, mechanical line more efficiently? How does line, for example, pertain to photography? What must each student know about the basics to guarantee success in their various future endeavors? I was determined to connect what I was teaching directly to the process of making art. I wanted my students to learn the basic skills and concepts in order to build a clear understanding of and expression in art. It became obvious to me that I would have to clarify the individual elements and simplify how the elements related to each other and to the composition as a whole. This struggle to clarify what I was teaching as well as engage the various interests of my students came at the same time as I was learning to care for my newborn daughter. Anyone who has had children knows that your understanding of time changes. Days passed without the usual arrangement of dividing day from night. As my wife and I both worked, our days were long and our nights seemed to be parcelled out into hourly segments – feeding schedules, diaper changes and dealing with various ailments. With a lack of sleep, days folded into nights and our weeks simply passed by in this soup of repetition. My wife and I were told to keep it simple and remember three things: when the baby is crying check to see if she is hungry; if not does her diaper need changing? Or does she need to burp? Strange as it sounds, when you have little sleep remembering these three things proves nearly impossible. Did you try burping the baby? No. I forgot. All the while I struggled to clarify for my students the basic elements of design. How were they going to remember all of the various elements and nuances when asked to create art? How were they going to remember the many components of two-dimensional design if I couldn’t even remember three things – feed, diaper and burp? 8 Copyrighted Material

Introduction

Over time, I began to simplify my method of teaching by asking one simple question: how do you get someone’s attention visually? For me, the answer was visual dynamics, or contrast, motion and noise. These are the three visual elements that capture the viewer’s attention. Visual dynamics enabled me to connect directly the basic elements of 2-D design to a single, unifying goal: moving the eye. It is my belief that to be successful visually, an artist must firstly get the viewer’s attention and secondly must control how the viewer perceives a composition. In other words, to get someone to look at your work and to understand a composition you must control how the viewer’s eye moves to and through it. This is accomplished by using the simple concept of visual dynamics – contrast, motion and noise. Visual dynamics is the quickest and most dependable way to move the eye to and through a composition. And every basic element of design can be used to create and control visual dynamics. For example, line is not addressed as a separate entity but as an element to create contrast, motion and noise. When you add other basic elements to line such as shape, value and colour, each additional element is another tool that provides greater control over a composition’s visual dynamics – the level of contrast, the speed and direction of motion, and the type of noise. While the basic skills are developed, the focus remains on how each element relates to visual dynamics and to the composition as a whole. As each new element builds on the previous one, the art-making process becomes easier to understand. And, by focusing on the concept of moving the eye, the fundamental skills are no longer separate from each other or the art-making process. Instead, from the very beginning, the fundamental skills join together and clarify this process. The goal and the process remain simple, consistent and easy to remember. As a result, everything that is created – from an initial sketch to a finished design, or from a painting to a magazine layout –can utilize this same approach. However, there is one more element that must be included: feeling. The introduction of feeling at this initial stage is invaluable. Artists often talk about feeling in the visual arts. But feeling is a very complex topic. It is difficult to qualify and difficult to verbalize. Many artists know intuitively that feeling must be included with the basic principles, yet are puzzled as to how it should be addressed. And most often, feeling is presented as an afterthought, if at all. But, just like the basic elements, feeling is integral to the design process. Does a composition have a joyous or sombre feeling? Or, as I mentioned earlier, can you create an image of a tiger and make it ferocious, meek or majestic? I believe it is important to connect the basic elements of design to feeling as quickly and clearly as possible. And remarkably, by controlling contrast, motion and noise you simultaneously develop a composition’s feeling. From each simple line exercise to more complex value studies, visual dynamics – contrast, motion and noise – move the eye to and through a composition and clarify feeling. The principles described in this book are based on my teaching methods. Moving the Eye Through 2-D Design is a common-sense overview of the fundamentals of the visual arts. It is a step-by-step approach that teaches artists how to get the viewer to look at their artwork and, just as importantly, how to maintain the viewer’s attention visually. The book addresses the basic elements of two-dimensional design, including line, shape, value and 9 Copyrighted Material


colour, and explains how each relates to the goal of capturing the viewer’s attention. Yet these fundamentals, although explained singly, are discussed as integrated elements which when used together, both gain and maintain the viewer’s attention. Each new element builds upon the others, making the principles in their totality easier to understand and to remember. This approach applies to every two-dimensional art practice, from the fine and applied arts to digital media. In addition, artists learn how to incorporate feeling into the inception of their creative process rather than it remaining a subjective afterthought, as is often the situation. Although developments in technology such as digital cameras and computer software have made it accessible for nearly everyone to produce what appears to be a finished design, there hasn’t been a direct and easy-to-understand explanation of what constitutes an effective design. Moving the Eye Through 2-D Design is a comprehensive guide to the elements of 2-D design and provides a structured methodology on how to create visually dynamic compositions. This book is ideal for students, arts educators, and anyone who is interested in understanding basic visual art fundamentals.

10 Copyrighted Material

Chapter 1 Visual Dynamics


A. R. Penck Flugblatt (Macht-Besitz), 1974 Synthetic resin on canvas 112.2” x 112.2” © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn Photo © A. R. Penck. Courtesy Galerie Michael Werner Berlin, Cologne and New York


Visual Dynamics What is visual dynamics?

I

n the Introduction I said that the starting point in the visual arts was to get someone to look at what you have created. This is an obvious, yet often over looked point. In the visual world, competition for garnering attention is enormous. Television, print, movies, fine art, industrial design, the Internet, theatre and fashion are all vying for our attention. It is a given that to be successful visually you must move the viewer’s eye to what you have created. What gets someone to look? Why, when a television is on, do our eyes drift to it, whether we want to watch it or not? Why are we drawn to lightning in the sky or to the headlines of a newspaper? Let me ask a more direct question. What would you do to get someone’s attention? Imagine you are on a deserted island, an island that has a stand of palm trees, rocks and acres of white sand. Imagine that you want to get off this island. You will need help from others, maybe from people on a passing boat or plane. The answers are seemingly instinctive and based on our need to survive. If a plane was flying overhead, you might spell H-E-L-P or S-O-S with rocks or branches on the white sand. You might try to start a fire. If a boat was on the horizon, you might wave your arms or wave a large palm branch. You might begin to scream and shout (even if the boat was too far away for anyone to hear). These solutions are simple and basic but very informative. The elements that you use to get off the island are contrast, motion and noise. And they are the same elements of visual dynamics that command the viewer’s attention. Visual Dynamics: Contrast Contrast is the difference between things. The greater the difference, the more readily you distinguish one image or object from the next. There are many types of contrast, such as big and small, vertical and horizontal and yellow and blue. The greater the contrast, the more clearly and quickly something is seen. Let’s go back to our island analogy. If you started a fire, it would be seen by a boat or a plane most effectively at night. The light to dark contrast would be greatest at night. During the day, you would want to create black smoke so that it could be seen against the light of the sky. Or, if you wrote H-E-L-P on the beach, you would want to use dark shapes so that the letter-forms would contrast with the white of the sand. Contrast in the visual arts enables you to attract the viewer’s eye and it also directs their focus to various elements within a composition. 13 Copyrighted Material


Visual Dynamics: Motion The second element of dynamics is motion. The waving of your arms or a palm branch, or the motion of billowing smoke from a fire, would catch someone’s eye. The most vigorous, erratic motion would work best because it would peak someone’s curiosity to investigate further. Or for instance, if a ball was thrown and you saw it out of the corner of your eye you would turn your head. Motion directs your attention. The use of motion is clearly evident in movies and television when people and objects move across the screen. But in twodimensional design, motion is implied by directing the eye from one element to the next or by creating an illusion of motion through repetition. Both will attract the eye. Visual Dynamics: Noise The third element of visual dynamics is noise. Sound as a visual element? Let me explain. It is understandable that you would use noise to try to get off the island: yelling, banging or whistling. Or, if you were in a dark room and heard a rustling sound, you would be alerted to someone’s presence. Noise gets your attention. And, in the visual arts, the dividing up of two- and three-dimensional space is often associated with visual noise. For example, small shapes with high contrast like the black and white pattern on the cover of a composition book create a visual noise – a ‘buzz’ if you will. Similarly, the criticism of an outfit that has too many different patterns, textures and discordant colours is referred to as ‘noisy’ or ‘loud’.

A

B

Consider, for example, how noise in 2-D design is routinely accentuated. In (A), bold letter-forms draw your attention and are clearly legible. You read and comprehend the noise. In (B), the noise is visually accentuated by manipulating the orientation and repetition of the letter-forms and defining a bold outward movement. The motion in (B) is faster and more aggressive, and the noise is louder. 14 Copyrighted Material

Visual Dynamics

But sound in a two-dimensional composition is not audible. You have, no doubt, learned to associate certain types of motion with certain types of noise. A flag snapping in the wind. The whir and click of gears spinning. Or, the clomping of footsteps down an alley. An image that depicts motion can evoke sound. So by visually accentuating motion in a composition, you also heighten the association of sound. And, as we delve into these three basic elements, you will learn how to use contrast and motion to create visual noise. More specifically, you will learn how to make a design imply elements of sound like a loud ‘BOOM’ or a soft ‘whoosh’. The three elements of visual dynamics are what we instinctively look for. Our ability to see contrast and motion, and to hear noise can actually help keep us alive – by keeping us out of the path of a speeding car and alerting us the presence of fire or to an animal that threatens. Singly, contrast, motion and noise are potent elements that draw attention. When combined, these elements command attention. No matter the skill level of rendering, or the choice of subject matter or narrative, with contrast, motion and noise you get the viewer to look. And, you move the eye. There is another benefit to using this approach of visual dynamics. As you learn to manipulate the interaction of these three elements, you begin to evoke feeling. Feeling I want to be careful about presenting any vague assumptions about feeling. At first our goal is to demand the viewer’s attention visually. By utilizing all three elements of visual dynamics you will accomplish that. Yet, to hold the viewer’s attention, you must engage them emotionally as well. This is an extremely complex process, as each viewer reacts to a composition differently. Their varied associations with images or subject matter, the circumstances in which they are viewing a particular piece, and their willingness to look at a work beyond a cursory glance all affect how an artwork or design will engage them. But regardless of the differing reaction of viewers, this approach will teach you how to begin to clarify a composition’s feeling visually. For example, how a viewer reacts to a painting of a flower bouquet depends on the artist’s ability to convey feeling. You may be able to render the flowers accurately, but without clarity of feeling it is likely that you will not hold the viewer’s attention. Again, it is important to convey feeling in order to connect emotionally with the viewer. To evoke the bouquet’s ‘joy’, you must visually express an exuberance, whether it is through the speed and direction of eye movement or an immediacy of colour and form. And, feeling is not limited to the fine arts. Feeling is an important aspect of every design and every product, from the clothes we wear to the cars we drive. Feeling is integral to how consumers perceive products. Clothes, for example are not just objects to keep us warm; we want them to make us look good and feel better about ourselves. At times, you may want to look and feel elegant, rugged or sweet. 15 Copyrighted Material


So you look for products to help you achieve a certain feeling. A good artist or designer must be able to evoke feeling. However, it is difficult to create and control feeling visually. For the viewer to perceive a distinct feeling, it must be expressed clearly, and in order to achieve that, every visual element must be directed towards that goal. Visual dynamics simplifies this difficult task. Sex, death, food and all things cuddly Before I go further, let me introduce other basic instincts that cannot be ignored. They are visual triggers that sway the viewer even more potently than those elements of visual dynamics – Sex, death, food and all things cuddly. Sex (the human form), death (as a curiosity), food (to tempt the appetite) and all things cuddly (emotional). Each provoke very specific desires, be it good or bad. Their impact is easy to understand I suppose, yet often overlooked. The desire to look at these four elements is fundamental to the human condition. It is human nature. The attraction of a human figure, the macabre fascination with tragedy and death, the temptation of candies and cakes or the appeal of a favourite stuffed animal can all override the elements of visual dynamics. But, as titillating as these elements are, they may not always be appropriate for a particular artwork or design. In addition, as you learn to create and control visual dynamics you will also learn how contrast, motion and noise affect all images, including the ones that incorporate the four visual triggers. And, you will be able to clarify these visual triggers by making the human form more alluring, an animal more threatening or food more appetizing. So you must first learn to draw the viewer’s eye regardless of the subject matter. For now, I am going to put ‘sex, death, food and all things cuddly’ aside in order to focus on visual dynamics – contrast, motion and noise. Again, the first goal is to get the viewer to look at your artwork – to move the eye. Visual dynamics is the most effective way to achieve this goal. Yes, in time it is possible that you could get off the island by passively sitting on the beach, but would you want to chance it?


Chapter 2 Line


Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing 462 (detail), 1986 India ink wash on four walls © 2010 The LeWitt Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York


LINE What is line?

L

ine is a basic tool that can create contrast, motion and noise on a page. The concept of ‘page’ is important because it confines visual relationships within a specified area. Line is a visual element that has weight (width of line), implies direction, and exhibits the quality of its making – be it with a pen or pencil, free-hand or mechanical, powerful or tender. Straight lines Let’s begin with a simple task: the rendering of straight black lines to create movement. Movement or motion is one of the three elements of visual dynamics. I want to be specific about this; as you learn to create movement, you also learn to control it. In example (A), a series of straight lines moves the eye from the left side of the page to the right. Direction of motion in design is based on eye movement. The eye follows the path of the horizontal lines and is directed to the right by the taper of the arrows. In the following series of examples, you will see a variety of ways to create left to right motion using straight lines. Our first goal is to create movement, but as I said in the previous chapter, to get someone’s attention visually you must include all of the elements of visual dynamics – contrast, motion and noise. Using straight lines you can create motion; however, an effective, eye-catching design also includes contrast and noise. Our goal is twofold – to create motion, while maintaining visual dynamics. 50-50 light to dark contrast In addition to motion we must also create contrast. Contrast sets one element apart from another. The greater the contrast or difference between elements, the greater their distinction and the more quickly they demand attention. There are many ways to render contrast, such as the use of scale (big to small) and colour (e.g. yellow to blue). However, I want to focus on light to dark contrast because it has a tremendous visual impact and, remarkably, it is often overlooked. The greatest contrast of light to dark is 50 per cent white and 50 per cent black or a 50-50 ratio of half white and half black. Anything else has less contrast – more light than dark or 19 Copyrighted Material


A

C

B

In example (A), motion is implied but it has a less than 50-50 contrast. Examples (B) and (C) both include motion and have a 50-50 contrast.

more dark than light. So a 50-50 contrast strikes an equal balance between light and dark, and as a result the eye moves vigorously back and forth between them. A 50-50 contrast over an entire composition is the most visually eye-catching arrangement in terms of contrast, and it moves the viewer’s eye to your design. And, by selectively creating high contrast areas within a composition, attention is directed to those areas first and, in effect, it moves the viewer’s eye through the design. Why use 50-50 light to dark contrast initially? While you learn to create motion and noise, it is important to maintain an overall 50-50 light to dark contrast initially, in order to capture the viewer’s attention. Before you can clarify visual dynamics, or what you like or dislike, you must be able to get the viewer’s attention. You might like the quieter design (A) because it conveys the movement or feeling that you want. Yet, imagine examples (A) and (B) displayed side by side on a wall and viewed from 10 feet away. Example (A) which has about 10 per cent black and 90 per cent white, would almost disappear. But example (B), with a nearly 50-50 contrast, would still attract the eye. So, to be successful visually you must first move the viewer’s eye to what you have created. And, by consistently maintaining a 50-50 light to dark contrast, you will ensure that the viewer’s eye is attracted to your design. In example (D), the composition is divided in half 50 per cent black and 50 per cent white. Eye-catching high contrast is maintained, but the motion is negligible. In example (E), thin 20 Copyrighted Material

Line

D

E

F

Example (D) has a 50-50 contrast, but both the motion and noise are negligible. Example (E) has a 50-50 contrast; the movement is slow and the noise is muffled. Example (F) has a nearly 50-50 contrast; the movement is simultaneously side to side, and up and down. The movement is faster and louder on the left, and slower and quieter on the right.

vertical lines are repeated throughout the composition. It has a 50-50 contrast and motion as the eye moves slowly and steadily from left to right, from an area with high contrast to an area with low contrast. Example (F) has both vertical and horizontal lines, and again the eye first moves to the area on the left with high contrast and then to the area on the right with low contrast. But in this example the motion is ‘bouncy’ as the eye follows the vertical lines up and down, and the horizontal lines from side to side. It should also be noted that Western languages have an inherent left-to-right bias. As text typically flows in this direction, you are conditioned to look for this kind of motion. And, there are other instinctual rules to remember. For example, your eye naturally looks for areas with high contrast (areas that are easily differentiated) and then moves to areas with lower contrast (areas that are more similar and therefore more difficult to differentiate). Or, from the busiest and noisiest areas to the slowest and quietest. This brings us to the third element of visual dynamics – noise. Noise is created using a combination of contrast and motion. Look at example (D) again; it has an overall 50-50 contrast but the motion is negligible. And without motion, the noise is difficult to perceive. In example (E), however, the repetition and similarity of the thin vertical lines create a steady, slow motion and a soft, muffled ‘hum’. This noise is louder in the high contrast area on the left and quieter in the lower contrast area on the right. In example (F), as the motion bounces up and down from left to right, the noise also varies from a loud ‘chatter’ to a quiet ‘buzz’.



A note about texture. As I seek to simplify Using all three elements of visual dynamics the design process, I describe the visual – contrast, motion, and noise – you get the world in terms of contrast, motion, and noise. viewer’s attention. You move the eye to your Traditionally, texture – a tactile attribute of a design. surface – is introduced as a separate entity. Now, using straight lines, let’s experiment However, in terms of visual dynamics texture with motion and noise while still maintaining is the breaking up of the picture plane into an overall 50-50 contrast. As you vary line smaller and smaller units. Example (F) has weight, direction and the spacing between texture – a repetition of small marks that the lines, the goal of creating visual dynamics create both contrast and noise. remains constant. You will discover that you can create endless variations of motion and noise – from fast to slow, left to right, up to down and even from a loud ‘boom’ to a soft ‘whir’. And, as you control the speed and direction of movement and the type of noise, you control how the viewer’s eye moves through your design. The next four examples have a roughly 50-50 black to white contrast throughout. Both example (A) and example (B) have a bold and simple movement. Examples (C) and (D) have a complex movement. In (C), notice how the direction of motion is defined. The eye moves to the small, dark semicircle on the far left (the high contrast area) and then the eye follows the bold, radiating lines (the fastest and noisiest areas) outward to the right. This example seems to ‘zoom’, then ‘whoosh’. In (D), the high contrast areas are dispersed across the entire composition. The movement is intermittently fast and slow, while the direction wavers. The eye zips along the larger pathways then slows, shifting direction as it follows the smaller, lighter areas. While the

A

B

C

D


Line

At this point it is important to understand how the elements of visual dynamics create motion. Contrast, motion and noise are the same elements that visually direct your attention every day. However, when you begin to analyse visual dynamics in the arts actively, it can be difficult to pinpoint what you are actually seeing. For instance, in the beginning it is common to misread the composition’s speed or direction of motion. But remember, as you continue to experiment with line-making your understanding and analysis of contrast, motion and noise will become more accurate.

overall composition appears to move from left to right, there is also a variety of diagonal movements. The noise is louder in the darker, heavier bands, or areas with high contrast, and quieter in the lighter, thinner bands, or areas with low contrast. Straight lines: simple and complex motion While learning how to move the eye with contrast and noise you begin to create different types of motion – fast and slow, simple and complex. As you have already seen, areas with bold lines and high contrast move the eye quickly and make louder noises. Areas with thin lines and low contrast move the eye slowly and make quieter noises. And the type of motion – simple or complex – will similarly affect a composition’s speed and noise. A simple motion moves in a single direction. Think of a one-way traffic sign. A complex motion moves in two or more directions. A complex motion moves the eye in multiple ways – left to right, up and down, in a zigzag or even in a spiral. While still maintaining an overall 50-50 contrast, notice how simple and complex motions affect how the eye moves to and through a design. For example, if you use thick lines with high contrast or a simple motion, the eye moves quickly across the page. If you use thinner lines with less contrast or a complex motion, the eye moves more slowly across the page. As the eye follows a complex motion, it slows down in order to take in the various speeds and directions. Therefore, a complex motion holds the viewer’s eye for a longer period of time. And as the motion varies so does the noise. So a composition with a simple motion speeds up the eye movement and creates a single noise, while a composition with complex motion may create a wide variety of speeds and noises – fast and loud in some areas, and slow and soft in others.



A

B

C

Example (A), like the one-way sign, illustrates simple motion. Using bold lines and a 50-50 contrast, it directs the eye quickly from left to right, and the noise ‘zooms’ across the page. Examples (B) and (C) illustrate complex motion. In (B), the eye follows both the vertical and horizontal lines. Here the eye movement is complex, as numerous thin lines that vary in direction and spacing divide the page into many smaller units. The prevailing left to right movement is created with contrast. The eye moves from the left, or the area with the highest contrast (equal amounts of light and dark), to the right, or the area with the lowest contrast (more light than dark). In this example, thin lines (with low contrast) and a complex motion are combined to slow the eye. This design moves haltingly. It buzzes and hums. In example (C), the eye moves from left to right, diagonally, and up and down as it follows the zigzag lines. The bold, high contrast lines (fast) combined with the complex movement move the eye quickly. The design zips and crackles. In examples (B) and (C), the complexity of movement sustains the viewer’s eye for a longer period of time. 24 Copyrighted Material

Line

Notice that some of the line examples are crisply rendered, while others are freehand (produced without a computer or ruler). At first these qualities are secondary to what creates contrast, motion and noise. For example, learning to repeat a straight line or change its width or direction is more important than making it perfectly straight. But in time, as your skills improve, it will be necessary to consider line quality. A series of ‘straight’ lines that are almost straight or straight lines that are almost evenly spaced may distract the viewer from the design’s intended movement.

B

In example (C), sequence and progression move the eye from bottom to top. The similarity of line weight and direction moves the eye from thin to thick to thin to thickest. Notice, that the movement is not as graceful as it is in example (B) because the change in line weight and spacing is not ordered. The rhythm produced by the sequence and the progression are combined to create an intermittently fast and slow, loud and soft upward movement. Also notice where the horizontal lines meet the diagonal lines to create an upward arc. The arc reinforces the overall upward momentum.

C

Kara X. Hagerty

A



Sequence and progression As you learn to repeat lines, vary line weight, change directions and make lines short or long, you inadvertently create motion using sequence and progression.

Sequence A sequence is a pattern or organization of repeated elements that create a visual expectation for the viewer. In example (A), two thin lines are followed by one thick line. The eye follows the pattern as it is repeated across the page. A sequence creates a sense of rhythm or beat such as ‘fast and slow, fast and slow’ or ‘loud and soft, loud and soft’. So sequencing helps to define further the type of motion and type of noise. Progression Progression is a gradual change to an element within a composition. And, as in example (B), progression is often combined with sequence. In (B) there are pairs of identical black and white lines that gradually change from thin to thick. As the eye naturally looks for similarities and differences, the direction of motion is created when the eye moves to join together areas of similarity while simultaneously looking for differences. Progression, like sequencing, creates motion and noise, such as the gradual sweep from left to right, slow to fast and soft to loud. Straight and curved lines As discussed previously, with straight lines you can create contrast, motion and noise to attract the viewer’s attention. While still maintaining an overall 50-50 contrast, you can also control the motion – both speed and direction – and the noise which could be loud or soft, a ‘boom’ or a ‘clatter’. Now let’s add curved lines to define further the contrast, motion and noise. Curved lines are used like straight ones, and when used in combination with straight lines create greater variety. Curved lines are soft and fluid, while straight lines are hard and rigid. And with variety there is greater contrast, which will affect the composition’s motion and noise. For example, with curved lines the motion could gradually sweep upward, spiral or undulate, and the noise might ‘bubble’, ‘whirl’ or ‘splash’. So, by controlling line weight and direction, repetition, sequence, progression, and now line quality – straight and curved – you have the tools to create a greater variety of motion and noise within the picture plane. And with variety you can create very specific types of motion and noise. 26 Copyrighted Material

Kaitlin O’Donnell

A


Jason Piperberg

B

Examples (A) and (B) are created using only straight lines. In the two examples the eye is directed across each of the smaller rectilinear forms, from one side to another. Both examples have a 50-50 contrast, simple and complex motion, areas that move fast and areas that move slowly. Also, notice how the lines have created different types of noise – from loud and hard to quiet and soft.


Line

C

Kristin Watson

Examples (C), (D) and (E) use straight and curved lines. In each, the variety of lines create a wider range of motion and noise, making the compositions more dynamic. For instance, in example (C) the eye follows the large ‘s’ shape down the picture plane. It changes from a ‘bubbly gurgle’ at the top to a soft ‘clatter’ at the bottom. In example (D), a series of bold curved lines create a fast and jittery movement as the noise whirs, hisses and squeals. In example (E), the repetition of the black and white vertical lines creates a fast movement with a loud, steady beat. The curved lines interrupt the movement and noise with a delicate and slightly abrasive swish.


Jessica Mollica

D

E

Copyrighted Material Min Kyung Lee

Line

Straight and curved lines with feeling Up to this point the primary concern has been to capture the viewer’s attention using visual dynamics. Now, as you learn to control a composition’s contrast, motion and noise, I need to introduce the concept of feeling. Feeling is an essential component in the visual arts, because when it is clearly expressed it will hold the viewer’s attention. Yet its complexity makes it difficult to analyse and articulate. At this point, you might not know how to create feeling or even completely understand its necessity, but it is important to realize that as you control a composition’s contrast, motion and noise, you also evoke feeling. Feeling is like music The concept of feeling in the visual arts is difficult to specify. At times, feeling can seem confusing or even arbitrary. What is feeling? And how do you create it? Think about music and how it makes you feel. From classical to jazz and rock to rap, we often listen to music because it makes us feel a certain way. From sporadic bursts of loud sounds to rhythmically repeating soft tones, from moments of silence to waves of complex orchestral melodies, music captivates us through feeling. Primarily, it is how the sound moves that makes us feel happy or sad, calm or agitated. The more specific the movement and sound, the more specific the feeling, and the more it engages us. It is this sense of movement and sound that is common to both music and the visual arts. With visual dynamics you also create specific types of movement and noise. You can create compositions that quietly undulate, raucously pulsate, or that spiral upward from soft and slow to loud and fast. As you learn to create contrast, motion and noise you first engage the viewer by moving the eye to and through a composition. Then, as you develop the skills and concepts to control eye movement – how fast and in what direction – and noise – loud or soft, ‘boom’ to ‘whoosh’ – you also create feeling. Clarity of motion, clarity of feeling Example (A) is a visually dynamic composition. It has a 50-50 contrast, a clearly defined motion and a variety of noise. Notice that the curved lines are the focal point of the composition because of their nearly central location and their variety – they are different from the majority of the straight lines. The curved lines are fluid and less aggressive than the straight lines, so they attract the eye. The big teardrop arc at the top of the composition moves up and to the left, then down (a complex movement). The arc shares characteristics 31 Copyrighted Material


Tyler Held

A

with both the bold straight lines and the central curves, and serves to integrate the motion between these two areas. The arc’s downward thrust is echoed by the multiple vertical drips near the bottom. The curved lines appear to move softly and slowly while the straight lines quickly move upward and outward. This movement creates a ‘boom’ at the top of the composition where the bold straight lines radiate up and away from the curved lines. And, as the eye connects the curves at the top to the drips at the bottom, the noise becomes a softer ‘trickle’. Also, notice how the movement of the drips is affected by the surrounding thin diagonal lines and bolder rectilinear forms. The complexity within this area slows the movement down the page and creates a ‘hum’ and ‘clatter’. In this example, the exuberance of the loud, radiating upward thrust is tempered by the melancholy of the tentative and quiet downward movement. By controlling both the speed and direction of motion, you control how the eye moves to and through a composition, and clarify feeling. 32 Copyrighted Material

Line

Line quality with feeling The characteristics of a line – width (weight), length, direction, curvature or straightness – are known as ‘line quality’. Line quality affects eye movement. The last point about line to consider is how the line is drawn on the page. We all have the ability to see this characteristic of a line, yet many of us are unaware of it. For example, think of a handprint on a wall. It is likely that you can discern whether it was put down fast or slowly, carelessly or delicately. The ability to see the nuances of the handprint allows you to empathize with its maker. If I asked you to make an angry line on a page, I suspect you would experiment until you had a mark that appeared angry. It might be a heavy, thick mark made with speed, possibly careless and blunt. If you convey this type of motion successfully, the viewer will empathize with you the maker, and understand the feeling of anger. You have to mimic the motion and speed of anger in order to create an angry mark. Imagine angry lines that move across a page. The lines might be jagged, bold and fast to reflect a chaotic movement. When line quality is used in a composition that already moves fast is chaotic and seems to ‘screech’ and ‘boom’, for example, you will clarify even further its contrast, motion and noise. Or imagine delicate lines that move precisely across a picture plane. The lines might be evenly spaced, thin and mechanically produced to create a more controlled, analytical feeling. So the quality of line or mark-making affects the clarity of contrast, motion and noise. And, as the visual dynamics is clarified, so is the feeling. Using a 50-50 contrast with motion – fast and slow, or simple and complex – and noise – loud, soft, ‘bang’, ‘ping’ or ‘whoosh’ – you can create an eye-catching composition. And, when motion and noise are clarified, you evoke feeling. The quality of a mark influences the composition’s visual dynamics and feeling. In example (A), the brushstrokes create a fast, less precise line. So the quality of line heightens the simple movement– downward and outward – from the chair. And the repetition of similarly sized marks accentuates the simple yet aggressive motion and its loud and abrasive noise. Marks that are fast, simple and direct enliven the depicted emptiness.

A

Daniel Murano


A

Jessica Nicholl

The three room studies, examples (A), (B) and (C), use a combination of straight and curved lines. Notice how the feeling of each is affected by the quality of the marks. Example (A), produced freehand, uses a variety of fluid marks to evoke a charmingly playful feeling, while (B) is mechanically precise to create a controlled, analytical feeling. In example (C), a more forceful mark is used. The wider and bolder brushstrokes painted with less precision create a sense of immediacy and buoyancy.


B

Michelle Kilmer

C

Lindsay McCabe



Simplifying movement with similarity and variety I have introduced how to use lines to create contrast, motion and noise, and, how the speed and direction of motion evokes feeling. I would now like to discuss in greater detail the factors that produce this movement. When lines or elements are repeated throughout a composition, you have similarity. And similarity between elements causes the eye to move slowly between them. The eye naturally moves back and forth between various lines or areas looking for similar relationships – similar black lines, similar widths of black lines, similar spacing between lines, and so on. The eye wants to join together elements of similarity. As these connections are made, the eye moves along the pathway between similar elements. This pathway creates direction. The more similarities, the slower the eye moves, because there are fewer attention-getting differences or elements of high contrast. With repetition, you have more similarities. And, the more similarities, the slower the movement and the quieter the noise. I refer to this type of movement as ‘flow’. When lines change in weight, direction, speed or quality – straight to curved or blunt to delicate, for example, you have variety. When elements are clearly differentiated from one another they separate, and the eye moves quickly from one element to the next. With variety, the eye doesn’t linger to compare similar characteristics between objects – the eye quickly distinguishes difference between elements and moves on. So with variety, the eye moves quickly and abruptly, and the noise is loud. I refer to this type of motion as ‘eye movement’. Both similarity and variety create motion and noise. Look again, at the preceding room studies. In the areas with the most similarities, where lines are repeated extensively, the motion slows or even stops. In the areas with the most variety, where there are thick and thin lines as well as shapes that can be named, like a chair or a desk, the motion is fast. As you learn to move the eye using lines, you are also incorporating the concept of shape. As the previous room studies illustrate, lines can render an object by creating a boundary for a shape. You can also activate a shape by applying a variety of lines. And, in order to create movement between shapes, you need to use similarity and variety. Similarity is what elements have in common, and variety is the differences between them. Up until now, I have concentrated on light to dark contrast. But, as I discuss shape, I need to provide a more comprehensive definition of contrast. As I mentioned, variety is created by any difference or contrast between elements, such as straight and curved, big and small, fast and slow, loud and quiet, or circle and rectangle. Variety and high contrast direct the viewer’s eye quickly to specific elements or areas. The more variety and contrast, the faster and more abrupt the eye movement. And the more similarity between elements, the less contrast and slower the movement.


Line

Similarity, integration and flow As I have mentioned, the eye instinctively looks for similarities; so a large black shape visually connects with a small black shape, because of their similarity of colour. The eye moves back and forth between them. A triangle connects with a triangle, a black triangle connects with a black triangle, a large black triangle connects to a large black triangle, and so on. The more characteristics that shapes or areas have in common, the greater their similarities and the greater their integration.

As the eye instinctively looks for variety and similarity, an artist can control the movement to and through a composition. The more variety, the faster and more abrupt the motion. The more similarity, the slower and more fluid the motion.

D

Let’s compare the movement created by similarity and variety. In example (D), the three black triangles are similar in shape, colour and orientation (they are all pointing to the left). The eye connects these three shapes by moving back and forth to look for similarities. The more similarities there are, the more the eye connects them and the movement slows. And, as the eye moves between like elements, a pathway is established. But the variety or the differences between these three triangles creates directional movement as the eye moves from the biggest triangle to the smallest triangle, from left to right in a diagonal arc. So in this example, shape gradation creates directional movement. There is also similarity between the three triangles and the circle because they are all black objects. The four shapes join together to form a larger triangular mass. And there is another similarity between the largest triangle and the circle – they are nearly the same size. But, the variety or contrast between the circle and triangles is significant because the eye quickly and abruptly establishes their differences in shape. The eye moves from the circle to the triangles or from the triangles to the circle. Variety creates a simpler, quicker movement from one element to another. As a result, the eye quickly bounces from the triangles to the circle and then moves slower and more gracefully between the three similar triangles. 37 Copyrighted Material


A

Jai Yin Yu

In example (A), the forms are clearly differentiated – the tool, circles, squares, stars, crown and card symbols – to create variety and fast movement. But at the top of the composition, the similarity between the various card symbols slows the eye and creates flow. By making the card symbols slightly smaller in the centre and bigger towards the top, shape gradation and directional movement is created. In addition, the shapes have both straight and curved edges – characteristics they share with elements at the bottom of the composition. The more characteristics that shapes have in common, the stronger their integration. The less characteristics that they share, the more they contrast. Notice, that the tool at the bottom seems separate from the rest of the composition. Not only is it the only tool, it is the only area or shape that has thin white lines. If thin lines (black or white) were used elsewhere, the tool would integrate more readily and the flow would be increased.

So the more you link shapes or areas that are different by making them similar, the more integration or unity you will achieve. Integration brings diverse elements together. Integration creates movement between shapes or areas. The more integration in a composition, the slower and more graceful the flow. And, like line sequence and progression, shape gradation occurs when you make visible, in successive stages, both similarity and variety between shapes. For example, a small black square will connect with a small black heart, a small black heart will connect with a large black heart, and a large black heart will connect with a large black circle. When you combine the slower, back and forth motion of similarity with the faster, more abrupt motion of variety, 38 Copyrighted Material

Line

B

Grace Candido

you have directional movement. This combines both the pathway created by similarity and the faster, more abrupt movement of variety. It is natural for the eye to look for similarities between areas that appear different. In example (B), the largest tool on the left is the composition’s focal point because it has the greatest light to dark contrast and is a recognizable object. From there, the eye continues to look for areas that have similar characteristics, like high contrast or recognizability, for instance. So the eye follows the black and white zigzag lines to the smaller, similar tools. And notice how the angular characteristics of the zigzag pattern integrate with the triangular teeth of the tools. Finally, the eye moves to the curved black and white lines that define the largest tool. These lines relate in width to the thicker, wavy lines in the background. All of these similarities visually connect the various areas of the composition and create integration. These same similarities also create flow. And it is flow that gives the composition a feeling of cohesion. Although different, these elements seem to belong together. Similarity and continuity Just like integration, continuity also creates flow within a composition. Continuity is any direct or obvious connection made between areas or shapes in close proximity. Continuity is when elements share similar traits, such as line weight, line direction or colour, for example. 39 Copyrighted Material


C

Arielle Salkowitz

In example (C), the tapered white lines vary slightly in weight and direction. Even though they are interrupted by the tools, the eye easily re-connects their paths. So the subsequent flow, or overall cohesiveness, is created by continuity. The more similarities, or the stronger the integration, the greater the flow.

Too much similarity However, too much similarity can cause visual boredom. Too much similarity equals too much integration. Think of a brick wall. There is integration between individual bricks, as each is the same size, the same colour and is placed in the same direction. Even the mortar that edges each brick has a consistent line weight, direction and colour. Furthermore, the mortar repeats the same vertical and horizontal movement of the bricks. Without variety or contrast, the movement slows to a complete stop. While a brick wall has plenty of integration and flow, it quickly becomes boring to look at because it has too many visual similarities. Too much variety But as variety moves the eye quickly, too much variety can create visual chaos. The eye sees variety and then, looks for similar characteristics. Without enough visual similarities 40 Copyrighted Material

Line

between elements, the eye hops from one high contrast element to the next, without any reason to go back. Variety without enough similarities implies that the various elements do not relate, do not belong together and are not unified. Without enough unifying similarities, the eye becomes confused and moves quickly off the picture plane. Similarity and low contrast create flow – variety and high contrast create eye movement Both similarity and variety are necessary to control how the viewer’s eye moves to and through a composition. Similarity, or low contrast, creates a slow, graceful movement between like elements or areas. The more similarities, the more integration. And, when there is more similarity or integration between objects, the eye moves more slowly between them

A

Erin Fosbenner

Example (A) illustrates similarity through repetition of shape. The same lower-case ‘e’ with its similar size and orientation is seen throughout the composition. The overall similarity, or low contrast, creates integration and flow. And the overlapping shapes create wobbly white paths that seem to shake and clatter against the black. The greater the similarity, the greater the flow and the slower the movement. But there are also areas of variety or higher contrast. Notice the rectilinear units of smaller ‘e’ shapes. Though they are similar in shape and pattern, their smaller scale and each unit’s straight edges make them different from the rest. This difference, or variety, creates a slightly faster and more abrupt eye movement. Yet the variety and its change in speed are subtle compared to the composition’s overwhelming integration and flow. 41 Copyrighted Material


B

Liz Morrison

In example (B), the hammer in the centre of the composition is quickly identified. The illusion of motion is created by the repetition of the hammer’s outline, and, its downward direction is echoed by the curved lines at the top. Sequence and progression also clarify the hammer’s speed and direction. The movement and noise of the hammer are further accentuated by the triangle-edged star beneath its head. The contrast of the star’s shape coupled with the hammer’s downward movement creates a loud ‘bang’. This noise is heightened due to the elliptical characteristic of the star, which integrates with the bold curved lines at the bottom and moves the eye quickly outward. The areas of variety – the tool, the star and the ellipses around the star – create a fast and aggressive eye movement, while the many similarities – the thickness of lines, repetition of shapes, and continuity of direction – create flow and integration.

and creates unity. I refer to this slow movement between similar elements or objects as ‘flow’. Conversely, variety, or high contrast, creates a fast and abrupt eye movement to diverse and clearly distinguishable elements or objects. The greater the variety and the higher the contrast, the more quickly the eye moves to these elements. And variety is necessary to maintain the viewer’s interest. I refer to this quick and abrupt movement to diverse objects or elements as ‘eye movement’. Therefore, the level of contrast controls how quickly or slowly an element is seen within a composition. The higher the contrast, the faster the eye movement from one element or object to the next. The lower the contrast, the less attention grabbing an object or element is, but the more easily the eye will flow between them. So to successfully control how the eye moves to and through a composition, you need to combine the slow, fluid motion created with similarity and low contrast with the fast, abrupt motion created with variety and high contrast. By balancing these two types of movement, you evoke feeling. 42 Copyrighted Material

Line

Summary of line Lines create visual dynamics – contrast, motion, and noise. By using all three elements of visual dynamics, you will capture the viewer’s attention. Inititally, it is important to maintain a 50-50 light to dark contrast while you experiment with motion and noise. Lines create motion because the eye sees areas with high contrast or variety first and then moves to areas with less contrast or similarity. In other words, it moves from noisy areas to quiet areas. A bold line or simple motion (i.e. a single direction) moves the eye fastest and the loudest. A thin line or complex motion (i.e. two or more directions) moves the eye slowest and the quietest. And line quality – the width, length, direction, straightness or curvature, bluntness or delicateness – also affects contrast, motion and noise. Contrast, or variety, distinguishes one element from another. The greater the contrast, the more clearly one object is distinguished from another. And high contrast attracts the eye quickly; low contrast attracts the eye slowly. Motion is controlled by two elements – similarity and variety. The more variety or high contrast – light to dark, small to large, or thick to thin – between areas or objects, the faster and more abruptly the eye moves. The more similarity or low contrast – repetition or integration – between areas or objects, the slower and more graceful the flow. And, when similarity and variety are combined using sequence, progression or gradation, you create directional motion. Noise is controlled by both contrast and motion. The higher the contrast and the simpler the motion, the louder the noise. The lower the contrast and the more complex the motion, the quieter the noise. Using lines to create visual dynamics moves the viewer’s eye to a composition. Using lines effectively controls the type of contrast (high or low), motion (speed and direction) and noise (loud or soft). Lines clarify how the viewer’s eye moves to and through a composition, and evoke feeling.



Chapter 3 Shape


Allan McCollum The SHAPES Project: 7056 SHAPES, Monoprints, each unique (detail), 2005–06 Framed digital prints 4.25” x 5.5” each Courtesy of Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York © 2010 Allan McCollum Photo: Lamay Photo


SHAPE What is shape?

S

hapes are defined as bounded two-dimensional areas. Shapes act like lines because their direction and contrast affect the movement of the eye over the page. Shapes have an advantage over lines because they are typically larger in size and therefore can potentially have greater contrast (big to small or dark to light). Shapes also garner attention because of our inherent desire to identify them. So both characteristics of shapes – contrast and recognizability – affect how the eye moves to and through a composition. Geometric and organic shapes Shapes are usually divided into two categories – geometric and organic. Geometric shapes are those that have a mechanical, man-made precision, such as a circle, rectangle, square or triangle. Organic shapes are typically found in nature and are irregular, like leaves, flowers, blobs, smudges, squiggly shapes and so forth. Geometric and organic shapes are often categorized as ‘formal shapes’. Formal shapes Formal shapes, like lines, can be used to represent specific objects. For instance, a circle could represent a ball, a wheel, a tunnel or a person’s head. But a formal shape must be seen in context to be identified as a specific object. For example, a black circle by itself will not be seen as a wheel or a ball. It will be seen as a black circle – a perfectly round shape. The eye responds to formal shapes by relating their similar characteristics – how thick or thin, long or short, round or straight-edged they are. Formal shapes maintain flow in a composition by drawing the eye to their similar characteristics.



FORMAL SHAPES

GEOMETRIC ORGANIC

Formal and recognizable shapes The innate desire to identify and name shapes is integral to our survival. Is it friend or foe? Is it something useful or something that threatens? We instinctively look to identify shapes. And because of this, we react to formal shapes differently to how we react to recognizable or nameable shapes. A formal shape does not draw our attention as quickly. Although a formal shape can be named for example as a circle, square, rectangle, blob, drip or squiggle – a recognizable shape can be identified specifically – dog, broom or bicycle, for example. When a shape is clearly distinguishable and nameable, the eye moves to it more quickly. Therefore, recognizable shapes create greater variety or contrast.

A B


Shape

However, the need to identify a recognizable shape quickly makes it difficult for the eye to focus on its formal attributes. For instance, in (A) the viewer quickly identifies the insect, but does not readily see its curvilinear characteristics, as highlighted in example (B). And, when the formal characteristics are diminished, so too is the composition’s overall integration and flow. For example, in (A) the eye quickly identifies ‘wasp’ and then stops. So in order to maintain flow, the formal characteristics of a recognizable shape need to be accentuated. This is achieved by including elements that have similar characteristics. Recognizable shapes – moving the eye fast As I said, recognizable shapes move the eye fast because, firstly, we see images that are quickly understood. For example, big shapes with clear, high contrast boundaries, or shapes that are easily identified attract attention. And shapes that can be specifically named, e.g. not just a ‘circle’ but a ‘wagon wheel’, attract the eye fastest. Also, the ability to recognize shapes affects the order of what is seen first, second, and so on. The most recognizable element is seen first, followed by the next most identifiable and then the next. Or shapes that are coupled with visual dynamics – the largest most recognizable shape, the fastest moving recognizable shape or the noisiest recognizable shape – are seen first. Recognizable shapes are another tool to control how the eye moves to and through a composition. Recognizable shapes: fast versus flow Contrast, motion and noise create two types of movement as the eye moves to and through a composition. There is a fast and abrupt eye movement created through variety, as the eye moves from one high contrast element to the next, and there is a slower, more graceful flow created between elements through similarity or low contrast. To define a composition’s feeling or expressive content clearly, you need to create and control both types of movement. Remember: recognizable shapes create fast eye movement to a composition and move the eye quickly and abruptly from one recognizable element to the next. However, too much variety can create visual chaos. Without enough unifying similarities, the eye becomes confused and stops. Therefore, in order to create a unifying flow between recognizable shapes, you need to accentuate their formal similarities.


Jessica Nicholl


C D

For example, in (C) the recognition of the shapes (the wasps) moves the eye quickly. The eye moves abruptly from one recognizable shape to the next. Composition (D) illustrates speed of recognition balanced with compositional flow. This composition accentuates the wasps’ formal characteristics – the repetition of the thin zigzag lines, the black and white tapered ovals and the angular wings. The artist has created a balance between the amount of eye movement and the amount of flow. Neither example is right or wrong, it simply depends on what type of motion and, subsequently, what type of feeling you want to express. However, example (D) holds the eye longer because the movement is more complex and the feeling is more specific. Also notice in (C) that the recognizable shapes control the order of the viewing process. In this example, the largest identifiable shape (wasp) is seen first, then the next largest, then the next largest, and so on. And the order is also controlled by the direction of the wasps’ wings. So the eye moves fast and abruptly along the curvilinear path from wasp to wasp. While there are many similarities, as the shape is repeated throughout, the formal characteristics are not accentuated, so the flow is reduced. In example (D), the eye slows down because it takes longer to identify the wasp. You immediately sense the frenzied outward movement created by the similarity and variety of the formal shapes. At first your eye sees the overall pattern – the similarities of the ribbon-like shapes radiating from the centre and the variety of sizes and directions. The largest, highest contrasting elements quickly attract your attention, although they are not recognizable shapes. Then your eye moves slowly to the areas with less contrast. Finally, you identify the smaller wasps as your eye moves outward. You first sense the frenzied movement, and then you identify the wasp. This combination defines a complex motion and clarifies feeling.

Flow, eye movement, and the illusion of motion I would like to discuss further the idea of motion. As I have said, motion is created with similarity (flow) and variety (eye movement). Similarity and variety control how the eye moves to and through a composition. By including elements with similar characteristics or by repeating elements within a composition, you are using similarity to create a slower, more fluid movement or flow. Or, by including elements with high contrast, you are using 50 Copyrighted Material

Shape

variety to create a faster, more abrupt eye movement. When elements are different, with little or no similarities, there is more contrast between them. So if you can easily distinguish one element from the next, for example a black bicycle from a grey light bulb, the eye will move quickly from one to the other. Similarity and variety create motion – similarity is slow and variety is fast. I also want to discuss the illusion of motion. By using a repetition of elements you will cause the eye to move slowly along the pathway created by their similarities. And, by using variety with similarity (for example through sequence, progression or gradation), you will cause a faster eye movement to join with a slower flow to create directional movement. In this way, an object can appear to move across a composition, as illustrated in the example with the hammer that we saw on page 42. The hammer appears to swing from left to right and then down, and it even appears to create a loud ‘bang’. In reality, any moving object, such as an arm waving, a leaf falling or a ball bouncing, will capture your attention. And, it is the same for two-dimensional design: the illusion of motion will attract the viewer’s eye. But any type of motion within a composition is important because it affects the visual dynamics. So even though flow and integration may not be as eye-catching as the illusion of motion, they are still vital in moving the eye to and through a composition in order to clarify feeling. In example (A), eye movement has been created by the variety of recognizable or nameable images – the c-clamps, heart shape, semicircles and skull. And flow is achieved by using similar values of light and dark (black, white and grey), similar sized shapes and lines, and repetition of recognizable elements. The eye moves quickly between the recognizable

A

Samantha Mera



or nameable images, but then slows down because of their similiar characteristics. For instance, you may not realize that both the size and the three-colour system of the c-clamps corresponds to the three semicircles seen on both sides and at the top. But all of these similarities integrate the diverse elements, so that they seem to belong together. Yet, in the same composition, the illusion of motion is negligible, as neither an object nor element appears to be in motion. Although there is a dynamic sense of contrast and noise (as the page is divided into a variety of shapes), but there is little motion. Right? The answer is not as straight forward as it appears. In this example, both variety and similarity move the eye to and through the composition. While there is no illusion of motion, the viewer’s eye does move. The immediacy of recognition and the high contrast of light to dark create a fast movement to the artwork. And the balance between variety and similarity keeps the eye moving between the elements. But I want to emphasize that it is not always necessary to create the illusion of motion in order to capture the viewer’s attention. In this example, it is more important to integrate the c-clamps visually with the readability of the skull. So the success of this composition depends on whether the viewer sees the individual parts and the whole simultaneously. Additionally, by stylizing the images – making them simpler and more curvilinear – the artist has emphasized a buoyant, almost happy feeling. By controlling how you move the viewer’s eye to and through a composition, you clarify the visual dynamics and specify feeling. Positive and negative space – figure and ground It is important to discuss how shape affects the visual dynamics on the page. To do this, you must consider the positive and negative space, or the ‘figure and ground’ relationship. Positive space is the shape that is generally dominant – the figure. The negative space surrounds the positive space – the ground. The positive space is seen first, while the negative space is seen as secondary or the background. An effective positive and negative relationship is when the dominant or positive shape integrates with the negative space. With too much variety, the positive shape will draw the viewer’s attention and the negative space will be ignored. This will make the negative space seem inactive or ‘leftover’. So by creating similarities between the positive and negative spaces, you also cause the eye to move between them. In order to create a visually dynamic or active relationship between the positive and negative space, or the figure and ground, you must cause the eye to move between the two.


Shape

A B

In examples (A) and (B), you can clearly identify the key shape, or positive space. The white around the key is the negative space. In (A) the key is nearly centred on the page, and there is little similarity or integration between figure and ground. The two large, roughly triangular white shapes of the negative space – on the bottom left and upper right – have little in common with the thin black key. The eye is quickly drawn to the recognizable key shape but the negative space is inactive because it does not integrate with the positive. However, in (B) the white space is integrated simply by shifting the key off-centre. The white space is no longer an inactive background behind the key. The varying sizes of white that surround the key, or the negative space, start to connect with the thin and thick areas of the key. As the eye responds to the similarities, movement occurs. In (B) there is figure and ground integration because there is movement between the positive and negative space.

Activating positive and negative space There are additional ways to activate visual dynamics with positive and negative space. You can reduce the readability or recognizability of the object (the key), while emphasizing motion and noise. By manipulating shape, as you have done with line, with size change, repetition, sequencing and progression, you alter the composition’s visual dynamics, as well as its positive and negative integration. For instance, in examples (C) and (D) the repetition and overlapping of the shape divides the page into smaller units. The repetition increases the noise by increasing the number of black and white areas. The movement flows as the eye connects the similarities. And, the figure and ground relationship is active, because the similarities between the size, number and direction of the black and white shapes have been accentuated. By infusing a composition with movement and noise, you create visual dynamics and feeling. How do you want the viewer to feel about the key? Is the key heavy and sad? Is it moving playfully? Or, is it moving mechanically, like clockwork? Remember: at this point it is still important to maintain a 50-50 contrast to capture the viewer’s eye. 53 Copyrighted Material


C D

As I have said, a composition’s movement – both eye movement and flow – is affected by a shape’s readability. The ability to recognize a shape creates high contrast and causes the eye to move to it quickly. This characteristic helps to control what is seen first, second, third, and so on, though to maintain a composition’s feeling successfully, you must balance the fast speed of recognition with the integration between the shapes. And slower movement, or flow, depends on your ability to create similarities between shapes. It is flow that joins diverse elements together. By creating and controlling different types of movement, you develop the composition’s feeling.

A B


Shape

Cropping and readability Cropping is one of the most effective techniques for reducing a shape’s readability and activating the relationship between positive and negative space. Cropping enables you to reconfigure the relationship between the element, or elements, and the page. Look at examples (A) and (B), the key is the recognizable shape. In example (B) – the key is enlarged and partially cut off, or cropped, by the picture plane. Another way to crop the key would be to simply shift it left, right, up or down so it appeared partially hidden by the edge of the picture plane. In either situation, the readability of the key is diminished because it is not completely visible. The more that the key is hidden or cropped, the more difficult it is to identify.

C

In example (C), the keys are severely cropped; this effectively reduces their readability, as the eye struggles to identify the shapes. When the readability is reduced, the eye movement slows down. So an image that is severely cropped, has less readability. Also, notice that when the key is cropped, repeated and overlapped, the eye struggles to identify both the black and the white shapes simultaneously. With so many similarities – size, direction and number of shapes – it becomes difficult for the eye to focus on just the black or just the white shapes. So as the readability is diminished, the eye slows down to look for similarities, which creates positive and negative integration and accentuates flow.



Cropping and integration As the readability of a shape is reduced by cropping, the integration within a composition is automatically increased. Cropping forces the eye to move slower as it tries to identify an object or objects. This provides time for the eye to focus on the formal characteristics of a shape. Does it have straight edges or curves? Is it thick or thin? By focusing on the formal attributes, the eye looks for similarities. And similarities create integration. Closed and open compositions The terms ‘closed composition’ and ‘open composition’ both relate to cropping. A closed composition occurs when none of the elements extend beyond the edge of the picture plane. In other words, in a closed composition there is no cropping. An open composition has one or more elements that seem to continue beyond the edge of the picture plane. An open

Tyler Klaus

A

In example (A), notice how cropping has reduced the readability of the skeletal rib cage. The cropping forces the eye to focus on the formal characteristics – the thickness of the lines, the similar crescent shapes, and the progression and stacking of organic shapes in the centre. The cropping makes the black and white spaces equally dynamic and creates integration between the figure and ground. 56 Copyrighted Material

Shape

Annette Griffin

B

Example (B) is an open composition, where the image appears to continue beyond the edge of the picture plane. Cropping makes the composition seem bigger, because the eye wants to complete the part of the image that is not visible.

composition has at least one shape that has been cropped. A closed composition limits the eye movement to within the picture plane. An open composition allows the eye to move outward beyond the picture plane. So in a closed composition, you accentuate the static quality of a design. In an open composition, the design feels expansive by alluding to areas outside the picture plane. Summary of shape With shape you can create the same visual dynamics as you did with line. But with shape there is an increased speed of readability. You must be careful, because the eye vigorously seeks to identify shapes and this can stop the flow or movement between elements. If there is not enough similarity or integration, the eye will stop at the nameable shape. Cropping is an effective tool both to reduce a shape’s readability and increase integration between positive and negative space. By considering both the fast eye movement caused by a shape’s readability and the slower flow created by integration, you can control how the viewer’s eye moves to and through a composition. And, by controlling both the speed and direction of eye movement, you effectively clarify a composition’s feeling. 57 Copyrighted Material


Line and shape and feeling Now, I would like to discuss a selection of drawings by several world renowned artists that illustrate how line and shape coupled with visual dynamics evoke feeling. Let’s look at Pablo Picasso’s seventh pencil study for Guernica. This drawing has a nearly 50-50 light to dark contrast within an open composition. There is a quick zigzag movement as your eye connects areas of high contrast, rectilinear forms, and recognizable shapes – the figures, horses and bull. Picasso has stylized or simplified the imagery by accentuating certain characteristics of the figures and the animals – their eyes, noses, mouths, and the bull’s horns – so that the viewer quickly identifies these shapes. He has also used similarity between areas of high contrast to create flow – the repetition of lines and shapes, and the rhythmic dispersal of light and dark areas. Notice, for instance, the repetition of similarly sized curved shapes – the horse’s neck, the bull’s neck and the wagon wheel. By integrating eye movement in a zigzag direction (shapes of high contrast) with flow (due to similarity of formal characteristics), Picasso has emphasized a fast and chaotic feeling; yet, it has a sense of unity. And the dark to light, fast to slow cadence creates a ‘boom’ and a ‘clatter’ throughout.

Pablo Picasso Estudio de Composición para Guernica VII, 1937 Pencil on paper 9.4” x 17.8” Collection Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid © 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Photo: Archivo Fotográfico Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid


Shape

The eye movement and flow are further integrated by the consistent angularity of the shapes and their awkward, almost childlike rendering. The line quality (the way that the marks are made) is fast and spontaneous, confident and brutal. The marks, combined with the overall movement, are aggressive, as they seem to explode across the page. The subject matter – the broken figures and animals, even the jagged buildings – reflect the drawing’s pain and turmoil. Equally important is the relationship between the positive and negative space. The figure and ground relationships are well integrated using similarity of movement and line quality, and repetition of shapes. This is a visually dynamic composition that incorporates contrast, motion and noise, and uses every visual element to reinforce its fast and chaotic movement. Is there a reason why Picasso chose to render the images so crudely and simply? Picasso certainly had the skill to draw this subject realistically. So why didn’t he? If he had rendered it realistically, the eye would pause to analyse specific details. Do I recognize him or her? How did they die? Where and when did this occur? And, if the eye lingered in order to answer these questions, the overall movement would be slow, causing the intense feelings of violence and aggression to dissipate. And if the motion was slow, the drawing would become melancholic and sad. Picasso wanted the viewer to see the images quickly, in order to clarify feeling. So he accentuated both the speed and direction of movement by simplifying the figures, using bold and blunt mark-making, incorporating an overall 50-50 light to dark contrast and repeating the angular shapes throughout. Picasso not only depicted an image of violence and destruction, he conveyed an urgent, almost angry feeling to engage the viewer emotionally. Reinvestigating 50-50 contrast Like Picasso, all artists need to understand visual dynamics in order to create it. The first step is to learn how to capture the viewer’s attention by including all three elements – contrast, motion and noise. As I have said, a 50-50 overall contrast of light to dark ensures that you attract the viewer’s eye. But once you learn to capture the viewer’s attention and begin to clarify feeling, you might decide to incorporate other, more subtle ways of moving the eye, so that eventually you can adjust a composition’s overall contrast to control how visually demanding you want it to be. While it is true that a composition with a less than 50-50 light to dark contrast might not command the viewer’s attention, it may be necessary in order to clarify the desired feeling. And, just as you have used visual dynamics to control motion and noise to clarify feeling, the overall contrast must also be used in the same way. Ultimately, it is the clarity of feeling, as evident in Picasso’s seventh drawing for Guernica, that holds the viewer’s attention. 59 Copyrighted Material


Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres Madame Frederic Reiset and her daughter Theres Hortense Marie, 1844 Pencil and white chalk 12.13”x 9.65” Loan of Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, 1940 Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

Let’s look at two more examples. One is by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres – a pencil and chalk study of Madame Reiset and her daughter. The drawing has an overall contrast that is less than 50-50 light to dark. Predominantly light, the contrast does not demand your attention; instead, it conveys a calmer, more tender quality. At first the eye focuses on the areas with high recognition and high contrast – their faces and the mother’s torso. You notice the intimate embrace of the figures and their gaze – it is not at each other but calmly and directly outward towards the viewer. And then the eye follows the delicate, mostly vertical lines downward to a wider area with less contrast located towards the bottom of the composition. Ingres skillfully renders the contours of the figures and the folds of their garments with quick and precise mark-making. His repetition of lines throughout creates 60 Copyrighted Material

Shape

flow between both high contrast and low contrast areas. And, by slowly and methodically building up the lights and darks of the figures’ faces, Ingres creates a subtle difference, or contrast, of line quality. This contrast further directs attention towards their faces and quiet gaze. The noise, though louder in the areas of high contrast, never reaches above a rustle and then softens to a trickle as it moves down the picture plane. Ingres has used the elements of visual dynamics – a less than 50-50 contrast, repetition of precise and delicate marks, and quiet noise – to move the eye slowly to and through the drawing. And, even though the isolation of the figures against an empty background limits the movement and integration between them, it does quicken the readability of the imagery. Notice that Ingres has shifted the figures slightly off-centre to coax a subtle relationship between the positive and negative space, but the lack of overall flow between foreground and background limits the range of motion. Ingres has created a captivating composition by purposefully using low contrast, little motion and subtle noise. The elements of visual dynamics accentuate the stoic gaze and the static, yet slightly relaxed posture of the figures. And Ingres has emphasized their solemn stillness by reducing figure and ground integration. He has imparted a graceful and incisive touch to this tender, yet posed portrait of mother and child. While it is true that Ingres does not demand our attention with high contrast or an abundance of motion or noise, he holds our interest with clarity of feeling. It is interesting to note that Ingres elongates the child’s upper arm as it drapes across the mother’s waist. This stylization accentuates the slow and fluid motion of the eye down the page. The last example is a pen and ink study by Vincent van Gogh. In this drawing, van Gogh has used line in an aggressive manner, more like Picasso’s mark-making than Ingres’s. Here the overall contrast of light to dark is close to 50-50 and the mark-making is confident and quick. Van Gogh has used repetitive lines to distinguish the separate areas of the landscape and to create varying dynamics within each. For example, to define the river – the crescent shape in the centre of the composition – he has used longer, bold lines bundled into sections. The sections, placed side by side like patchwork, swing down and towards the right. The marks in the river have high contrast (light to dark) and a simple motion that produces a greater speed and louder noise. The riverbank and areas further left have shorter, choppier marks. Although the riverbank has less contrast and less of a clearly defined direction, it remains active, with repeated buoyant marks. It seems to sparkle like a meadow dappled with sunlight. And notice on the right, that there are controlled contour lines that define the piers and washerwomen. The movement is staccato and sweeps outward like a fan. At the top of the composition, there is a recognizable skyline, a village and a bridge that traverses the river. It is interesting that the area with the highest light to dark contrast occurs in the water, where there is a reflection of the tall chimney-like structure. This is the only instance where van Gogh has used line to create shadow. So this area with a high light to dark contrast draws the eye quickly to the river and integrates the middle ground (the river and its implied 61 Copyrighted Material


VISUAL DYNAMICS WITH LINE AND SHAPE Now, with line and shape, you have the ability to define the amount of contrast, the speed and direction of movement and the type of noise. You can use recognition of shape to speed up the viewer’s eye movement, as well as using line and shape to control the order of viewing. And you can specify the order in which elements are seen by manipulating a shape’s readability. With line and shape you can maintain a composition’s integration and flow by accentuating its formal attributes. As you control eye movement and flow, you clarify feeling.

Vincent van Gogh The Washerwomen, 1888 Ink on paper 12.5” x 9.5” Collection Rijksmuseum Kroeller-Mueller, Otterlo, The Netherlands Photo: Foto Marburg / Art Resource, New York

motion) and the background (the town and distinctly readable skyline). Additionally, van Gogh has used line to activate the sky with short, light, sporadic strokes. Van Gogh has created an exuberant, open composition, teeming with energy, motion and noise. Yet it doesn’t seem to be completely spontaneous, as he has methodically separated areas with various marks to define the motion of each. All of the areas are touched differently and move separately, yet through integration of line quality, they join together. As they simultaneously separate and join, the eye continues to move through the composition. You almost feel the drawing pulse and release as your eye bounces from areas with defined motion to areas with high readability. Van Gogh has made the river flow, the meadow sparkle, and the skyline gleam. Van Gogh has made you feel the composition before you can clearly understand what he is depicting. Why did van Gogh need to include the clouds and the series of short lines radiating from the sun? If the sky was empty it would create too much contrast. The eye would move there too quickly and then, without enough similarity, the sky would separate from the rest of the composition. Van Gogh needed the similarity of mark-making and its inherent sense of motion and noise to create integration.


Chapter 4 Value and Depth


Gerhard Richter Swiss Alps II, 1969 Five screenprints on lightweight cardboard 27.3” x 27.3” © Gerhard Richter 2010 Photo: Dr. Cantz’sche Druckerei GmbH & Co. KG


value and depth What is value?

A

lthough I have explained lines and how they relate to visual dynamics, lines do not really exist in nature. In reality, there are only shapes. Lines are a graphic device, often used to separate one shape from the next. Lines are, in fact, a quick and efficient way for artists to develop contrast, motion and noise on a page. In real life, shapes are not bound by lines. Rather, each shape is defined by the shape that is next to it. For instance, if you look at a light fixture you will see that there are no lines edging it. Instead, the shape of the light fixture is defined by the light or dark of the space around it. Try squinting your eyes or taking them out of focus. Look around. When you lose details, you see value relationships more easily. ‘Value’ is the relationship of light to dark. Think of a black and white photograph – it is created using greys, white and black. A black and white photograph is a value study. The relationships of light to dark occur anywhere there is light. And colour is dependent on value as well. A colour photograph can be made into a black and white one, because the value relationships remain the same. As I mentioned before, similarity and low contrast create integration between diverse elements. And, with a range of values, you can create greater similarity and lower contrast between white and a light grey, between a light grey and a middle grey, or even a dark grey and black. The more similarities there are between elements or areas – the more integrated they are and the slower the motion and softer the noise. And, by using a progression of values from white to light grey to darker grey, and black you will cause the eye to move slowly and gradually between the two extremes, or between the white and the black. An image with a full value range is one that has many subtle gradations from light to dark, or from white to black. In example (A), the watercolour captures the relationship of light to dark, or value. Notice that there are no lines that define the edge of the bulb. The lighter value of the bulb is simply surrounded by the darker value of the negative space. This is similar to the way objects are perceived in reality.

A



Look at example (B) and squint your eyes. Notice the areas of different values (white, light greys, middle greys, and black). The values are created by building up lines. Here lines have been used to create values, activate the space, direct eye movement and create noise.

B

Kristin Koefoed

Lines can also be used to create value gradations, or a wide range of values, from dark to light. Look at George Washington’s portrait on the US dollar bill. The lights and darks of his face are created using etched lines. More lines equal darker values; fewer lines equal lighter values. Because the lines are so small, the eye blends the dark lines with the white spaces to produce grey. Squint your eyes and you will clearly see the value relationships.

Value relationships are another tool to control how the eye moves through a composition. Subtle shifts in value, or low contrast create a slower, more fluid flow. Or, abrupt shifts in value, or high contrast create a faster, more abrupt eye movement. And, value not only allows you greater control over the movement through a composition, value also helps to create the illusion of depth.

Allison Crow C

D


Megan Talley

Value and Depth

In example (C), the overall range of value is not extreme. There is light grey, middle grey, and dark grey, but no black or white. The value relationships are subtle, so it takes the eye longer to perceive the differences. The similarity of values slows the eye and creates a quiet composition. Example (D) illustrates an extreme value range, with areas that exhibit abrupt contrasts. The three white eggs against the dark background create the highest contrast. The c-clamp – made of light, middle and dark greys – has less value contrast against the same dark background. Therefore, the emphasis is on the eggs, because of their higher value contrast. The eye moves to these areas quickly and creates a loud burst.

What is depth? Up to this point I have focused on how to create eye movement across a page. Now, I want to discuss how to move the eye into and out of a composition. This type of movement is created using the illusion of depth. By adding another direction – the illusion whereby objects appear to recede in space – creates complex motion. And the complex motion of depth slows the eye even more. The elements of depth Depth is created by establishing the order of spatial relationships. In a two-dimensional plane, depth is the illusion that some objects appear in front, or closer to the viewer, and some objects appear behind, or further away. The elements that allow us to perceive depth and create the illusion of depth two-dimensionally are size relationships, overlapping, linear perspective and atmospheric perspective. Keep in mind that the illusion of depth is more pronounced when you combine elements that create spatial relationships with those that control eye movement and flow – contrast, motion and noise. For example, the illusion of depth is greater when the object that appears closest to the viewer is also the most dynamic, the next closest object is the second most dynamic, and so forth. Through this method you simultaneously create spatial relationships and direct eye movement from front to back, or near to far. Size relationships Size relationships or changes in scale, cause the largest shape in a composition to appear to be the closest. A large, easily differentiated shape will attract the eye quickly. So a smaller shape will appear to be behind the large shape and further away. But a smaller, yet similar shape will not only appear to be further away, it will also intensify the spatial relationship because there will be integration between the two shapes. For example, if you draw an elephant and 67 Copyrighted Material


then draw a second, smaller elephant next to it, the spatial relationship will be accentuated because the eye will connect the two shapes through similarity and flow, and then look for differences. This comparison will create a more pronounced illusion of depth. Overlapping Overlapping is where one shape partially covers another shape, so that the shape that is fully visible appears in front, while the shape that is not completely visible appears further back. This creates spatial order. In addition, the shape that appears in front limits the information available on the shape that appears behind it, reducing its readabilty. The less recognizable the shape, the slower the eye moves towards it and this in effect, pushes it back and further away. And, when you incorporate both a change in scale and overlapping, the spatial relationship becomes even more pronounced because there are two elements of depth to confirm the order – front to back, or near to far.

A

B

Kacie Manzo

Anthony Krajci

Both scale change and overlapping clarify spatial order – front to back, or near to far. When two or more elements of depth are used simultaneously, the spatial order becomes more pronounced. In example (A), size change and overlapping bring the large tool forward and push the two smaller tools into the distance. In example (B), overlapping elements indicate spatial order. But since the smaller mushroom overlaps the larger mushroom, the sense of depth is less pronounced.


Value and Depth

Linear perspective Linear perspective is a visual system used to create the illusion that three-dimensional objects exist within a two-dimensional plane. Linear perspective occurs when parallel lines or an object’s parallel sides appear to recede in space. So perspective lines visually convey scale within a two-dimensional composition. In reality, our sense of depth is enhanced by the fact that we live in an environment filled with geometrically defined objects and spaces – from our chairs and desks to our rooms, buildings and streets. With so many objects that have parallel sides, our eyes compare the consistency in which they recede in order to compare differences in size and distance. We relate these differences in order to perceive spatial relationships. There are primarily four categories of linear perspective that help us to decipher and render spatial relationships – one-point, two-point, three-point and multipoint perspective.

A

B

C

D



A) ONE-POINT PERSPECTIVE In one-point perspective, the two lines that indicate the two parallel sides of a twodimensional form (a road, for instance) recede to a single vanishing point on the horizon line. The single vanishing point occurs at the top of example (A). B) TWO-POINT PERSPECTIVE A two-point perspective is used to illustrate a cube or a building, for instance. In two-point perspective, the two pairs of lines that indicate the two parallel sides – the width and the length, each recede to their own vanishing point on the horizon line. The two vanishing points in example (B) occur beyond the picture plane. C) THREE-POINT PERSPECTIVE Three-point perspective is similar to two-point perspective, but the cube or building is seen from a dramatically skewed angle – from above or below as shown in example (C). The parallel sides – the length and width – behave as described in two-point perspective; however, the vertical lines that represent the four corners, appear tapered or foreshortened. And, instead of receding to a point on the horizon line, they converge on a point in the sky (the zenith). D) MULTI-POINT PERSPECTIVE Multi-point perspective is used to illustrate multiple three-dimensional rectilinear forms that are not parallel to each other. In multi-point perspective, the two pairs of lines that indicate each form’s parallel sides – the width and the length – recede to different, or multiple, vanishing points. Admittedly, I have only briefly outlined the elements of linear perspective in order to describe what causes us to perceive depth. Even if you do not fully understand how to create these forms on the picture plane, in reality, you have combined linear perspective with the other elements of depth to orient yourself within a three-dimensional space. For example, if you stand in a room with a tiled floor you will be able to approximate the size of each tile as compared to the size of your foot. Next count the number of tiles from wall to wall. You can now estimate how far you are away from each wall. You can then compare how big objects are in the room and how far away. So by comparing change in scale, overlapping and linear perspective, you can infer spatial relationships. In fact, you have inferred spatial relationships your entire life in order to navigate space. You perceive these relationships subconsciously. For instance, as you walk into a classroom, you perceive your size in relation to a school desk, how many desks there are in a row and how close the desks are to each other, as indicated by their overlapping. The ability to instinctively perceive these relationships is why you don’t constantly bump into things as you walk through a room.


Value and Depth

Atmospheric perspective Atmospheric perspective is the effect that air, fog and even smog have on our ability to view objects over long distances. Atmospheric filtering is caused by tiny particles of dust or water droplets that float in the air. There are less particles between us and objects that are near us, so these objects appear clear and in focus. In contrast there are more particles between us and objects that are far away, so these objects appear blurry or out of focus. This effect is similar to our inability to focus both near and far simultaneously. When you focus on objects near to you, the background becomes blurry. When you focus on objects that are far away, the objects in the foreground become blurry. So, when some objects are in focus and some are out of focus, your eyes perceive spatial difference, or depth.

A

A camera lens has the same clear to blurry focal limitation as our eyes. However, under the right lighting conditions a camera can be set to focus near and far simultaneously. In a photograph, you can increase the illusion of depth by maintaining the clear to blurry distinction or flatten the illusion of depth by having both near and far in focus.

Additionally, atmospheric perspective evokes depth with value contrast. When you look into the distance, notice that the contrast of light to dark is greater when an object is closer. The contrast lessens when an object is further away. In example (A), look at one of the buildings in the foreground; the areas in sunlight appear as a light value and the areas in shade as a dark value. The difference between these two areas creates high value contrast. Now look at a building in the background; both the areas in sunlight and those in shade appear greyer. The difference between these two areas creates low value contrast. The buildings that are 71 Copyrighted Material


closer to you have high value contrast and the buildings that are further away have lower value contrast. It is the atmospheric filtering that creates this effect. When dust particles or water droplets diminish the clarity of objects in the distance, they also diminish the contrast between light and dark. How this works Objects that are in focus are most often in close proximity. This is so common that clarity is often associated with proximity. An object that is in focus and has a high value contrast appears closer and is seen first. Remember that the eye moves quickly to high contrast or clearly distinguishable objects or elements. An object that is out of focus and has less value contrast appears further away. The eye moves slowly towards low contrast and less distinguishable objects or elements. So atmospheric perspective affects spatial order and controls how the eye moves through a composition. In example (B), compare the difference between the areas with high value contrast and those areas with low value contrast. The areas with the greatest value contrast (black next to white) appear closer to you and are seen first. The areas with less value contrast (grey next to grey) appear further away and are seen after the areas with high contrast. Even without linear perspective, significant overlapping or change in scale, value contrast creates depth.

B

Imagine if you simultaneously used all of the elements that create depth – change in scale, overlapping, linear perspective, and atmospheric perspective. You would have a twodimensional image with a very convincing illusion of depth. And, by combining all of these techniques, you would also control the order that the objects are seen – near to far, or front to back. Even if you only used two elements of depth, scale change and overlapping, you 72 Copyrighted Material

Value and Depth

Diane Arbus Child with a Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C., 1962 Gelatin silver print Image: 39.5 x 38.3 cm (15.56” x 15.06”) Sheet: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20” x 16 “) Purchase, Jennifer and Joseph Duke Gift, 2001 (2001.474) Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, U.S.A. © 1966 The Estate of Diane Arbus LLC

In Diane Arbus’s photograph, Child with a Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C., the areas with the highest value contrast include the boy’s dark shorts and white and black patterned shirt (in the foreground); the dark tree trunk against the lighter, less contrasting trees in the distance (in the middle ground); and the woman in the dark dress walking in bright sunlight (in the background). The boy and the tree appear closest to the viewer because of their high contrast, clarity of focus, change of scale and overlapping, while the blurry areas in the middle ground and background with low value contrast recede further into the distance. Also notice how value contrast affects eye movement through the composition. First you see the boy, then the big tree behind him and finally the woman in the dark dress. So high value contrast draws the eye quickly to the boy, the tree trunk and the woman. And overlapping, atmospheric perspective and change in scale accentuate the spatial order. Together, eye movement and spatial order effectively create the illusion of depth.

would still develop a sense of depth however, without enough visual cues, the order of near to far may not be as clear. The more elements that you use to relate objects spatially, the clearer their order and the more pronounced the sense of depth. In example (A), the illusion of depth is created by scale change, overlapping and linear perspective. Yet the order of objects, near to far, is not completely defined. For example, it is not clear whether the two rectilinear forms at the back of the composition are the same distance from the viewer, or if one is closer. Example (B) has a more convincing illusion of depth because it provides an additional element – atmospheric perspective, or value contrast – to define the spatial order. Now 73 Copyrighted Material


A B

C

notice in this example, that the furthest rectilinear form has the least value contrast against the black background. It is the most difficult object to distinguish, so the eye moves to it more slowly, making it appear furthest away. When there are more visual cues to define the spatial order, the illusion of depth is more pronounced.


Value and Depth

Depth to move the eye What if you use all the elements of depth, but skew the relationship of value contrast? What if, for instance, an object with higher value contrast is overlapped by one with lower value contrast? In example (C), the spatial order is no longer in sync and the sense of depth is less clear. Normally, an object with lower contrast recedes and an object with higher contrast comes forward. In this example, the overlapping of the two objects indicates the opposite. The eye is drawn to the two objects because their equivocal spatial relationship differs from the clear spatial order of the other objects. In reality, this skewed feeling occurs frequently. Imagine looking across a meadow in which the area closest to you is in shade because a passing cloud is casting a shadow and creating an area of low value contrast. Imagine also that an area of the meadow that is further away is in direct sunlight, producing high value contrast. The area of the meadow further away from you quickly attracts your attention with its high value contrast. So now you see

In Ansel Adam’s photograph Moon and Half Dome, the eye moves quickly past the foreground and focuses on the distant mountain. At first the mountain in the distance seems to come forward, because of its high value contrast. When an element in the distance is seen first, the picture plane appears to flatten.

Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, 1960 Photograph by Ansel Adams Gelatin silver print 12.19” x 9.37” © 2010 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust Collection Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona



Example (D) has the same elements used in the previous illustrations. Here, while spatial order clearly indicates an illusion of depth, the eye movement through the composition has been altered. The rectilinear form at the back remains in the distance, but now the eye moves quickly to it because it appears to be in motion. Depth is still perceived, although it is no longer as pronounced. By moving the eye quickly to an object in the background, the distant object comes forward and, in effect, flattens out the composition.

D

it first. This in effect brings the area further away forward, or closer to you. You know that the cloud does not really change the space that you are in, it only changes your perception of it. When an element in the background seems to come forward, the illusion of depth is compromised, and the landscape appears to flatten. As I have said, the illusion of depth is clearer and more pronounced when you combine all of the elements that create spatial relationships with those that control eye movement and flow – contrast, motion and noise. In doing this, you ensure that the shape that appears to be the closest is seen quickly. It is seen first. The shape behind it is seen less quickly, or second, and the shape behind that is seen even less quickly, or third, and so on. There is a benefit to synchronizing both spatial order and eye movement – it creates a captivating illusion of depth that methodically moves the eye into a composition from front to back. Yet, an artist can decide to manipulate the spatial order of objects or change how the eye moves through a composition – in and out, back to front, or fast to slow. By controlling the elements that create spatial order – the elements of depth and those that control visual dynamics, i.e. contrast, motion and noise – you create numerous ways for the eye to move through a composition. As the previous examples illustrate, you can create an illusion of deep space while simultaneously moving the eye quickly to an object in the background using high value contrast. The viewer will understand the illusion of depth, but by moving the eye quickly to the background you in effect bring the distant object forward and flatten the composition.


Value and Depth

A

Michelle Kilmer

In the digitally altered photograph (A), the train is a light value, almost white, against the dark greys of the foreground and sky. The train’s overall high contrast – being a recognizable object and light against its dark surroundings – quickly draws the viewer’s attention, while areas of low value contrast – the triangular shapes in the foreground and the sky – move the eye slower and appear to recede. So as the eye moves quickly towards the high contrast of the middle ground, it simultaneously lessens the illusion of depth. Additionally, the sky, with its variety and repetition of shapes, creates both motion and noise. This also attracts the viewer’s attention. So the elements of visual dynamics – contrast, motion and noise – direct the eye quickly to the train in the middle ground and then to the sky in the background. While the spatial order has been established using scale change, overlapping and linear perspective, the eye movement has compromised the illusion of depth. So the sensation that the train (or the middle ground) and the sky (or background) come quickly forwards, ultimately flattens the composition. Moving the eye through depth Why would you want to manipulate the illusion of depth? Why create depth only to alter the spatial order with eye movement? Imagine that you are directing a movie that takes place in and around a large apartment building. In order to give the viewer a sense of scale, you pull back the frame to include the entire building. By pulling back, you also include other elements that surround the building and which indicate depth. In this shot you capture both scale change and overlapping 77 Copyrighted Material


elements. In pulling back, you are also able to capture high value contrast in the foreground, low contrast in the distance, the linear perspective of the building, and the street in front. Now you have a slow moving, deep space, because it takes longer to perceive all of the various elements of depth. Next you want the viewer to focus on a specific window, located in the middle ground, where the main character lives. To direct the viewer’s eye to this window and, in effect, bring this area forward, you could use interior lighting to create intense highlights and dark shadows, or high value contrast. You could emphasize its motion as the drapes flutter in the breeze. Or, you could increase the noise literally, by playing loud music from inside the apartment, and visually, by using drapes decorated with a bold, high contrast pattern. By showing the entire apartment building and then a specific window, you have created two effects simultaneously. The viewer will visually experience the overall deep space that is slow and complex, and will then see the window that is fast, loud and simple. By manipulating the viewer’s eye in various ways, you direct how the visual information is experienced. First the viewer gets a sense of where the story takes place. Then they quickly move to the window where the action begins. So both the speed and the direction of motion clarify feeling. For example, if the eye moves slowly through the illusion of depth, and then moves fast and abruptly toward the window, a tense, urgent feeling will be established. If, on the other hand, the eye moves slowly through deep space and then continues to move slowly towards the window, the feeling will be more melancholic. Value, depth and visual dynamics Visual dynamics captures the viewer’s attention by controlling the amount of contrast, the speed and direction of eye movement, and the type of noise, to create feeling. Visual dynamics enables you to move the eye to and through a composition and, with the addition of value and depth, you can effectively move the eye into and out of a composition. Remember that motion is controlled in two ways – through variety and similarity. Variety moves the eye fast and abruptly from one element to the next using recognizable shapes, high to low contrast, loud to soft noise, and clearly distinguishable spatial relationships such as near to far. Similarity moves the eye slowly and more fluidly between like elements using integration and flow. Knowing the type of movement or feeling you want is essential. By using a range of values, you clarify the speed and direction of eye movement. And value, when combined with the elements of depth, clarifies spatial relationships. For example, you can abruptly move the eye into and out of a composition from near to far to near. Or, you can move the eye slowly into a composition by creating the illusion of deep space. If you know the feeling that you want to create, you can add value and depth to visual dynamics – contrast, motion and noise – to create a space that clarifies a specific feeling. At this point you understand how to create movement across and into a composition. But what are the advantages of depicting deep space, and how does it affect the visual dynamics of the composition? 78 Copyrighted Material

Value and Depth

Depth to slow the eye While line and shape effectively move the eye across the composition, depth with value contrast controls the movement into and out of a composition. The addition of this new direction – into and out of a composition – creates complex motion. This complexity takes time for the viewer to comprehend fully. It takes the eye longer to relate all of these elements – size change, overlapping, value contrast and linear perspective – to each other in order to perceive spatial relationships. And the time that it takes to understand the spatial order creates a slower composition and changes its feeling. The illusion of depth creates a space in which the viewer can visually dwell. Throughout history, painters have sought to create the illusion of deep pictorial space. Paintings that sustain the eye longer, might teach a lesson of morality as in a religious painting. Or, a portrait painting that couples the figure with their environment might illustrate a more complete understanding of an individual’s character or evoke a more subtle feeling than one with a flattened or empty background. For instance, a painting that includes additional objects that indicate the subject’s trade, hobbies or material wealth would document the subject’s interests or social standing. Or consider the Mona Lisa (page 96) by Leonardo da Vinci. The illusion of deep space in this painting slows the eye and evokes a sense of melancholy. And, by using similarity of shape, value and colour between figure and landscape, da Vinci effectively integrates the calm, slow feeling of the background with the subject of the painting. In this way, da Vinci imbues the figure with a calm, quiet sense of melancholy.

Diego Rodriguez Velázquez The Surrender of Breda, June 2, 1625, 1634-35 Oil on canvas 120.9” x 144.5” Collection Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain Photo: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY



The depiction of deep space often entices the viewer to take more time to admire and learn. For example, Diego Velazquez’s painting The Surrender of Breda, 2 June, 1625, depicts a group of men gathered in front of an expansive vista. The viewer is captivated by the amount of visual information – from the details of the two figures in the centre of the composition to the changes in scale and numerous overlapping elements that recede into the background. The more time the viewer spends looking at the painting, the more they are able to admire the artist’s skill but also to piece together the narrative in order to understand the significance of the depicted scene. If a longer viewing time is desirable, why are these techniques not always used? As I have said, it all depends on the kind of movement and type of feeling the artist wants to evoke; but just as importantly, it depends on the circumstances in which their work will be viewed. Imagine a billboard alongside a highway. The viewer would likely be travelling at an average speed of 55 miles per hour. The motorist would see this sign for about five to ten seconds, depending on the weather and traffic conditions. Now because deep space takes longer to analyse, it would not be advisable to use it in this situation. A sign with slow movement or deep space would not effectively deliver its message given the short time frame. The motorist would not be able to take it all in. In this situation, an effective design would have a flattened space in which words and images could be identified quickly. The eye movement must be fast and simple in order to be understood in the allotted time. So it is important to consider the type of feeling that you want to evoke, and also the circumstances in which a design or composition will be viewed. Depth re-ordered: surreal space With depth come endless variations of movement as the eye moves across, into and out of a composition. You can create a well defined illusion of depth or purposefully alter the spatial order. This skewing of depth often creates a dream-like or surreal space. With a surreal space, the artist uses the elements of depth to create an alternative reality – a reality that seems visually plausible, but may not be physically possible. Surreal space usually requires a longer time to view because the eye struggles to resolve the physical or spatial incongruities. In example (A), the illusion of depth has been skewed. Notice the small figures in the foreground and the large piano keys. The figures appear to be walking across the top of the keys. Are the figures tiny or are the piano keys huge? Also, notice how the keys in the foreground are out of focus. This equivocates the keys’ spatial relationship to the figures because their blurriness could be caused either by being too close or too far away. However, the deep space in the back right provides a scale comparison for the figures. Now the figures seem to be in correct proportion to the distant mountains and sky. This composition has all the elements used to depict depth, yet it does not make sense – human beings are larger than 80 Copyrighted Material

Value and Depth

A

Tyler Held

piano keys. This sense of incongruity is heightened by the motion and noise coming from the top left. This area relates spatially to the figures – its high value contrast, circular motion and thunderous noise attract your attention causing this area to come forward. However, the marching figures are not disturbed by the avalanche of shapes. The eye never sufficiently resolves the spatial order. So the spatial ambiguity creates a dream-like or surreal space. Summary of value and depth When you use a wide range of values, you can fine-tune a composition’s contrast, motion and noise. Subtle shifts in value, or low contrast, slow the eye and soften the noise. And value, along with the elements of depth – size change, overlapping, linear perspective and atmospheric perspective – affects spatial order. The illusion of depth is more defined and more pronounced when you combine the elements that create spatial relationships with those that control eye movement and flow – contrast, motion and noise. For example, by making the closest object in the foreground also the most dynamic and an object in the middle ground the second most dynamic, and so forth, you have created both spatial relationships and directional movement – from front to back and from near to far. Combining the elements of depth with visual dynamics creates a well defined illusion of depth. Or conversely, you can 81 Copyrighted Material


skew the illusion of depth by quickly moving the viewer’s eye to an object in the background with high contrast, for instance. By purposefully altering how the viewer’s eye moves through space with visual dynamics, you can create a faster composition that appears to flatten out. So value and depth provide greater control over both the speed and the direction of eye movement through a composition, which enables you to clarify feeling. Visual dynamics in photography Now that you have a better understanding of value and depth, I want to discuss photography. Traditionally, photography is a medium in which the artist captures an image, as opposed to building one from scratch. Usually, the photographer does not add line and shape as would a painter, graphic designer or draftsman – though today, with computer programs and other technological advances, the ability to manipulate an image digitally is much more common. Before we look at how photographs can be digitally edited, let’s talk about traditional photography and ‘in camera’ editing. It is often difficult for students to extrapolate the principles of two-dimensional design as they relate to photography because of the medium’s inherent ‘point and click’ nature. How does a photographer create visual dynamics from what is given? Remember: visual dynamics exists in the world around us. There are landscapes and scenes with predominantly low value contrast that move the eye slowly, and there are landscapes and scenes with high value contrast that move the eye quickly and abruptly, in and out of deep space. As I said in my initial analogy of getting off the island, we are predisposed to look for contrast, motion and noise. But to clarify a composition’s feeling, a photographer must develop and hone these instincts in order to process visual information quickly and accurately. In other words, a photographer must recognize contrast, motion and noise, and understand immediately when these relationships yield the desired feeling. Let’s analyse a photograph by Henri CartierBresson – a photographer famous for capturing Henri Cartier-Bresson dynamic moments in everyday life. In Gare Saint Gare Saint Lazare, Paris, 1932 print Lazare, Paris, a man briskly steps across a large Silver 14.25” x 9.625” pool of water. The image is cropped tight to the © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos 82 Copyrighted Material

Value and Depth

right of the figure, creating a sense of anticipation, as the man is stepping towards an area beyond our view. While the prevailing morning light reduces the overall contrast, it also accentuates the image’s exhilarating mood. So first the eye moves to the area with the highest contrast – the striding figure and his reflection, a dark silhouette against a light value. It is both the readability of the shapes and their placement, dark against light, that gives them the most contrast. Of similar value contrast are the curvilinear forms in the foreground, the horizontal ladder, and the reflection of the fence – all dark elements against the lighter value of the water. The area with the lowest value contrast is in the background and includes the buildings, the smaller figure, and the fence. This area, which comprises middle greys, slows the eye movement and softens the noise, so that it recedes into the distance. In addition to contrast, the motion of the blurred, striding figure also draws the eye. This direction, from left to right, is accentuated by the repetition of the reflected lines of the fence and the lines of the partially submerged ladder. Though the curved lines of the foreground create variety, they too, echo the same left to right movement of the figure. And, their curves and line weight also integrate them with the ripples that surround the ladder. Additionally, the central semicircle seems to join with the man’s reflected leg. The continuity of line direction between the semicircle and his reflected leg creates an open ellipse, similar to the smaller ellipse to its left. The repetition of lines and shapes reinforces the formal properties of the photograph. Notice also the pentagon shape between the figure’s legs and his reflection. The similarity of size between the shapes I have described creates a horizontal pathway, and their variety creates movement from left to right – from the small ellipse to the larger, open ellipse and from the tipped pentagon shape to the y-shape of the figure. So the movement across the composition is graceful yet bouncy, because it includes both variety and similarity. Also notice that there is a secondary, slower motion created, as forms are repeated in both the foreground and the background. The fence and figures are doubled due to their reflection in the water, and the zigzag of the roof line is similar to the angle and pitch of the man’s legs. The similarities in the foreground and background create integration and flow. The reflected lines of the fence evoke the most visual noise – a ‘chatter’ of pulsating lines seen in the same area that has previously been noted for its high value contrast and fast movement. And this ‘chatter’ is clearly differentiated from the individual notes of the ovals, pentagon and y-shaped reflection in the foreground and from the quiet ‘hum’ of the greytoned background. In Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photograph, line, shape and value clarify visual dynamics and, ultimately clarify feeling. Every element draws attention to the figure’s hurried step. The eye moves quickly from left to right, from one high contrast area to the next. And finally the eye freezes at the moment when the man’s foot is poised to touch down. The background seems hushed, as if it too awaits the outcome. The tension is precise. And the feeling, controlled yet upbeat, has been defined. Cartier-Bresson’s photograph was made in an instant. He did not go back to his studio to add the ovals in the foreground in order to accentuate the movement of the composition. He trained 83 Copyrighted Material


himself to see and capture moments of visual dynamics. Cartier-Bresson worked to understand the visual experience, like any great artist before him. He might have watched this man and sensed that something visually interesting was about to happen. He might have taken many photographs. And later, back in the darkroom, it is likely that he culled numerous images before finding the one that best expressed clarity of feeling. It is also likely that Cartier-Bresson cropped the image and manipulated areas of contrast to clarify further the desired effect. The second photograph is Jeff Wall’s A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), in which he has recreated a nineteenth-century woodblock print by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. Naturally, there are numerous similarities between the two images. Notice the similar light to dark contrast, repetition of line and shape, and figures and papers that move across the composition. In both images the scattered papers are clustered on the left and dispersed on the right. Even the figures and trees are similarly affected by the wind – the posture of the figures, and the trees angled to the right accentuate its direction. And the implied noise of the papers and hat as they flutter across the large empty background also accentuate the movement. In the woodblock print, Hokusai has joined the foreground, middle ground and background by creating a meandering path that visually connects them together. The trail sweeps back and forth, much like the figures and papers. He has also varied the scale of the figures along the path in order to move the eye back towards the triangular mountain. The distinguishable shape of the mountain links to the triangular arrangement created between the trees and figures in the foreground. But in Jeff Wall’s version, he has purposefully used less spatial integration between foreground, middle ground and background. Instead of a meandering path, Wall depicts a waterway that moves straight back from foreground to background. He uses the ripples of the water to re-articulate the direction of the wind, but otherwise the waterway remains separate from the other areas of the composition, because of its simple thrust back. However, Wall’s lack of integration clarifies the feeling of the image – it is a desolate, contemporary landscape that is more brutal and less lyrical than Hokusai’s. In both situations, the use of contrast, motion and noise creates a nearly perfect moment – a cool gust of wind in a quiet and barren landscape. Unlike Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jeff Wall hired actors to perform this scene. Wall set up the shoot much like a film-maker. He found a suitable location, waited for ideal light conditions and controlled the wind using industrial fans placed beyond the view of the camera. Wall built this image over time, as he digitally edited and stitched different photographs together. Using the computer, he manipulated the image – the figures, the papers, and the landscape – to create the appearance of a spontaneous event. Wall utilized contemporary conventions to recreate the controlled and elegant frenzy of the Hokusai print. And, compared to the humble moment captured by Cartier-Bresson in Gare Saint Lazare, Paris, 1932, Wall’s image appears choreographed and oddly artificial. Yet, the artifice of the spontaneity plays with the nature of photography, where a captured moment is considered traditional. Here the posed scene is likened to the ideals of painting. 84 Copyrighted Material

Jeff Wall A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), 1993 Transparency in lightbox 90.2” x 148.4” Courtesy of the artist © 2010 Jeff Wall

Katsushika Hokusai ‘Ejiri in Suruga Province’ (Sunshû Ejiri), Japan, 1830-33 Color woodblock print From the series ‘Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji’ (Fugaku sanjû-rokkei) 10.2” x 15” Collection British Museum, London, Great Britain © The Trustees of the British Museum / Art Resource, NY



Wall dramatizes the movement of the papers and hat, the ripples of the water and postures of the figures. The scene is frozen and perfect. As a result, Wall’s version makes you aware of the stylization involved in Hokusai’s original print. By piecing together this seemingly chance moment in a different medium, Wall underscores the connection between his photograph and Hokusai’s print. Both are highly studied and deliberate compositions. Learning to see and create visual dynamics is just the beginning. As you gain experience, you will gain confidence in your ability to move the eye – to get the viewer to look at your work and to control the order in which elements are seen. Remember: in many instances creating an eye-catching design will be enough to capture the viewer’s attention. But if you want to hold their attention, you must control the relationships between contrast, motion and noise in order to create feeling. And, to hold the eye, you must control the composition’s feeling. Though visual dynamics allows you to capture the viewer’s eye, it is not the only way. Before I talk about colour and how it relates to contrast, motion and noise, I want to introduce the concept of ‘visual interest’. I would like to discuss visual interest at this stage because there are many elements in the visual arts that cannot adequately be explained by visual dynamics alone. As I mentioned earlier, there is sex, death, food and all things cuddly – can you really have forgotten that? And, there is also visual interest. Compare Picasso’s painting of Guernica to his original study. Note that Picasso has reduced the overall chaotic, zigzag movement. He still uses repetition, integration and areas with high and low value contrast to create eye movement and flow. But in the painting, there is a loud, radiating ‘boom’ created by the large triangular mass in the centre – its lighter value surrounded by the darker value commands attention. As Picasso changed the speed and direction of motion, he also changed the composition’s feeling.

Pablo Picasso Guernica. Paris, June 4, 1937 Oil on canvas 137.5” x 305.7” Collection Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain © 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Photo: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY


Chapter 5 Visual Interest


Andy Warhol Campbell’s Soup I (Beef), 1968 From a portfolio of 10 screenprints printed on white paper 35” x 23” © 2010 The Andy Warhol Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / Trademarks, Campbell Soup Company. All rights reserved. Photo: The Andy Warhol Foundation / Art Resource, NY


VISUAL INTEREST What is visual interest?

U

p to this point, I have said that visual dynamics, or contrast, motion and noise, is necessary in order to move the eye to and through a composition. Visual dynamics also simplifies and clarifies a composition’s feeling. By making reference to visual dynamics, you can answer these general questions: how does the composition move the eye? Is the feeling clearly evoked? And you can answer even more specific questions: is the contrast too high or low? Is the motion too fast or slow? Is the noise too loud or soft? So the elements of visual dynamics also provide the tools for problem solving which will ultimately create a stronger, more effective composition. As you learn to clarify feeling through contrast, motion and noise, you will also discover the need to consider both the viewer and the circumstances in which a composition might be seen. For example, if you were designing wallpaper, you would need to consider where it might be used – e.g. in a bathroom, living room, or kitchen – and by whom – is it for use in a public space or private residence? Depending on the circumstances, you might want to lessen the overall contrast to make it visually less commanding. You might also want to slow down the motion to make it less abrupt and more fluid, or temper the amount of noise to a whisper. Or, if you were asked to create a concert poster, you would need to consider the type of music, the environment where the poster would be presented and the expectations of the intended audience. Do you want a lot of motion – fast or slow, up or down, simple or complex? Do you want the poster to be loud or soft, to ‘boom’ or ‘crackle’? Do you want it to be raucous and attention-grabbing? Or, do you want it to be visually commanding yet restrained? Remember: as you diminish the contrast, motion and noise there is a risk that you might not command the viewer’s attention. However, depending on the expectations of the client and location, this might in fact be the most desirable result. But a problem arises when you create a work in which one or more of the elements of visual dynamics is either negligible or completely omitted. In disrupting the visual dynamics, you might cause the viewer to become dissatisfied, because of this void. So a lack of visual dynamics forces the viewer’s eye to search for an alternative; if it is visually unsatisfying, is there something else that will sustain interest? This renegotiation of visual dynamics is common in contemporary art. And often, this dissatisfaction or frustration culminates in the response, ‘I don’t get it. You call that art’? Most design, especially graphic, industrial 89 Copyrighted Material


or interior design, cannot afford this kind of questioning. For example, if you designed a magazine cover that was not visually dynamic – because it lacked contrast, motion and/or noise – you would most likely not get the viewer’s attention and, subsequently, not be hired to create another cover. In the design arts, the elements of visual dynamics can be tweaked but are rarely omitted. The elements of visual interest: conceptual, physical and emotional However, there is an alternative to the solely visual nature of visual dynamics. It is ‘visual interest’. Visual interest occurs when one or more elements of visual dynamics is omitted and an element that is not strictly visual is used in its place. Elements of visual interest may be either conceptual, physical or emotional and are used instead of the minimized or eliminated element, or elements, of visual dynamics. ‘Visual interest’ might seem like a catch-all phrase for artwork that is not visually engaging, which the art world has denoted ‘art’. Yes and no. Let me explain. When you begin to understand how the eye moves through a composition, you also learn how to analyse an artwork. Imagine that you have created what you think is an unsatisfying composition. Initially, you examine the work’s visual dynamics. Does the artwork lack contrast, motion or noise? Are any or all of these elements too minimal? If so, you could simply improve the relevant aspects of visual dynamics. But the most important questions are: what do you want the work to express? Is the feeling clear? Again, clarity of feeling is a priority in any design or artwork. But note: a disruption of visual dynamics can also produce a desirable contrast in comparison to other elements around it. This may be the case if, for example, you are looking at a magazine of predominantly full-color images and suddenly you come to a white page with simple black letterforms. Even though the white page may not be visually dynamic, its contrast, or difference, to the rest of the magazine is striking and therefore draws your attention. A lack of visual dynamics, in the right situation, can also capture the viewer’s attention. But even in a situation such as this, unless you clarify feeling you will not be able to hold the viewer’s attention. Visual interest: conceptual (with limited visual dynamics) In Andy Warhol’s painting 200 Campbell’s Soup Cans, he has faithfully recreated a preexisting design – the label of a well known soup. The designer of the Campbell’s label had already addressed visual dynamics and clarity of feeling to guarantee that the product would 90 Copyrighted Material

Andy Warhol Two Hundred Campbell’s Soup Cans, 1962 Synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas 72” x 100” © 2010 The Andy Warhol Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Trademarks, Campbell Soup Company. All rights reserved. Photo: The Andy Warhol Foundation / Art Resource, NY



be seen and purchased by the consumer. The label has contrast – almost 50-50: half is deep red and nearly half is white. The implied motion is relatively simple, because the eye moves in only two directions – across and down, linking similar colours and reading letterforms. And it has noise – as the scripted company name methodically swings across the top and the word ‘soup’ (a bolder, more rectilinear typeface) drops down and ‘clanks’ to the bottom. It is a simple, direct and old-fashioned label that evokes a home-made quality. The feeling is humble, quiet and dependable rather than complex, loud or brash. This well designed label is the subject of Warhol’s painting. He has used the exact design and repeated and stacked it to fill the entire picture plane. However, there is no change in scale, no overlapping, no atmospheric perspective or alteration of value contrast. Without these visual cues, there is no sense of depth – except for that given by the perspectival ellipse, which indicates that the cans are seen from above. Warhol has created a simple, flat composition. And, as Warhol’s soup cans fill the canvas, he has mimicked how the product is seen in the grocery store, while referencing its mass production. Warhol has included some variety with intermittently named cans, such as ‘Vegetable’, ‘Consomme’, ‘Black bean’, ‘Pepperpot’ and ‘Tomato’. By copying the cans, Warhol has retained the visual dynamics of the original label – the nearly 50-50 contrast, the slow motion across and down, and the quiet clank of the letterforms. But, as he has stacked and repeated the cans to fill the canvas, he has simultaneously created an abundance of similarity and has stifled the motion. Like in a brick wall, while integration and flow are dominant, there is little diversity to sustain attention, so the movement nearly stops. As a result of the overwhelming repetition, the picture plane has been divided into a series of small, high contrast units, creating a visual ‘chatter’ and ‘buzz’. Additionally, the marks on the canvas, though hand-painted, are mechanical and deliberate. The texture of the paint and the line quality are not emotive, so the mark-making does not appear to accentuate movement or clarify feeling. However, this deliberate lack of touch echoes the printing process used to manufacture the real labels and reinforces the mundane, mass-produced nature of the subject matter. So while the painting has a 50-50 contrast and noise – an overall chatter and buzz – the motion has been severely reduced. Warhol has tweaked the formula of visual dynamics. But has he replaced the diminished sense of motion with an alternative? And, more importantly, has Warhol achieved clarity of feeling? In 200 Campbell’s Soup Cans, the eye is immediately drawn to the recognizable label, the high value contrast, the limited colour palette and the flattened picture plane. The pleasure of the painting is its immediacy – the eye’s fast and simple motion to the painting. Yet even with contrast, some motion and noise it is not completely satisfying. How am I supposed to feel about these soup cans? Are soup cans an appropriate subject for a painting? Is the rendering of soup cans sufficient to hold the eye? Is he trying to make them monumental? Is he trying to entice me to buy the soup?


Visual Interest

The questions seem to be endless. And with so many questions, you realize that the artist’s intent is no longer strictly visual. The questions outweigh the subject matter. As more time is spent questioning, the focus is transferred from the visual to the conceptual. At first, Warhol’s subject matter seems casual and unremarkable. Yet the more you question his choice, the more you realize that it was deliberate and necessary. Yes, the labels are well designed and include contrast, some motion and noise. Yes, the soup cans are recognizable but ultimately they are ordinary, everyday objects that do not demand attention. And the monotonous repetition reinforces their commonness. Likewise, the painting’s lack of emotive touch further emphasizes their mass-produced quality. In Warhol’s 200 Campbell’s Soup Cans, he uses the elements of visual dynamics to clarify feeling, albeit a lack of feeling. And he is specific about this feeling – it is a state of mundane emptiness. Yet, here is the conundrum. Its immediacy and simplicity are pleasing. Although there is an emptiness and lack of feeling, there is also a pleasurable familiarity. Contemporary culture seems to embrace familiar, well-ordered and sterile environments – like chain stores, restaurants and shopping malls. And Warhol is able to make you feel comforted by establishing a similar, common environment through a visual experience. This gesture of transferral – blending everyday consumerism with fine art – forces the viewer to reconsider what they are seeing. The viewer brings their own experiences to the painting. In a sense, Warhol is showing us the familiar – soup cans aligned on a grocery store shelf. He has handpainted 200 soup cans, an abundance that commands attention. He delivers this experience simply, plainly and without adding any personal feeling. Yes, Warhol has evoked feeling, but it is comfortingly bland, empty and disconnected – a feeling that seems pervasive in contemporary culture. Yet this feeling is also enticing. As the painting appears plain and the subject matter inconsequential, you immediately begin to ask questions: Why would an artist create this? Can an artist simply copy a pre-existing design and claim it as an original work of art? And then you realize that it is Warhol’s artistic presence that is missing – the artist’s touch is diminished, the label’s design is copied, even the repetition and stacking of the soup cans is routine. And, with limited motion, Warhol has presented a plain, familiar and perfectly blank moment. Overall, Warhol’s conceptually-based works have had an immense effect on the art world. He brought to the forefront many thought-provoking questions. But to begin to understand Warhol’s intentions you must be willing to look beyond the visual. Warhol’s work skewed the elements of visual dynamics to emphasize a feeling of emptiness. And Warhol accentuated this emptiness conceptually by removing himself from the process. He did not create, he copied. His mark-making was not expressive, it was mechanical. He did not add movement or feeling, nor did he dramatize what he saw, he simply presented it. This emptiness and the resulting conceptual complexity supplanted the visual dynamics by creating visual interest. Warhol successfully evoked the specific, peculiar and often vacuous feeling of contemporary culture. Warhol’s work is generally accepted to be groundbreaking. Yet outside of the art world his work is often misunderstood or dismissed, because of its conceptual nature. It is confusing 93 Copyrighted Material


to many because his intent – the lack of feeling and artistic presence – is difficult to reconcile to our idea of what art is. Even decades later, many still ask: where is the art? This single question defines Warhol’s work and makes it as viable today as it was when he created it. Visual interest: conceptual However, Warhol only tweaked the formula of visual dynamics where other artists have not only bent the rules, but have abandoned them altogether. Take the work of Tom Friedman, for example. Like Warhol, Friedman has questioned the validity and tradition of art-making and its role in contemporary society. In a work entitled 1000 Hours of Staring, Friedman exhibited a single sheet of blank white paper. There was literally nothing physically added to its surface. In this work there are no elements of visual dynamics – no contrast, no motion and no noise. On faith and in response to the work’s title, the viewer is led to believe that the paper was stared at, by the artist, for 1000 hours. There is no physical proof of this, just the artist’s word. Clearly, without contrast, motion and noise the visual dynamics of this piece is non-existent. And if an artwork, such as this, was not exhibited in art galleries and museums and discussed in books, it would be easily overlooked. Galleries and museums provide the necessary environment in which to consider work that is less visually dynamic. I am not saying that a gallery or museum validates a work of art, but, they provide an ideal environment – away from the competing commotion and visual dynamics of life – in which to consider its validity. So, has the artist substituted an alternative element, or elements, to replace the lack of visual dynamics? As the viewer attempts to understand the artwork, questions arise: why would he stare at a piece of blank paper? How long is 1000 hours? How could he possibly stare for so long without doing something else? And you begin to empathize with the time involved to realize the work. Then, you wonder if he even stared at the paper at all. Who would really do that? With this multitude of questions, Friedman has established visual interest. The conceptual dominates the visual. And you too find yourself staring at a blank sheet of paper. In Friedman’s 1000 Hours of Staring, the feeling is similar to the blankness evoked by Warhol’s 200 Campbell’s Soup Cans, yet Friedman’s work doesn’t allude to the familiarity of consumerism. Instead, in Friedman’s work the title conceptually couples with the physical act of staring at a sheet of blank paper, producing a moment of contemplative silence. As you stare and ponder, the feeling that Friedman has created is simultaneously profound and absurd. It conjures a moment, however brief, away from the commotion of everyday life, in which you too stare into emptiness. It is as if he has made this void tangible. And, like Warhol, yet even more explicitly, Friedman has created visual interest in an artwork that is not visual. All of the principles of visual dynamics have been removed, 94 Copyrighted Material

Visual Interest

Tom Friedman 1000 Hours of Staring, 1992-97 Stare on paper 32.5”x 32.5” © Tom Friedman. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery

leaving only the concept as a substitute. Again, with visual interest there is the risk of creating work that is not visually eye-catching. Its success relies on the viewer’s willingness to look beyond the visual for an alternative. Where as visual dynamics gets everyone’s attention, visual interest is dependent on the viewer’s participation. Not everyone is interested in contemplating what it feels like to stare at a piece of paper for 1000 hours. Not everyone is interested in using their time and energy to understand something beyond the visual. However, I encourage you first to question the visual dynamics of an artwork – how does the eye move to and through a composition, and how is feeling clarified? And then, if the elements of visual dynamics are omitted or minimized, is there another, non-visual element that engages the viewer and induces visual interest? Ultimately, however, the question remains: is their clarity of feeling? Contemporary art Let me take a moment to discuss contemporary art. The driving force behind much contemporary art is not that different from that of art and design of the past. Contemporary artists still seek to identify moments of beauty, to celebrate the sacred and profound, or simply to point out and clarify an emotion. There is still the desire to sustain a viewer’s interest. But many contemporary artists seek to challenge the viewer and the tradition of art by analysing what makes something art. Like Warhol, can the artist simply present an image without expressing personal feeling? What is it that holds someone’s interest? Is it the image? 95 Copyrighted Material

TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY ART Like traditional artists, many contemporary artists seek to identify moments of beauty, to celebrate the sacred and profound, or simply to illustrate and clarify emotion. But many contemporary artists also challenge the viewer and the tradition of art by analysing and questioning what art is. Imagine it as a game of ‘take away’, where you discard certain elements of art and leave only what is essential. Can you use only line, shape or colour to create a work of art? It is a common misconception that contemporary artwork dismisses the traditional arts, when in fact it often attempts to address the essence of art from another perspective. This analysis of what constitutes art is crucial. For example, what is it that makes the Mona Lisa a great work of art? Certainly, there are millions of portrait paintings in the world; what makes this one so special? Is it the painterly skill of the artist? There are other artists that have equally proficient skills. Is it the eye movement created by the integration of figure and landscape? There are other artists who have similarly incorporated the setting to evoke the character of the sitter. Is it because da Vinci makes us feel the figure’s stoic composure and piercing gaze? What is it that makes this a great painting? Visual dynamics explains what is eye-catching. Visual dynamics explains why the painting of the Mona Lisa holds the eye. But there seems to be something else. Over the years, artists have tried to discern what constitutes art. As artists have pushed and pulled the precepts of art, they have continued to seek its essence. So again, what makes the Mona Lisa so memorable? Is it the warmth that she exudes? Is it the glint in her eye? Or, is it the mysterious smile, that micro-gesture of pleasure or awareness? Is it possible to eliminate everything from a work of art – the hand skills required in rendering, the illusion of motion, beauty and narrative – and still reveal its essence? Is it possible to take everything away and leave only the feeling of the smile?

Leonardo da Vinci Mona Lisa, c. 1503-06 Oil on wood 30.3” x 20.9” Collection Louvre, Paris, France Photo: R.G. Ojeda Photo credit: Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Art Resource, NY


Visual Interest

Or, is it beauty? Is it the illusion of space? Is it a triggered memory? Is it because the artist calls it art? Is it art simply because it holds one’s interest? Contemporary artists often attempt to dissect what constitutes the essence of art. I know it may seem like semantics, yet contemporary art is not about abandoning the essence of art. It is often about delineating and simplifying the essence. When successful, the clarity of feeling produced is as palpable as in any traditional work of art; yet, it may not be a visual experience. The artist may bring forth an experience that is more conceptual, physical or emotional. And, by using a non-visual perspective, it is possible for the artist to incorporate feeling or human experience in a way that visual dynamics alone cannot. The disruption of visual dynamics is sometimes necessary to force the viewer to focus on an alternative. So the lack of visual dynamics signals that another element, one that may not be visual, must be considered. Physical As I have introduced the concept of visual dynamics, I have solely focused on a twodimensional approach. Yet, to clarify the physical aspect of visual interest, I need to discuss three-dimensional art, because it requires a tactile, physical presence. As I have said, it is possible for visual interest to occur when the elements of visual dynamics are reduced or omitted, if another element is used instead. In short, where a composition or work of art is less visual, something must make up the difference. We are often connected to objects, images and spaces through a combination of senses – smell, touch, taste, hearing and sight. A certain smell may trigger the memory of a loved one, for example. Or the sound of seagulls may trigger fond memories of a particular place. And it is this strong, sensory connection that artists often use to replace diminished or missing elements of visual dynamics. Visual interest: conceptual and physical An artist whose work clearly illustrates visual interest in terms of both the conceptual and the physical is Bruce Nauman – a seminal figure in contemporary art since the mid-1960’s. His work has consistently tested the boundaries of what is considered art. At the beginning of his career, he asked a simple, mundane question: if I call myself an artist and I am working in the studio, can anything I do be considered art? So he filmed himself repeating tasks – walking around his studio, playing the violin and, somewhat comically, attempting to levitate. Could these banal activities be viewed as a substitute for skilled art practice? Later in Nauman’s career, he created works that engaged the viewer physically and encouraged their participation. Could art make the viewer, quite literally, feel something? In a work titled Green Light Corridor, Nauman constructed two identical walls, each ten feet high by six inches wide by forty feet long, and placed them 10 inches apart. Between the 97 Copyrighted Material


walls, he installed a row of green fluorescent lights the length of the passage. The viewer was confronted with an intriguing proposition. The green lights beckoned, yet the peculiar colour was unsettling. The straight corridor between the walls was simple and non-threatening, but barely wide enough to walk through. One would have to squeeze themselves awkwardly down its length. In this piece, it is easy to realize that the visual experience has been compromised, with little to look at except the two plain walls with limited contrast, motion and noise. The rows of lights produced contrast of value and colour, while the passageway presented a simple direction of implied movement. So if the visual dynamics is altered, is there a substitute to create visual interest? In this particular piece, Nauman created a conceptual and physical substitute. The viewer could ponder it like any work of art. You could possibly empathize with its industrial austerity, consider the application of colour and value contrast, and imagine the feeling evoked if you tried to walk through it. Or, you could actually attempt to physically engage with it, by awkwardly sliding down its length and experiencing the claustrophobic space and disorienting green lights.

Bruce Nauman Green Light Corridor, 1970 Painted wallboard and fluorescent light fixtures with green lamps Dimensions variable, approximately 120” x 480” x 12” Installation at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 1988 © 2010 Bruce Nauman / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Photo © Giorgio Colombo, Milano


Visual Interest

Like Warhol and Friedman, Nauman has redefined art as potentially non-visual. Instead of using visual dynamics to create and clarify feeling, Nauman entices the viewer to experience it. Nauman has created an artwork not only for the viewer to empathize with visually, but one to experience. He is also testing the viewer’s willingness to participate. You can’t help but ask the question: is this work as simple and straightforward as it appears? Is this a trap? And any hesitation or doubt creates a disquieting feeling – simultaneously simple, familiar, and absurd. Like when staring at a blank piece of paper, you have the unsettling sensation of being coerced into performing Nauman’s piece. Emotional There is also an emotional connection to certain images that generates visual interest. As I briefly mentioned earlier with sex, death, food and all things cuddly, each provoke specific desires and easily override visual dynamics. It is human nature to focus on an image or object that you connect to emotionally. Think of images of celebrities, skulls and pirates, candy, soda, teddy bears, hearts, puppies and unicorns – all are commonly used to capture attention and to trigger an emotional response. Images or symbols can evoke memories of love, innocence, adventure or fantasy. Or they can unleash desire, even lust. But you should not rely solely on an emotional impact to command the viewer’s attention. By combining visual dynamics with an emotional element, you can get the viewer’s attention and evoke feeling. Yes, for some, any image of chocolate cake provokes a mouth-watering response. But an image of chocolate cake that moves the eye quickly with high contrast, includes a wide range of visual noise and complexity of textures, and vibrantly activates the picture plane will connect to more viewers and demand attention. Visual interest: conceptual and emotional The last example of visual interest incorporates both conceptual and emotional elements. In Bas Jan Ader’s Please Don’t Leave Me, the title is hand-painted in black on a colourless wall. There is a single light source, a solitary lamp clamped to a wooden ladder. It is simple, direct, and unadorned, similar to Bruce Nauman’s Green Light Corridor. Beyond the light source, there is little contrast, motion, or noise. Visually it is not dynamic. The artist has simply scrawled the message on the wall and installed the light. Its nonchalance cannot be ignored. Why would an artist seem to put so little effort and consideration into a work of art? But its quiet, solitary and ad hoc nature coupled with the phrase delivers an emotional response. The minimal, non-skilled gesture creates a human experience, not necessarily an artistic one. And the feeling of sadness and futility of the artist’s plea not to be left behind becomes palpable. Like a child’s cry for help, its directness and despair are strikingly clear. The conceptual and emotional supplant the visual to create visual interest. 99 Copyrighted Material


Bas Jan Ader Please Don’t Leave Me, 1969 Paint, light, ladder Installation documented by black and white photograph Courtesy of the Bas Jan Ader Estate and Patrick Painter Editions

Summary of visual interest Visual interest is an alternative to the strictly visual nature of visual dynamics. When contrast, motion and noise are minimized, or omitted entirely, elements that are conceptual, physical or emotional are used as an alternative. With visual interest, you are relying on elements that are not visual in order to capture and hold the viewer’s attention. You are dependent on the specific interests of the viewer and not solely on their visual response. The benefit of visual interest is access to a range of feelings that might not be attainable through visual dynamics alone. But remember: not everyone is interested in questioning a work of art beyond its visual nature. Visual dynamics will get everyone’s attention, while visual interest is dependent on the viewer and their willingness to look for an alternative. But the success of both approaches – visual dynamics and visual interest – depends on the artist’s ability to create and clarify feeling in order to hold the viewer’s attention. 100 Copyrighted Material

Chapter 6 Colour


Bernard Frize Aran, 1992 Acrylic and resin on canvas 70.75” x 70.75” Courtesy of Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Vienna © Bernard Frize


COLOUR What is colour?

L

ine, shape, value and depth are elements essential to visual dynamics. With these elements you can create and control contrast, motion and noise across and into a picture plane. You can move the eye. And, by clarifying a composition’s movement, you clarify feeling. Initially, I only focused on black and white compositions, because black and white limits the number of elements that you need to consider when you are learning visual dynamics. For example, when you use black, white and grey there is an immediate sense of integration and unity, because black, white and grey share an important quality – they all lack colour. This is a significant distinction because it clearly separates black, white and grey from the more complex, full-colour spectrum. With black and white, we consistently maintained an overall high value contrast. Remember: the more contrast between black and white (up to a maximum of 50 per cent white and 50 per cent black) the faster the eye moves. Our eye yearns to see elements of high contrast – clear differences between large and small, fast and slow, or light and dark. And colour is another means to create contrast. Think of a red pencil on a yellow notebook; the colour contrast allows you to distinguish the pencil from the notebook quickly. So with colour, there are more ways to create variety or contrast. And with more ways to create contrast, you have greater control over the type of motion – its speed, direction and noise (loud or soft) – you use to move the eye. But as colour adds more control to visual dynamics, it also makes it more complex, because not only are there more variables and more relationships to consider, a colour by itself can demand attention. For instance, consider the colour red. Red is used for everyday things like stop signs, fire hydrants, food packaging, lipstick and nail polish. It is routinely used to provoke attention. Why? The colour red triggers a primal response. Quite simply, it is the colour of blood. Imagine getting scratched by a thorn. You might not realize that you were scratched until you saw the blood. Your attention focuses to examine the injury and determine whether the wound is serious or superficial. The necessity of noticing blood is so instinctual that its colour alone gets your attention. The colour red offers the clearest example of this innate response. But all bright colours provoke attention in ways that black and white cannot. And because colours have strong associative qualities – like green for grass or blue for sky – your memory develops emotional responses to them. A crisp, bright, light blue colour might trigger feelings associated with a clear day – happiness and exhilaration. So colour can also evoke feeling. But to use colour 103 Copyrighted Material


Original Altered “Coca-Cola and the Dynamic Ribbon Design are registered trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company.”

The colour red is often used in food packaging because it is known to stimulate appetite. In package design, the allure of colour is important because the product is protected – often hidden within its packaging. In addition, the actual shape or colour of the product may be nondescript. For example, the Coca-Cola product is a dark caramel coloured liquid. The colour is difficult to name and, as a liquid, its shape is dependent on its container. Red is a more potent colour than dark caramel because it quickly captures the attention of the consumer and is easily named. The Coca-Cola Company has chosen red to identify their product and continually feature the colour in its packaging and marketing campaigns. It has been so successful that many consumers see this particular red, independent of product, and think Coca-Cola. The linking of a product to a specific colour is referred to as ‘colour branding’. Now, imagine buying a can of Coca-Cola that appears altered in colour, perhaps muted. Your reaction to this visual shift would likely be scepticism towards the product. You may not be able to pinpoint the exact cause of this mistrust, but you would be instinctively aware that something is different. The consumer’s ability to remember a specific colour is important to successful marketing. But to create this memorable link between colour and product, it is necessary to establish and maintain a consistent colour throughout a product’s packaging and advertising. Consumer trust in a product is dependent on the success of colour consistency.


Colour

effectively, you need to keep in mind the specific feeling you wish to express. To clarify feeling successfully, you must first combine the properties of colour with visual dynamics to control how the viewer’s eye moves to and through a composition.

Visible Spectrum

COLOUR CONTRAST Colours or hues exist in the visible spectrum of white light, or the light from the sun. A prism allows you to separate white light into its different wavelengths of colour. This range of colour is commonly referred to as a ‘rainbow’. And if you formed it into a circle, you would have the colour wheel. A color wheel formed in this way would represent the purest, most intense form of each colour or hue. A real colour wheel, however, is made with pigments such as inks or paints and not made up of pure light as in the visible spectrum. The colours represented on the colour wheel are the highest chroma and are the cleanest and highest contrasting colours found in pigment. Primary colours The primary colours are red, yellow and blue, and are of equal distance from each other on the colour wheel. You cannot create red, yellow or blue by mixing other pigments together. The primary colours are the three pigments from which all other colours can be mixed. 105 Copyrighted Material


Colour Wheel

Secondary colours The secondary colours are green, orange and violet, and are located in between the primary colours on the wheel. Green is a combination of blue and yellow; orange is mixed from yellow and red; and violet from blue and red. Additionally, secondary colours cannot be named with their base colours. For example, green can no longer be named ‘yellow’ or ‘blue’. It becomes a separate, nameable colour. The ability to perceive and separate colours by name is important. While all of the colours on the colour wheel are bright, intense and high contrasting, the primary and secondary colours move the eye the fastest because they are the purest, most nameable colours. The ability to perceive colours is much like the ability to distinguish recognizable shapes. Nameable colours demand the viewer’s attention. And nameable colours also provide the highest colour contrast on the colour wheel, because they are clearly different from one another. An intense red is clearly distinguishable from an intense yellow, violet or green. High colour contrast is like high value contrast – it allows the eye to discern easily one object or element from the next. Remember: high contrast creates variety. So the primary colours – red, yellow and blue – and the secondary colours – green, orange and violet – are the most nameable colours and create the highest colour contrast. Primary and secondary colours move the eye the fastest.


Colour

Secondary Colours

Primary Colours

Tertiary Colours

Tertiary colours Tertiary colours are in between the primary and secondary colours. A tertiary colour is a combination of a primary and a secondary colour and is not as easily distinguishable or nameable when compared to primary or secondary colours. Tertiary colours have two names, like ‘yellow-orange’ or ‘blue-violet’. Because you can see and name the source color, they are not as easy to distinguish as secondary colours. You recognize primary and secondary colours the fastest, and then tertiary colours. How does this apply? Think of toys. Most toys have a colour scheme of primary and secondary colours. They are intense, easy-to-name, and highly distinguishable colours. A blue bike, a red wagon or a purple elephant are typical examples. Toys with easy-to-name colours, or high colour contrast, capture a child’s attention. Clear distinctions of colour or value will get everyone’s attention, because we are all drawn to easily differentiated and recognizable elements. And objects that are clearly distinguishable are easily named – bike, wagon or apple, for example. Identifying objects and naming them are crucial to a child’s development. These skills are paramount to a child’s perception and interactions with their surroundings. With the ability to name and remember more and more objects, the child develops a more complex understanding of the world. And, as the child grows intellectually, so do their colour preferences. For example, an older child might gravitate to a harder-to-name colour like a lime-green. Although it is harder to name, it might have a strong associative appeal. This specific green might remind the child of spring grass, the background of a favourite poster, or a particular candy – a memory associated with a good feeling. Now think of adult ‘toys’ – like cars and cell phones. Adults have developed more sophisticated and subtle relationships with colour and tend to make choices that reflect this complexity. You might be attracted to a robin’s-egg blue cell phone or to a burnt-orange sedan. These colours take more time to distinguish; they are more difficult to name and seem more unique. Adults want colours that reflect their personality and ‘feel right’. The idea of colour naming and colour association is used extensively by designers. 107 Copyrighted Material


Colour Wheel Value Study of Colour Wheel

VALUE CONTRAST Now, if you compare the colour wheel to a black and white version, you can see that each high intensity colour has its own inherent light to dark properties. Of the pure, high intensity colours, the lightest in value is yellow and the darkest in value is blue-violet. Both green and red are mid-value. So with colour, you have colour contrast – intensity or nameability – and value contrast – the light to dark relationship. Colour and value: tints and shades Let’s discuss the connection between colour contrast and value contrast. Again, any colour on the colour wheel is the purest, most intense form of that colour. And each colour represented on the wheel can be lightened or darkened in value with pigment. To lighten a colour, you simply add white. These lightened colours are called ‘tints’. If you add more and more white, eventually a tint will become pure white. To make a colour darker, you simply add black or the colour’s opposite. These darkened colours are called ‘shades’. A colour’s opposite, or complementary colour is located directly across from it on the colour wheel. Each pair of opposites – yellow and violet, blue and orange, and green and red – are complementary colours. If you add enough black or the right proportion of a colour’s opposite, eventually it will become pure black. Also, let me explain the effect of mixing pigments with the colour black. You can mix black pigment with any colour to darken the colour’s value. However, black pigment will also diminish the colour’s properties. Example (F) illustrates how black pigment makes a colour slightly ‘dirtier’ as well as darker. So instead, many painters choose to add a colour’s 108 Copyrighted Material

Colour

A

Value study of A

B

Value study of B

In example (A), yellow next to violet produces high colour contrast and high value contrast. In example (B), red next to green creates high colour contrast yet low value contrast. With colour, you now have two ways in which to influence visual dynamics in terms of contrast – colour contrast and value contrast.

Remember: high contrast creates variety and eye movement. Low contrast creates similarity and flow.

opposite to darken its value. This has two benefits – it does not produce a dirty colour and it provides better colour integration within a composition. For instance, if you use violet to darken the colour yellow, you add violet (blue + red) to yellow. The colours you have combined – yellow, red and blue – are the three primary colours. And primary colours are the basis of all the colours. So any colour in the composition will share similarities with blue, yellow, red or a combination of these. Therefore, mixing a shade with its opposite or complementary colour creates colour similarities and, as a result, creates flow and integration through the composition. Though black pigment may be used, I am going to explain how to use opposites, or complementary colours, to create darker values. As I said, each colour on the colour wheel can be darkened in value by using its complementary colour to make black. In paint application, this is known as a ‘mixed black’. 109 Copyrighted Material


Complementary colours are colours directly opposite from each other on the colour wheel. Yellow and purple, red and green and blue and orange are the most cited. But any pair of colours that are across from each other are complementary.

C

D

E

F

In example (C), there are nine high intensity colours that have been mixed using acrylic paint. In example (D) are the tints of the same nine colours created by adding white, and in example (E) are the shades created by adding each colour’s complement. Notice that both the tints and the shades are more difficult to name and distinguish than the intense colours. Compare example (E) with example (F). In example (E), the shades were created using complementary colours, and in example (F), the shades were created by adding black. The colours in (F) are darkened, but ‘dirty’ and dingy. 110 Copyrighted Material

Colour

Tints and shades To understand tints and shades, look at the image of the red bowl (G). There are areas of the bowl in sunlight that are a bright, intense red – a colour on the colour wheel. Other areas of the bowl are reflecting light and appear lighter in value, or to be tints (red + white). These lighter areas appear less red, or less intense. And there are areas of the bowl in shadow, which appear darker in value, or to be shades (red + green). The shades are also reduced in intensity. It is easier to compare the value and intensity of the three reds – intense colour, tint and shade – when they are side by side (bottom right).

G

Every colour on the colour wheel can be lightened or darkened in value. But as you lighten or darken a colour’s value you also diminish its intensity. Both tints and shades are muted colours and refer to a colour’s diminished, or muted, intensity. A colour that has been tinted with white or shaded by its complementary colour, is no longer as clean, pure or intense. Remember: a pure, high intensity colour has the greatest contrast or nameability. And a tint or shade is harder to distinguish and more difficult to name. For example, a red that has been tinted is no longer as easy to name because its redness, or colour contrast, has been diminished. It may be called a pinkish-red or a red that appears faded. A shade works in much the same way. A red that has been muted with its complementary colour has had its value darkened and its intensity diminished, and is therefore less nameable. So as you control the value contrast of a colour (its lightness or darkness) with tints and shades you also affect its colour contrast. And remember: contrast affects the movement of the eye. The higher the contrast in colour or value, the faster the eye moves. The lower the contrast in colour or value, the slower the eye moves. 111 Copyrighted Material


Value Progression This is an example of value progression using a single colour – cyan blue. A high intensity cyan blue (highlighted with red) mixed with white creates tints, or lighter values, and mixing cyan with its opposite-orange, creates shades, or darker values. But as you lighten or darken a colour’s value you also diminish its intensity. Both tints and shades are muted colours and refer to a colour’s diminished, or muted, intensity.

Negating colour: grey Shades are also called ‘greys’ and are created by adding opposite or complementary colours. Whenever you mix complementary colours you are adding all three primary colours together. For example, red mixed with green is the same as red added to (yellow + blue). Or, red-orange mixed with its opposite, blue-green is the same as red plus orange (yellow + red) added to blue plus green (yellow + blue). Any colour mixed from all three primary colours becomes a ‘greyed’ color, or one that is muted, less intense and less nameable. And you can continue to diminish, negate or neutralize a colour’s intensity until you can no longer name the colour base. Without a discernible colour base, the colour becomes a completely neutralized colour, or ‘pure grey’. As you experiment mixing grey using pigments, notice that there are many types of grey. In fact, look around you: there are neutral colours everywhere. From the colours of our natural and man-made environments to our clothes and furnishings, grey is predominant. Also, notice that there are few examples of pure grey. Most greys – blue-grey, green-grey or 112 Copyrighted Material

Colour

yellow-grey for example – have a discernible colour base. And this colour base, although diminished, creates similarity and will integrate with other colours. For example in (A), yellowgrey readily links to yellow, yellow-ochre, orange, and even blue-green, because yellow is a component of each of these colours. And as a grey is darkened in value it becomes closer to black. But even a very dark colour can have a discernible colour base, though at first glance it might be difficult to perceive. For instance, look at the photograph of the black bag (B). In normal light conditions, the black bag has highlights, or areas of lighter grey, where the light source is reflected and the most intense. There are also areas in shadow, with the least amount A of light, and areas in between, with a moderate amount of light. Notice that the darkest areas of the black bag have the least amount of light – the areas in shade. As you compare the darkest areas with the lighter areas, you see that the areas in shadow are near black and that the predominant colour of the bag, indicated by the areas in moderate light, is dark grey. In addition, if the bag was seen under different light sources – direct sunlight or fluorescent light, for example – you would see that the dark grey of the bag would change. It might appear to be a dark yellowgrey under one type of light and, a dark bluish-grey under another. These slight colour and value variations describe the atmosphere, or the temperature and lighting conditions that surround the bag. The ability to see and convey these subtle differences in colour enables greater control over a composition’s movement and feeling. In this photograph of a black bag, there are four greys side by side. You can easily compare their value and colour base. The darkest region, or the grey closest to black, occurs where there is the least amount of light. And, you can quickly see that the predominant colour of the bag (where there is a moderate amount of light) is not black – it is grey.

B



Mixing grey Let’s discuss mixing grey in greater detail. As you mix pigments together, you realize that selecting and adding the correct proportion of a colour’s opposite is not easy. You must patiently seek the right balance, as the correct proportion is difficult to determine. It is helpful to remember that you are only using the three primary colours to negate colour. So as you mix grey, you may stumble upon an ‘ugly’ green; but if you can name the colour, for example ‘green’, you can use the colour wheel to find its opposite. As you determine that the opposite is red, you add red to further negate the green base. Again, green (blue + yellow) added to red neutralizes the colour. It is often an exercise of trial and error to find the correct colour and add the right proportion to produce a completely neutral grey. You can add a colour’s opposite and then retest for its nameability. If a grey is bluish, add more orange. If a mixed grey is brownish it is important to know that brown is part of the orange (red + yellow) family, so you would need to add more blue to neutralize the brown. Remember: any mixed colour that has all three primary colours is considered a greyed colour, a shade or a neutralized colour. The more the base colour is negated, or neutralized, the closer it will be to pure grey. And pure grey that is darkened to its lowest value is a mixed black.

In example (A), primary colours and white were used to create a range of greys. Creating grey or negating colour is often achieved by trial and error. You must find a colour’s complement and add the correct amount to produce a completely neutralized colour or pure grey. Notice the base colours in the diagram – they progress from an easily nameable green-grey to red-grey, blue-grey, brown-grey, and so on. White has been added intermittently to lighten the value of the greys. When a grey is lightened with white, its colour base is seen more clearly. And when the base colour has been completely neutralized without using white, it is a mixed black.

A


Colour

Black, grey and white When you mix grey, you are regulating both colour contrast (nameability) and value contrast (light to dark). A colour that has been muted with its opposite is a greyed colour. For example, if you mix yellow and violet, both the yellow and the violet become muted and more difficult to name. And when both colours are completely neutralized and the colour base is no longer discernible, you have a pure grey. Without any white, the grey is a mixed black. But white is necessary to lighten the value of a mixed black. The amount of white determines the value of the grey. When you mix a colour by adding its opposite, you create a colour that is darker and more difficult to name. When you add white to a dark value colour, its colour base becomes easier to discern. For example, you may have mixed a colour that looked black, but when you added white it turned bluish. The white lightens the value so you can perceive its colour base. If you can still name the colour base, you can continue to negate the colour. Pure grey has no discernible color base. It is no longer yellowish, greenish or brownish. Pure grey is separate from other nameable, high intensity colours and is similar to white and black. Pure white, pure black and pure gray have no colour base. They are completely neutral. White, black and grey link with each other. But as neutrals without a colour base, they do not have any color similarities with other hues and therefore remain separate. As complete neutrals they have no colour contrast, only value contrast. This characteristic affects how white, black and pure grey are used to create movement to and through a composition. I will discuss this in more detail later in the book. Mixing pigments: the subtractive colour system Mixing pigments is based on the subtractive colour system. Imagine white light as a tube comprising individual coloured strands that represent all the colours of the rainbow. If this tube of multiple colours (white light) pours on to blue pigment, the blue absorbs, or subtracts, all of the coloured strands except for the blue. The blue strand is reflected back to the viewer and the colour blue is what the viewer sees. Likewise, the pigment orange absorbs, or subtracts, every colour but orange. All colours react similarly. The subtractive colour system is also used in all printed material. The printing process primarily uses the CMYK colour system, or four-colour separation. ‘C’ stands for cyan (a bright blue), ‘M’ for magenta (a red with a bit of violet), ‘Y’ for yellow and ‘K’ for black. Example (A) illustrates the four-colour process in which every printed image is separated into cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Each colour is printed in an individual layer using tiny dots of pigment. Because these dots are so small, our eyes optically blend them together; the effect is similar to the values created by the lines in George Washington’s portrait on the dollar bill. Although the three colours (cyan, magenta and yellow) remain in separate layers, they visually mix together like paint, using the subtractive method. So if you printed 115 Copyrighted Material


cyan

yellow

magenta

black

CMYK is the colour system used in most photo-editing computer programs because many digital designs are likely to end up as printed material. Using CMYK, the designer ensures that their digital work will look as close as possible to the final printed version.

A

Seo Yen Choi


Colour

two layers of colour, one yellow and one cyan, all of the colours of the spectrum, or white light, would be absorbed, or subtracted, except yellow and cyan. And as the yellow and cyan would be simultaneously reflected back to the viewer, the eye would combine them to produce green. This is known as ‘optical mixing’. The viewer’s eye sees the reflected strands of both yellow and cyan, and instead of seeing them as two independent colours, mixes them and sees green. By using cyan, magenta and yellow and mixing them in the same way, you are able to create a wide range of intense colours. Optical mixing As I have mentioned, the CMYK printing system utilizes optical mixing. In addition to intense colours, optical mixing also creates tints and shades. As the layered dots of cyan, magenta and yellow overlap, they create shades. The densest areas of dots will create the darkest shades. Remember: shades, or greys, are produced by mixing together all three of the primary colours – blue (cyan), red (magenta) and yellow. It is interesting to note that black has a minor role in the printing process. When a layer of black dots is added to cyan, magenta and yellow, the shades become even darker. Black is the last layer printed and is used to accentuate value contrast. It makes an image appear crisp.

In the four-colour process, each colour is printed as a separate layer of dots. Light bounces off the dots of pigment and reflects each colour. For instance, when yellow dots commingle with cyan dots the reflected colour is green. When the dots are less dense and dispersed over a wider area of white paper they produce tints. When the dots are dense and overlap they create darker, intense colours. And black dots create the darkest areas. 117 Copyrighted Material


In the CMYK process, tints behave somewhat differently, because white is not a printed layer like the other pigments. In order to create tints, the dots of cyan, magenta and yellow are more widely dispersed over a white background, or the white of the paper. So our eyes mix the dots of pigment with the reflected white light of the paper to produce tints. There are two points to note about this process. Firstly, there is no lighter colour or value than the white of the paper. Think of the dingy look of a printed image in a newspaper. The lightest area is the colour of the newsprint, or light grey. There is no white. Compared to the range of colour and value found in a magazine, where the image is printed on glossy white paper, the newspaper’s image is less vibrant because the overall colour contrast is greyer, and its range of value is darker. Secondly, the four-colour printing process and optical mixing create a vibrancy that most subtractive mixing or traditional pigments cannot match. In a fourcolour print of a brilliant blue sky, the tiny dots of intense blue pigment are dispersed over white paper. The blue dots absorb all of the colours (of white light) except the intense blue, which reflects back to the viewer. Light also passes through the blue dots to the white paper and reflects back to the viewer as pure white. So intense blue commingles optically with the reflected white light. The result is a very intense light blue. When a painter mixes a light, bright blue they combine an intense blue pigment with white pigment to make the blue lighter in value, or a tint. As the blue mixes with the white pigment it becomes muted. It is a lighter colour, but it is also a less intense colour. As light is reflected off of the muted pigment, the viewer’s eye sees it as a tint of blue and not as an intense blue.

Additive Colour System


Colour

Over time artists have developed techniques to produce more vibrant results. For example with watercolour, tiny particles of pure pigment are spread over an area of white paper with water. The more water, the more dispersed the particles of pigment. Just like in the printing process, light is reflected off the particles of intense blue pigment and the white paper (areas of intense colour mixed optically with reflected white light) to produce a light, bright blue. And oil painters sometimes use a clear glaze between layers of intense pigment to allow light to pass through each layer, in order to create optical mixing. The glaze acts like a thin piece of glass between the translucent layers of pigment. So a painter might apply a layer of yellow pigment and then a layer of glaze, followed by a thin layer of red pigment. This produces an intense orange, because light penetrates the successive layers and reflects separate and intense hues that the eye blends together. This optical mixing is why watercolours and some oil paintings appear to vibrantly glow. Additive colour system The other colour system is additive and known as RGB, which stands for red, green and blue. This system is based on the properties of light. The additive colour system requires a light source or projected light like the lighting on a stage or a computer screen. The visible colour spectrum is the same for both the subtractive system and the additive system. However, as the diagram indicates, light mixes differently than colours from pigment. In the additive system, green light mixed with blue light produces cyan, or bright blue. Blue and red light mixed together produce magenta. And green light mixed with red light produces yellow. The three primary colours of the additive system are red, green and blue. The secondary colours are yellow, magenta and cyan (the three-petal shape seen in the diagram). White is produced by combining green, red and blue light together; in other words it is the presence of all light. And, conversely, black is created through the absence of all light. Note that in the subtractive method which uses pigment, this is reversed – white is the absence of all colour and black is the presence of all colour. If you had two equally intense lights pointed at the same spot – one green and one red, they would produce yellow. If you had the same intense red light, but the green light was less intense, the resulting colour would tend towards orange. If you reversed this, and the red light was less intense, the resulting light would tend towards yellow-green. Equal amounts of both red and blue light produce magenta. With less red light the result is more blue-violet. The less blue light, the more red. Mixing equal amounts of blue and green light produces cyan. The more blue light, the bluer the cyan. The greener the light, the more green the cyan. With the additive system, the method used to produce shades or greys, is also different, because you must decrease the amount of light, or lessen its intensity of illumination – the less light, the greyer the environment. If you reduce the intensity of the three colours – 119 Copyrighted Material


red, green and blue – at least in some proportion, you mute, or grey, the colour. Think of dusk, when the light is fading – the eye cannot see colour as readily, and your perception is reduced to a series of muted, or greyed, colours. And in the same way as when black is created, reducing the intensity of the three primary colours equally, creates a true grey, or one that lacks a colour base. Also note: it is more complex when you combine the additive colour system with the subtractive system. For instance, when working on a stage set you need to consider the effect that coloured lights have on painted or pigmented surfaces. If you shone a green light on to a red painted surface, you would produce a brownish-grey. Or, if you shone both a red and a green light (yellow) on to a purple costume, you would create a purplish-grey. In order to create tints using the additive method, you need to reduce the intensity of one or two of the primary colours. If you had red, green and blue lights of equally high intensity all shining on one spot, and you then slowly reduced the blue light, the resulting light would change from white, to tints of yellow, to intense yellow. To create a red tint, you would simultaneously reduce the intensity of both the blue and the green lights. Or to reverse that, you would add both blue and green lights simultaneously to an intense red, thereby lightening the red all the way to pure white. Artists who work digitally use the additive colour system, because the computer screen uses light to produce colour. So digital media uses red, green and blue, or the RGB colour system (the additive colour system). RGB is the most common mode for creating digital images because it enables you to create colour with light. If you have ever adjusted the colour balance of a digital image, you were probably working in RGB mode. It is important to note that the RGB system produces brighter, more intense colours than the CMYK (subtractive colour system), because it uses projected light and not reflected light. This is evident when you print an image in RGB mode. The printed version will have a slightly reduced intensity of colour. So prior to printing, you should convert your RGB image to CMYK in order to see how it will print. LIGHTING DESIGN The consistency of colour is an important factor in designing a store’s lighting. With a range of lighting, a satin grey blouse in the store can be represented as it would look both in sunlight and under the variable light conditions in a home. Sunlight is considered a white light, with no color bias. But incandescent or fluorescent lights have either a warm (yellow) bias or a cool (blue) bias. So a grey blouse will look different under various lighting conditions. In the white light of sunlight, the blouse may look a true grey. And at home the blouse may look a brownish-grey. It is important that the customer have an accurate sense of the garment’s colour range. If not, there will be many disappointed patrons. To avoid this, the store’s lighting designer must create a full range of lighting conditions, so that the merchandise has colour consistency.


Colour

Context is integral to understanding warm and cool contrast. In the top example, the green looks cooler because of its relationship to yellow. In the bottom example, the green looks warmer compared to the blue. Notice that the spatial fluctuation is accentuated when you see both warm and cool relationships against a warm pink background.

WARM AND COOL CONTRAST Warm and cool contrast, or temperature contrast, is the last property of colour to introduce. Colours with yellow or red are considered warm (colours associated with fire). Colours with some amount of blue are generally considered to be cool (colours associated with water). But warm and cool properties are more accurately described when you compare two colours. Consider the colour green. By itself, it is generally considered a cool colour, because of its blue component. If green is placed next to yellow, it will appear cool. But when the same green is placed next to blue it will appear warm because of its yellow base. Whenever you have two colours in a composition, by comparison, one will appear warmer and the other cooler. It is easier and more accurate to think of warm and cool as a relationship within a composition – a contrast of a warm versus a cool – and not solely as attributes of individual colours. The three contrasts of colour – warm and cool contrast, colour contrast (intensity) and value contrast – all accentuate spatial relationships within a design. As you have learned, elements with high contrast move the eye fast and appear to come forward. Elements with low contrast slow the eye and appear to recede. But it is not just the contrast between warm and cool that accentuates spatial relationships. It is the fact that warm colours attract the eye more quickly than cool colours. So warm colours appear to come forward. This is important because it helps control the order in which elements are seen. And the order of what is seen first, second and so on, also creates and clarifies the illusion of depth. As you learned in the chapter about depth, atmospheric perspective blurs distant objects. The same dust particles or moisture droplets in the atmosphere also cause distant objects to appear ‘bluer’. The atmosphere acts to cool elements that recede in space. The green of a nearby tree appears more yellow when compared to similar trees further away. The similar yet distant trees appear cooler and more blue. So warm colours are seen more quickly and appear to come forward, while cool colours are seen more slowly and appear to be further away. 121 Copyrighted Material


A

B

Megan Talley

In examples (A) and (B), the warm colours appear to be closer while the cool colours recede. Cool colours are seen as quieter and less aggressive than warm colours. Example (A) has a warm centre, which appears to come forward quickly against the darker, cooler area that surrounds it. Example (B) seems to flatten out, as individual stripes fluctuate only slightly forward and backward, because the range of warm to cool is less extreme. A warm colour next to a warm colour, a cool colour next to a cool colour, or a warm colour or cool colour next to a neutral like a white or a grey, has less temperature contrast. Example (A) seems to pulsate, while (B) appears to wobble.

Three contrasts: high contrast creates variety To review, the three contrasts of colour are colour contrast, value contrast, and warm to cool contrast. Remember: high contrast creates variety and eye movement. The higher the contrast, the faster the eye movement. Previously, you have learned how to capture the viewer’s attention by using a 50-50 light to dark contrast. And now, the three contrasts of colour will also capture the viewer’s attention. So you can use high colour contrast, or a composition of intense, easy-to-name colours. You can continue to use a 50-50 light to dark value contrast with colour. And you can activate a composition with temperature contrast, by creating areas that are warm and areas that are cool. Individually, each of the three contrasts can command the viewer’s attention, but when used together they demand attention. However, because of the interrelationship of the three contrasts, it is rarely that simple. For example, when you alter the value relationships of colour, you are also affecting the relationships of intensity. Or if you diminish the intensity of a colour by producing a tint or shade, you are simultaneously affecting its value and its warm and cool attributes. And if you add into the equation the ability to lessen and/or increase one, two or all three contrasts of colour simultaneously, you realize the difficulties of using colour effectively. So when you combine line, shape, depth, motion, noise, and sex, death, food and all things cuddly with colour contrast, value contrast and temperature contrast to control the movement of the viewer’s eye and clarify feeling – it all seems rather daunting. But remember: if you can first clarify a composition’s feeling, colour choice will be simplified. 122 Copyrighted Material

A

B

D

C

E

Example (A) features blue shapes next to yellow-orange shapes. This colour combination creates high colour contrast, high value contrast and high warm to cool contrast. And when the colour pattern is repeated over the entire composition, it creates a visually dynamic design, as each element draws your attention and seems to ‘buzz’. Example (B) features a blue circle within a yellow-orange shape. The rest of the composition has darker, muted colours. The blue and yellow-orange quickly attract the viewer’s attention because they have the greatest colour contrast. So when you increase value, colour and temperature contrast in a particular area, the eye moves quickly to it. Example (C) is a black and white value study of example (B) and illustrates the inherent light to dark relationships of colour. Example (D) features two high contrast areas that create balance, as each competes for the viewer’s attention. The white and black shapes have high value contrast and low colour contrast, while the high intensity red/pink and green shapes have high colour contrast and high warm to cool contrast, but low value contrast. Both sets of shapes have high contrast and capture the eye quickly, but in different ways. So in example (D), variety moves the eye faster, because of the high colour contrast between red/pink and green, and the high value contrast between black and white. The eye bounces from left to right abruptly. Then the eye slows down as it sees the similarities – the repetition of shapes and equal, but different, contrasts. This example has two types of movement – fast through variety and rapid eye movement and slow, through similarity and flow. Example (E) is a value study of example (D) and illustrates the value relationship between red and green. Copyrighted Material


Chapter 7 Feeling


Roy Lichtenstein Sinking Sun, 1964 Oil and magna on canvas 68” x 80” © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein


FEELING What is feeling?

S

o far I have described how to use multiple elements such as line, shape, value and depth to create visual dynamics in order to move the eye to and through a composition. Now, with the three contrasts of colour, there are even more ways to create and control eye movement. As I keep repeating, visual dynamics – the combination of contrast, motion and noise – moves the eye. And as you learn to create movement and control its speed, direction and noise, you also clarify feeling. As I begin to discuss specific colour relationships, it is important to remember that colour is simply another tool to create movement of the eye to and through a composition. And the greater the control of movement, the more specific the feeling. But before I discuss colour systems, I want to address feeling and how it helps to guide choice of colour. How important is feeling? As I have said, there are many things vying for our attention, including movies, television, the Internet, cell phones, advertising, fashion and magazines. Most often, these stimuli capture our eye only briefly, until something else clamours for our attention. And largely, these various diversions are designed to be viewed quickly or used for short periods of time. In many instances, the success of capturing the viewer’s attention, however briefly, is sufficient. And again, visual dynamics – contrast, motion and noise – helps accomplish that. But there are times when an artist wants to hold the viewer’s attention. For example, it might be necessary to hold the viewer’s eye in order to convey a more complex narrative or feeling. A complex composition or image that evokes a subtle feeling often takes longer for the viewer to perceive and understand. This is when the ability to clarify feeling is essential, because if you can emotionally engage the viewer, you can hold their attention. How is feeling created visually? Imagine that you want to create a feeling of joy or happiness. What direction best represents happiness? How fast would the movement be? Would the movement be simple or complex, noisy or quiet? 127 Copyrighted Material


Let’s start with contrast and speed of motion. High contrast, or variety, creates faster eye movement. Low contrast, or similarity, produces slower eye movement or flow. To convey happiness visually should the movement be fast or slow? If it is too slow, it will seem calm, melancholy, even sad – so the movement associated with happiness must be fast. But, there are different types of happiness – powerful and ecstatic, or innocent and sweet, for example. The more specific you are about the type of feeling, the more clearly you can apply the elements of visual dynamics in order to express it. Let’s focus on a jubilant, bubbly, carefree happiness. To convey this type of happiness, you need to move the eye quickly, using combinations of high contrast such as recognizable shapes, clearly distinguishable colours, value contrast and temperature contrast. For example, you could use a combination of intense, nameable colours with either high value contrast or high temperature contrast. But to depict a bubbly, bouncy, fast movement you should also include a few areas that vary both in speed and direction – fast and slow, up and down. So to intermittently slow the eye, you should also include elements with low contrast – repetition of line or shape, similarity of colour, value or temperature – or create a sense of depth. For instance, you could use a combination of less intense tints and shades, or intense colours with either less value contrast or less temperature contrast. And direction of motion: what direction conveys a bubbly happiness? Something falling or dropping does not typically evoke happiness, because down is a direction that usually implies heaviness or sadness. To create happiness, the direction of motion should be primarily upward, outward or across. And again, to create a specific direction of motion you need repetition or similarity. Repetition of line – its weight and direction – or similarity of shape, colour, value or temperature establishes direction. And similarity combined with variety (sequence, progression, gradation) creates directional motion. Is the motion associated with happiness a complex one? To convey a buoyant or jubilant feeling the motion cannot be too complex, because it would then be too slow. But it cannot be too simple either, because it would be too fast and aggressive. To depict this particular happiness, you need to create the right balance between simple and complex motion, between fast eye movement and slow moving flow. What about noise? The louder the noise, the faster the movement, and the more quickly the composition captures the viewer’s attention. The softer the noise, the slower the movement, and the less the composition demands the viewer’s attention. In order to convey this specific feeling of happiness, you should use a combination of different types of noise, both loud and soft. For example, a rhythmic progression combining loud bursts and soft sweeping tones would create a bubbly happiness. Notice in example (A) that both the direction and the speed of motion fluctuate – sweeping up and outward and subtly forward and back. And the noise ‘pops’ and ‘chatters’ in the faster areas with high contrast, and ‘whirs’ and ‘hums’ in the slower areas with low contrast. The feeling of happiness depends on the ability to clarify both the speed and the direction of motion, such as a fast, flowing, bouncing motion that moves up, outward and across. 128 Copyrighted Material

Feeling

Example (A) conveys a jubilant, buoyant, and carefree happiness. By controlling both the speed and direction of motion, you evoke feeling.

A

Young Ji Choi

At first, what creates a feeling of happiness might seem arbitrary, but to convey an emotion requires certain visual cues. You must decide on the specific type of happiness in order to use the elements of visual dynamics to express it clearly. And like happiness, any feeling can be conveyed visually. So by controlling both the speed and direction of motion – how the eye moves to and through a composition – clarifies feeling. Why feeling? I am often asked: is feeling even necessary in a composition? Why does an image need to clearly evoke happiness, innocence, or gloom, for example? In the visual arts, most images, designs or compositions have some level of contrast, motion and noise. The relationships between contrast, motion and noise control how the eye moves to and through a composition – fast or slow, up or down, front to back, and so forth. The motion is perceived and interpreted by the viewer. And, whether intentional or not, feeling is perceived and interpreted, based on the visual elements presented. Even when visual dynamics has been diminished and visual interest is used instead, the viewer perceives feeling, whether it is conveyed conceptually, physically or emotionally. 129 Copyrighted Material


Take, for example, Andy Warhol’s 200 Campbell’s Soup Cans. It is a painting that includes elements of both visual dynamics and visual interest. In this work, Warhol copied a familiar and innocuous product, rendered it mechanically, repeated it and stacked it to fill the composition. It appears that the painting evokes no feeling. Yet Warhol did create and clarify feeling, albeit a lack of feeling. He quickly captures the viewer’s eye with the recognizable label, the high value contrast, the limited palette of nameable colours and the flattened composition. Its immediacy is pleasing. But once you take in the monotonous repetition, the ordinary subject matter and, conceptually, the absence of the artist’s touch – the painting’s vacuousness is overwhelming. It is true that most viewers perceive and even interpret a composition’s feeling subconsciously. The viewer is often not aware of the relationship between moving the eye and feeling. But, if feeling is not clearly expressed, the viewer will sense a confused lack of purpose and subsequently lose interest. Even in 200 Campbell’s Soup Cans, Warhol controlled the movement of the eye to and through the painting to define clearly the sense of vacuousness. Granted, not everyone is enticed by this particular feeling. Not everyone is drawn to a familiar yet mundane emptiness. But without clarity of feeling, an image has little chance of holding the viewer’s interest. Why make feeling specific? While many still equate art with ‘following your passion’ or simply ‘expressing yourself ’, it is not that simple because you have to be extremely careful not to convey too many conflicting visual cues. You cannot hold the viewer’s attention by wanting them to feel every emotion simultaneously. Not only is it difficult to create feelings of happiness, sadness and chaos all at the same time, but the viewer will be confused and become bored. By using the elements of design – line, shape, value, depth and colour to create a specific feeling, you hold the viewer’s eye. What is the difference between feeling and meaning? Feeling in a composition is not the same as meaning, or a composition’s message. And often the meaning of an artwork is not entirely understood without accompanying verbal or written information. Take, for example, Picasso’s painting Guernica, Paris, June 4, 1937 (shown on page 86). As you look at the composition you perceive the striking high value contrast, the bold outward thrust and its ‘boom’ and ‘clatter’. It is the visual dynamics coupled with the readability of the angular images – the bull, the horses, the broken figures and the anguished mother and child – that enables you to understand the composition’s feeling. It is clearly about violence and destruction, yet there is also a heroic, epic expression of anguish over the loss of lives. However, you might not realize that the painting depicts 130 Copyrighted Material

Feeling

the German bombing of a Spanish town, destroyed in 1937. Or you might not be able to interpret accurately Picasso’s symbolic use of imagery. Although this information may be significant to appreciate the painting more fully, it is not accessible just by looking at it. However, once a composition captures and holds the viewer’s attention, the viewer may wish to analyse it further. Spurred on by their interest, the viewer may investigate and collect information in order to get a better understanding of a specific work. But before this occurs, feeling must be clearly conveyed in order to hold their attention. In addition, an artist might not want to reveal a specific meaning or narrative. In Guernica, Picasso could have documented a singular event of horror and destruction by accurately rendering the details of the people and location involved. Instead, he captured and memorialized the anguish and futility inherent in all wars. By not including details to indicate a specific event, he has encouraged multiple interpretations. This is important, as is evident in Guernica, because it allows the viewer to transpose their own thoughts and memories on to a work of art. And when a composition’s meaning has multiple interpretations, it connects with a larger audience. Certainly, an artist may want to clarify a work’s meaning and the same elements used to create visual dynamics and feeling can help accomplish that. When you capture and hold the viewer’s eye, you can also convey meaning. But remember: the priority is to clarify feeling. Eye movement and flow to simplify feeling We have already discussed colour’s three contrasts – colour contrast (its intensity, or nameability), value contrast (the relationship of light to dark) and warm to cool contrast (temperature). High contrast creates variety and speeds up the eye movement through a composition. Low contrast creates similarity and slows the viewer’s eye to create flow. Fast eye movement is dominant, louder, more abrupt and demands the viewer’s attention. Flow, or slower eye movement, is passive, quieter and more fluid. And flow creates unity. As I discussed earlier in relation to happiness, feeling is dependent on motion – both its speed and direction. And speed and direction are dependent on the interaction between fast eye movement and slower flow. So, to simplify your choice of colour, you need to specify the feeling that you want to convey. As was demonstrated with happiness – a bouncy, bubbly, carefree happiness – clarity of feeling dictates the type of movement and, subsequently, the choice of colour. If you know the feeling that you want to create, colour is another tool to control eye movement and flow. To illustrate colour’s relationship to eye movement, flow and feeling, I would like to discuss two works by Bridget Riley. The first, titled Between the Two, is an abstract minimalist print that features curvilinear and rectilinear forms. Riley has repeated across the composition numerous diagonal, eye-like shapes. Their curved edges are echoed throughout. Also, there is an overall diagonal thrust, reinforced by straight, angled lines that link both the side to 131 Copyrighted Material


Bridget Riley Between the Two, 2005 Screenprint 12.75” x 30” © 2010 Bridget Riley. All rights reserved. Courtesy Karsten Schubert, London

side and the up and down movements of the arcs. It is the relationship between these shapes that moves the eye diagonally from lower left to upper right and then sweeps it up and back towards the left. And Riley’s use of the three colour contrasts has further emphasized the overall movement. For example, the areas with the highest value contrast – the dark green and the variations of blue next to the pale orange – dispersed throughout the composition, create a quick, abrupt eye movement. The areas with less value contrast – the dark green and blues next to bright orange – create a slower movement. The areas with the lowest value contrast – between the dark green and dark blue – create similarity, flow and the slowest movement. Also, the fast, diagonal movement that occurs between the areas with high value contrast comes forward, while the slow areas with low value contrast recede. The dispersal of this movement across the picture plane creates a rhythm of fast to slow, loud to soft, and front to back. And the artwork’s colour contrast echoes the same rhythmic motion. Notice the five distinct, nameable colors – bright orange, light cyan, dark cyan, purple-blue, and dark green. The sixth colour is a tinted shade of orange. It has been muted using both white and its complementary colour, and as a result is the most difficult to name. So the eye links the similar colours quickly, which also accentuates the diagonal, left to right movement. Of the six colours, the bright orange has the highest colour contrast, because it is both easy to name and has the fewest similarities with the other colours. So the eye moves quickly to the bright orange, which amplifies the abrupt movement already created by the high value contrast, 132 Copyrighted Material

Feeling

In example (A), the six colours of Bridget Riley’s Between the Two are compared to their corresponding values of light and dark.

A

causing the composition to pulsate. And the areas with slightly lower colour contrast – the dark green next to the variations of blue (they all share the colour blue) – slow the eye movement and accentuate the flow, because it takes the eye longer to distinguish the three blues from each other and to distinguish the blues from the green. So the colour contrast reiterates the fast to slow, loud to soft, hopscotch-like movement – the same motion created by the shapes and value contrast. Also, notice that the areas with low value contrast and those with low colour contrast are nearly identical. But the areas with high value contrast and those with high colour contrast are different. This discrepancy shifts attention from the tinted, pale orange with its high value contrast to the bright orange with its high colour contrast. This deliberate fluctuation defines both the speed and the direction of movement, causing the two different areas of high value contrast and high colour contrast to wobble quickly back and forth. Notice that the neutralized, pale orange is clearly differentiated from the other colours. While its yellow-orange character does link with the bright orange, it is the only neutralized colour, so it stands out. It does not move the eye as quickly as the other, easy to name colours. The pale orange creates slower motion and a quieter noise. However, the pale orange broadens the overall range of motion and noise. So the eye moves fastest and loudest through the areas with high colour contrast. Slower and quieter through the areas with low color contrast. And it moves slowest and quietest through the areas with the muted pale orange. 133 Copyrighted Material


Bridget Riley Evoe I, 1999-2000 Oil on linen 76.25” x 228.25” © 2010 Bridget Riley. All rights reserved. Courtesy Karsten Schubert, London

Also, eye movement and flow are similarly defined by temperature contrast. The highest warm to cool contrast – the warm, bright orange next to the cool blues – creates the quickest motion, as the bright orange pops forward, while the less vibrant, less warm, pale orange comes forward less quickly. And the subtle temperature shift between the dark green and cyan blues creates a slower and softer fluctuation when next to the purple-blue. The areas with high temperature contrast and those areas with low temperature contrast are identical to the areas with high and low colour contrast. And again, this consistency reinforces the rhythmic spatial fluctuation and the loud, snapping diagonal thrust. Finally, Riley’s colour palette creates a well balanced design because it has nearly equal amounts of value contrast, colour contrast and temperature contrast. And she has included orange, green, and purple – all secondary colours – which are of equal distance from each other on the colour wheel. Also, her use of the three blues acts to counter balance the warmth of the two orange colours. So, in Between the Two the three contrasts of colour control both eye movement and flow, and ultimately clarify feeling. Riley has created an overall movement that snaps and hums as the wavy forms pulsate rhythmically forward and back, across and upward. Yet even with the described movement, the composition feels simple and predictable, as the bright orange – both the colour and the shapes – consistently moves the eye quickly and comes forward, while the colours and shapes of the dark green and various blues slow the eye and recede. And the pale orange acts periodically to quell the motion and muffle the noise. The overall composition appears balanced and rhythmic, yet sporadically loud. It is reminiscent of colourful ribbons or kites snapping in the wind. But at times, it also seems to 134 Copyrighted Material

Feeling

In example (B), the four colours of Bridget Riley’s Evoe I are compared with their corresponding values of light and dark.

B

freeze momentarily. The movement, though buoyant and upbeat, is also formal and slightly constrained. Let’s compare another Riley painting, Evoe I with Between the Two. In Evoe I, the overall proportion is wider and more elongated than in Between the Two, but the design – the shapes and their placement across the picture plane – is nearly identical. The primary difference is the colour palette. In Evoe I, there are four discernible colours. Two are fairly high intensity and easy to name – blue and green. The other two, the pink and the pale, warm pink, are less intense and harder to name. While the four colours are easy to differentiate from each other, their intensity and nameability have been diminished, which reduces the colour contrast and speed of eye movement. And as the colour contrast is reduced, so too is the temperature contrast. In Evoe I, the muted pink and pale, warm pink are less intense and less warm than the bright orange in Between the Two, and because their intensity is diminished the warm to cool relationship is less dramatic. Of the three colour contrasts found in each artwork, it is their value contrasts that are most similar. In Evoe I, the movement still sweeps across and upward, but it is not as fast or loud. And it does not fluctuate forward and back as abruptly. So Evoe I has less variety and a diminished range of eye movement. Also, notice that Evoe I has less colour similarity. While Between the Two has three variations of blue and a bright and pale orange, Evoe I has two variations of pink. With less colour similarity it has less integration to create a softer, more fluid flow. In comparison to Between the Two, Evoe I has a limited range of both variety and similarity, and as a result, has a less complex movement. 135 Copyrighted Material


But in both, the colour is dispersed across the picture plane to create variety and balance. Yet the feeling of Evoe I is more difficult to pinpoint, because the contrasts are less extreme. So Evoe I moves less exuberantly, does not snap as loudly, and the overall movement is less complex and less graceful. The design still sweeps and flutters upward, but Riley’s colour choice calms the movement and suspends it. Her palette evokes more of a man-made interior than a natural environment. It is neither extremely happy nor sad. She has created a feeling of wistful melancholy that is calm and curiously dreamy. In the two similar compositions, Riley has used colour to evoke two distinctly different feelings. In each, colour combined with formal shapes, clarifies both eye movement and flow. It is also interesting to note that Riley has clarified feeling without any imagery. Remember: the three contrasts of colour create variety and similarity which controls how the viewer’s eye moves to and through a composition – how fast or slow, and in what direction. With colour, you create feeling by controlling both eye movement and flow. And as I said, when you know the feeling you want to evoke, colour can be used to create the type of movement necessary to depict it.


Chapter 8 Colour Systems


Philip Taaffe Scarabesque, 1993-94 Mixed media on canvas 76.25” x 104.5” © Philip Taaffe Courtesy Gagosian Gallery


COLOUR SYSTEMS What are colour systems?

S

o far, colour has been defined by its three contrasts – colour contrast, value contrast and temperature contrast. You have also started to analyse how these three contrasts relate to moving the eye, and subsequently, how colour creates feeling. A colour system is when there are two or more colours within a design, providing a context in which to compare them. And as the eye compares their intensity, value and temperature, the colour interactions create movement. Colours with high contrast are easily distinguished from one another, and the speed of movement between them is faster and more abrupt. Colours with less contrast have more similarities, creating a slower, more fluid movement between them. At this point it is necessary to discuss Colour Theory – the study of colour relationships. Colour theory explains the various colour systems and how colours react to one another. While there are many colour systems, I want to focus on a few of the most significant.

A

D

B

E

C



Colours and neutrals As I mentioned before, pure white, grey, and black are neutrals because they have no discernible colour base. And, when neutrals are next to colours, for example a pure grey next to a blue, there is no colour contrast or temperature contrast. Without any reason to compare their intensity or warm to cool contrast, the flow between colours and neutrals is diminished, because only value contrast remains. With limited elements to compare, the eye clearly separates colours from neutrals. This enables you to distinguish both the intensity and warm to cool characteristics of colour, without being influenced by the neutral. And as neutrals do not influence or interact with colours, the amount of motion and noise between colours and neutrals is reduced. In example (A), the colour blue is next to white. The colour blue looks blue and looks dark. In examples (B) and (C), the same blue is next to black and grey. The colour looks blue but appears less dark. In example (D), where colour is added to the neutral – a pinkish-grey – you see colour interaction and temperature interaction. Now the eye seeks to compare colour contrast, temperature contrast, and value contrast. As a result, there is more eye movement between them. In example (D), the same blue looks slightly brighter and cooler because the grey is warm. And the movement between them is slightly faster. Whereas in example (E), the blue next to a bluish-grey has less colour contrast and less warm to cool contrast. With more similarity, the movement between the colours is slower and more fluid. Also in (E), the blue looks slightly less intense and warmer because the grey is cool. As you add colour to a neutral, it creates colour and temperature interaction between the neutral and the surrounding colours and increases the movement between them. So you can stop colour interaction by using a colour next to a neutral – pure white, grey or black. Or, you can increase colour interaction by using a colour next to a neutral with a distinguishable colour base. Complementary colours or simultaneous contrast Complementary colours are exact opposites on the colour wheel. Opposites that when mixed together create a greyed, or muted, colour. Yet placed side by side, complementary colours have high colour contrast. For example, red next to green has both high colour contrast and high warm to cool contrast, but low value contrast. And with high contrast the two colors clearly separate from one another. However, the effect that complementary colours have on each other both intensifies and reduces their contrast. As opposites, like black and white, they contrast, yet simultaneously balance one another. Their polarization is accentuated by the physiology of our eyes. Our retinal apparatus enables us to perceive colour (the area using cone cells) and is particularly sensitive to complementary colours. For instance, when you see red, your cones, in effect, become imprinted with red. As the brain receives this message, the cones become fatigued 140 Copyrighted Material

Colour Systems

B

A

with red. To seek balance, the brain wants to see green, or the opposite of red. When you see green next to red, this visual desire is fulfilled, and it creates a pleasurable sensation. Because your eye seeks a colour’s opposite, it intensifies both the red and the green simultaneously. This heightens their contrast and the green appears greener and the red appears redder. So complementary colours simultaneously attract and separate from one another. This effect is known as ‘simultaneous contrast’. And you can accentuate simultaneous contrast by increasing the intensity of the complementary colours. Example (A) illustrates that the brighter the complementary colours, the faster the eye moves between them. And when

In examples (C) and (D), the movement within each design is accentuated using complementary colours. In both, the movement pulsates and the noise hums and buzzes.

C

D

Kaitlin Spellman


Christopher A. Castillo


two complementary colours share a similar value, they are integrated through similarity. In example (A), the eye responds to the fast, high contrast colour relationships and to the slower similarity of value. This skews the balance, and there is a noticeable buzzing sensation. In example (B), even where one colour is muted, the colours still intensify each other. Another interesting phenomenon occurs as the cones tire of a particular colour. There remains an after-image of the colour – its opposite. If you stare at an orange shape for twenty seconds and then close your eyes, you will see blue. The more intense the colour, the more vibrant its after-image. Discordant colours Another colour system that accentuates the movement of the eye between colours is discord. Discordance means that the motion produced between colours is not simply fast, but agitated. Discordant colours, like complementary colours, seem to attract and separate from each other simultaneously. But these effects are not equal and balanced as with complementary colours. Simply, discordant colours do not work well together. Quite often, discordant colours are nearly complementary, but instead of being directly opposite on the colour wheel, they are shifted slightly to one side or the other. In example (A), purple is discordant

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B

In examples (C) and (D), colour discord creates visual agitation. In (C), the tight cropping, the figures’ looking in different directions and the discordant colours all accentuate the composition’s unsettling feeling. Notice in example (D), that both complementary colours and discordant colours are used. This artwork combines the fast, pleasurable movement of complementary colours and the hesitation caused by discordant colours to heighten its chaotic feeling. So to reinforce a sense of discord, include multiple opposing elements, such as areas that are fast and slow and noisy and quiet, or nameable and muted colours. The more complex and chaotic the movement, the more disconcerting the sensation. 142 Copyrighted Material

Colour Systems

C

Scott Warren

D

Tara Judge

with yellow-orange. In example (B), red is discordant with blue-green (cyan). Discordant colours create a sense of uneasiness because they are almost opposite. It is an unresolved or agitated relationship, because the eye wants to see a colour’s opposite, but with discordant colours this desire is unfulfilled. The eye continually returns to reanalyse discordant colours because their relationship is almost pleasurable. This unsettling colour relationship is even greater when colours share either high intensity or similar value. Notice in example (A), the higher the intensity, the faster the eye moves between discordant colours and the greater the agitation. In example (B), the interaction between discordant colours of similar value is also disconcerting. The eye slows down to join similar values, while struggling to reconcile the relationship between the almost complementary colours. Remember: complementary colours evoke pleasure as they simultaneously attract and separate from each other. And, like complementary colours, discordant colours also speed up eye movement, but at the same time create a sense of agitation. Harmony Traditionally, harmony is created with analogous colours or those that are next to each other on the colour wheel. Harmony is based on similarity. For example, yellow and yellow-orange share a common yellow characteristic. The more similarities that colours have in common, the more the eye links or integrates them and the slower, more fluid the movement between them. Analogous colours produce the most potent sense of harmony. But harmony also exists between colours with similar intensities, similar values or similar temperatures. Any similarity between colours creates flow and softens the movement between them. For example, if all of the colours in a composition are warm, there will be harmony because of their like temperatures. So colour harmony controls how slowly the eye moves (when there are more similarities) or how fast (when there are less similarities), or variety. 143 Copyrighted Material


A

Patrick Vail

B

Yoon Young Lee

Examples (A) and (B) feature analogous colours to create colour harmony. In example (A), yellow is the dominant colour because it is in the tints and shades, from yellow-green to dark blue-green. In (B), the cool colours progress from a brighter, warmer blue to violet. Due to the similarities of line, shape and color which create overall harmony, the eye flows slowly through both compositions.

And you can integrate high contrast colours with harmony by depicting a progression of colour similarities. You can integrate yellow and blue by making visible the series of colours between them (yellow, yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue). So low colour contrast, low value contrast and low temperature contrast create harmony and slow down the eye movement to accentuate flow. Colour balance Remember: as you analyse colour palettes or colour choices, that the eye desires both variety and balance, like for example in a composition with 50-50 light to dark contrast or complementary colours. It is pleasurable to see an array of colours dispersed across the colour spectrum. A series of light and dark colours, warm and cool colours or a rainbow of pigments satisfies the eye’s desire for variety and balance.


Colour Systems

This is an example of a triadic colour system, with red, yellow and blue. It has high colour contrast, high value contrast and high temperature contrast, as well as colour balance. Notice that the three colours are used against a neutral, or white background. This diminishes the colour interaction and creates a deliberate, less fluid movement.

Imi Knoebel Untitled, from the series ‘Gelb/Rot/Blau’, 1993 Screenprint on carton 36.625” x 25.56” Deutsche Bank Collection © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Triadic colour systems A triadic colour system is a three-colour system based on colour balance, because the three colours used are always at equal distance from each other on the colour wheel. Just as red, yellow, and blue are at equal distances from each other on the colour wheel, so are greenyellow, blue-violet and red-orange. In a triadic system, the three colours are as far apart from each other as possible. And when triadic colours are mixed together, they create grey. A triadic colour system has high value contrast, colour contrast, temperature contrast and colour balance – all desirable attributes to the eye. This is similar to the 50-50 light to dark balance described earlier, in terms of optimal value contrast. A triadic system has a visually dynamic colour relationship that maintains a fast, abrupt and consistent eye movement from one colour to the next. 145 Copyrighted Material


Megan Talley

A

B

C

D

E

F

In addition to colour contrast, value contrast and temperature contrast, these examples demonstrate how specific colour systems affect the movement to and through a composition in different ways. Example (A) is the original design and has a harmonious colour palette – red, red-orange, orange, yellow and a warm, yellowish neutral. The movement is slow, quiet and fluid. In example (B), the warm neutral has been changed to pure white, so it no longer has a colour base. Without the yellowish neutral, the movement is stifled. Although the individual colours are clearly nameable, the interaction between them has been reduced. In example (C), yellow has replaced the original neutral. Now there is colour interaction, and the once slow and fluid motion quickens and begins to hum. In example (D), green has replaced the yellow to create a complementary colour system. In the areas with complementary colours, the movement is faster and the composition begins to buzz. Example (E) also has a complementary colour system and illustrates how the warm, high intensity red comes quickly forward while the cool blues and greens recede. As a result, the motion is intermittently fast and slow. It quietly buzzes and fluctuates spatially forward and back. Example (F) has both colour discord and a triadic colour system. Notice the balance, as the colors – green, purple and orange – are equal distance from each other on the colour wheel. Yet there is also a sense of agitation, because of the discordant colour pairings – yellow-green and red-pink, purple and pale yellow-orange, and yellow-green and pale yellow-orange. Here the movement is fast, balanced and slightly unsettling. 146 Copyrighted Material

Colour Systems

Summary of colour Colour is defined by three contrasts – colour contrast, value contrast and warm to cool contrast. Colour contrast: High colour contrast occurs between pure colours of the visible spectrum. Pure colours are represented in pigment on the colour wheel and are the most intense, the brightest and the most easily named. To lessen colour contrast, or diminish the intensity, a colour is muted by adding white, black or its complementary colour. A colour of low intensity (low contrast) is less easily named. Neutrals – black, white, and pure grey – have no colour contrast and no discernible colour base. Value contrast: All colours inherently possess value – light or dark properties. To lighten, or tint, the value of any colour, add white. To darken, or shade, any colour, add black or its complementary colour. But if you create a tint, or shade, you also diminish the colour contrast. Warm to cool contrast: Temperature contrast is based on a colour’s relationship to fire or water. Colours with yellow or red are considered warm (colours associated with fire). Colours that have some amount of blue are considered cool (those associated with water). But the properties of warm and cool are more accurately described when two colours are compared. The warmth of a colour is based on its temperature in comparison to another colour. Also, warm colours move the eye faster than cool colours and help accentuate the illusion of depth. Warm colours come forward, while cool colours recede. Feeling to guide your choice of colour The interaction between the three contrasts of colour affects the relationships between contrast, motion and noise in a number of ways. For example, when you alter colour contrast, or intensity, you affect both value contrast and temperature contrast. It is easier to think of these colour interactions in terms of movement. Do you want a fast or slow motion? Should it be calm or agitated? Should it be a series of ‘booms’, or should it produce a quiet ‘hum’ with a few bright, singular notes? The answer depends on the feeling that you want to evoke. If you want a faster, more abrupt eye movement, you heighten the contrast with variety. If you want a slower, more graceful flow, you lessen the contrast with similarity. So colour clarifies feeling. And, conversely, feeling guides your choice of colour. Colour systems: When there are two or more colours within a composition, there is a context in which to compare them. The study of colour relationships is known as ‘colour theory’. Colour theory explains the various colour systems and how colours work together. Neutrals 147 Copyrighted Material


combined with colours produce the least amount of colour interaction and movement, because both colour contrast and temperature contrast are negligible. Complementary and discordant colours have the highest contrast and simultaneously separate from and attract each other. Harmonious colours have the least contrast and create slow movement between them. And triadic colour systems, or colour balance are those that have a well balanced variety of colour and are evenly distributed on the colour wheel. Colour, feeling and sex, death, food and all things cuddly Previously, I discussed two works by Bridget Riley in which colour combined with formal shapes clarifies feeling. And even without imagery, Riley’s work clearly evokes feeling. But now let’s discuss how sex, death, food and all things cuddly combined with visual dynamics and colour create eye movement to and through a composition. As I have said, imagery can often override visual dynamics, because the eye is immediately drawn to a human figure, an element that threatens, a favourite dessert or a cute, cuddly animal. But as images capture our attention, they can also carry with them a multitude of associations and evoke a wide range of feeling. An image or design that lacks clarity of feeling can lead to confusion and loss of interest in the viewer. So by using imagery it is likely that you will move the viewer’s eye to your composition; however, without clarity of feeling you will not hold the viewer’s attention. To harness the potency of imagery, it remains necessary to specify the movement to and through a composition, in order to clarify how you want the imagery to be perceived. By combining imagery with visual dynamics, you will hold the viewer’s attention with clarity of feeling. In the section that follows are several contemporary works of art that illustrate this concept. In Glenn Brown’s painting Special Needs, two dogs pose in front of a dramatic sky of muted primary colours. Both dogs, seen from the front, look in the direction of the viewer, yet slightly to the left. Within the oval shaped canvas, the area with the highest light to dark contrast occurs between the sky and the dogs. This brings attention to and clarifies the readability of the two animals. They are large, nearly half the size of the composition, and located in the lower central portion of the canvas where they rest on a dark, stone plinth. The dogs and the stone easily integrate, with their similarity of warm colours (yellows to rust-browns) and their similarity of value. A downward movement is emphasized as the eye joins the dark colours of the dogs with the darker stone mass to create a heavy stillness. But this stillness is put into contrast by the obsessive mark-making seen in the detailed rendering of the dogs’ fur. The multi-valued, repetitive lines activate the painted surface to create a vibrating ‘chatter’. The obsessive marks and the clarity of detail captures the viewer’s attention, and the dogs come quickly forward while the lower contrast of the sky recedes into the distance. So first you see the dogs, with their recognizable shapes and peculiar clarity of detail. They are warm, high contrasting images that quickly capture the eye. You then notice the subtle similarity between the brushstrokes of their fur and the brushstrokes that create 148 Copyrighted Material

Colour Systems

Glenn Brown Special Needs, 2002 Oil on panel 40.7” x 33.5” © Glenn Brown Courtesy Gagosian Gallery

the fluttering motion of the sky. And additional similarities integrate the dogs and the background, including similarity of colour – yellow with yellow, muted reds with muted reds, and dark blue with cool blacks. Once the eye moves to the background, you quickly follow the radial spokes of the clouds to the edge of the picture plane. The sky’s outward movement and smouldering noise is reminiscent of a battle scene. But your eye is drawn back to the stoic dogs. There is a disconcerting heaviness to the pair. It is interesting how they seem to separate from their surroundings and then tentatively reconnect to the dramatic sky. This occurs as a result of colour discord – the muted red, orange and mustard yellow palette of the dogs against the blues, greens, reds, and yellows of the sky reemphasize an uneasiness. It is also an unusual choice to use an oval frame in contemporary art. It is a shape that is often seen in historical portrait paintings. But it centres and formally references the dogs’ curvilinear form. So the canvas’s shape, the choice of subject matter, the painterly touch, value contrast and colour system create a curious mix. The painting is visually dynamic, yet has many contradictory elements. The dogs seem calm and still, yet the mark-making is obsessive and noisy. Throughout, the colour is warm, yet the discordant palette creates agitation. The dark, heavy mass of the dogs creates a loud ‘boom’, the brushstrokes of their fur have a forceful 149 Copyrighted Material

Gary Hume Kate, 1996 Gloss paint and paper on aluminum panel 82.125“ x 46.06” © Gary Hume Courtesy White Cube Photo: Stephen White


Colour Systems

‘chatter’ and the sky produces a ‘whir’ and a sombre ‘drone’. What is the artist depicting? Is this a humble portrait of two beloved pets? Is this possibly a testament to a heroic deed? But the monumental heaviness and downward movement, the high value contrast, warm colours and repetitive mark-making create a composition that is fast and loud. This is not just a charming and sweet portrait of two dogs. And the artist’s use of fast, nameable colours and deliberate discord between the dogs and the sky is busy and unsettling – it is not simply triumph and joy. The painting is simultaneously fast and still, sweet yet eerie, heroic and humble, real and surreal. It appears to revel in contradictions. The coupling of the dogs’ imposing forms with the frenetic touch creates an awkward moment. The painting expresses affection, love, even honour, yet the obsessiveness and oddly intense adoration feels uncomfortably personal and sad. So, with visual dynamics, the artist moves the eye to and through the composition and holds the eye by clarifying feeling. A very different approach is taken with Gary Hume’s Kate. Here Hume has simplified the image of a woman into a series of flat shapes that lessen the readability of the subject. Her recognizability has been further diminished with the artist’s minimal use of value and colour contrast – the light to dark grey seen in the figure’s arms, face and torso. Even the face is smudged, purposefully, to obscure any identifying features, such as the eyes, nose and mouth. And the bikini top is the same colour and value as the background, to integrate and actively conflate the relationship between figure and ground. The dark green shape of her neck, nearly centred within the composition, is accentuated because it is a nameable colour with high value contrast – dark against a light grey. So it quickly draws the eye, just like the orange crescent above the figure’s head that has both high colour and high temperature contrast. Then you notice that the same warm to cool, light to dark shift is repeated, though to a lesser extent, between the figure’s arm bent behind her head (a warm light grey), her torso and her other arm (a dark, cool grey). Hume has also altered the spatial relationships, as the dark green and the orange come forward, while the arms, torso and face initially recede. This controls how the eye moves through the composition and how the figure is perceived. Your eye slowly wavers between taking in the overall form and focusing on various parts of her body. The simplicity of the figure should make this a fast composition. But Hume slows the eye by reducing the figure’s readability and by using a predominantly grey, or less nameable, palette. There is a subtle play of movement as the spatial order of elements fluctuate; some areas come forward and then receed. And this movement links to a slow, circular motion as the eye connects the organic grey shapes. This kind of movement evokes a curiously dreamy yet bland, melancholic feeling. As you acknowledge the painting’s title, Kate, you wonder if this is a celebrity or simply the artist’s model. Should you recognize the woman? And is her pose and choice of clothing a clue to her identity? You have probably noticed that contemporary art is often based on provoking questions (i.e. it is conceptual). What motivated Warhol to paint 200 soup cans, for example? And, as with Warhol’s painting, the intent or meaning behind Gary Hume’s Kate remain elusive 151 Copyrighted Material


because they are not visually evident. As I have said before, you may become interested in a particular artwork and then search for additional information concerning the artist’s working methods or specific intent. But for the purposes of this book I am discussing the basic principles of the visual arts based strictly on observation. I want to underscore that the element that holds your attention is clarity of feeling. Although it may be difficult to name, it is the painting’s feeling that holds your attention. So the feeling evoked in Kate is an empty calmness. The artist has quietened her. He toys with her beauty like arranging puzzle pieces. Hume has devoted the entire picture plane to her, but chooses to obscure her identity. He has created an icon for beauty, but it is a nondescript, faceless symbol of beauty. And by enticing the viewer to ask questions, Hume encourages the viewer to become an active participant. Hume’s painting seems to wallow in questions. He seems to ask: what is beauty? How far can I simplify beauty, reduce it or mask it before it disappears? And Hume makes visual this deliberation. In Sarah Morris’s Aluminium Fence (Purple), she has created a composition with high value contrast and high colour nameability, but a neutral versus colour palette – purple and white. The overall repetition and the similarity of line and shape (monotony of pattern) reduce the directional motion. And high contrast combined with excessive repetition creates a static

Sarah Morris Aluminium Fence (Purple), 1997 Gloss household paint on canvas 48” x 48” © Sarah Morris Courtesy White Cube Photo: Stephen White


Colour Systems

buzzing sensation. You quickly recognize the image, reaffirmed by the title, Aluminium Fence. Its readability is slightly altered by the artist’s colour choice – a pinkish-purple (an intense tertiary colour) in the background. The colour’s associations are confusing. Imagine if she had used green, blue, black or brown as the negative space; any of these colour choices would be indicative of a natural setting and would increase the readability. For example, you would see the fence against a field of grass, a blue sky, a night sky, or brown dirt. However, the purple indicates a scenario that is difficult to name. You know that purple exists in reality, but it rarely occurs outdoors, especially in such large quantities and in close proximity to a chain-link fence. So the implication is that the fence is located in front of a specific type of space, such as an arcade, salon or boutique. The colour makes the painting conceptually complex and therefore slows the immediacy of recognition. The combination of this familiar image with an intense purple-pink colour creates a simple, fast, yet curious composition. By tempering the immediacy of recognition, the artist has evoked a peculiar, giddy feeling.

Wayne Thiebaud Delicatessen Counter, 1962 Oil on canvas 30.25” x 36.25” Art © Wayne Thiebaud / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY Photo: Hickey-Robertson, Houston Photo credit: The Menil Collection, Houston



In Wayne Thiebaud’s painting Delicatessen Counter, the composition is predominantly quiet. Overall, it is slow moving with areas of low colour contrast and low value contrast, as seen in the light, warm and cool greys of the counter, shelf and background. But there is high contrast in the large wheel of orange cheese. Its high colour contrast and high warm to cool contrast against its surroundings quickly draw the viewer’s attention. By heightening both colour contrast and warm to cool contrast, Thiebaud quickens the eye movement and creates a momentary ‘pop’ amongst the slow moving tones in the background. He also alters the spatial order by moving the eye quickly towards the back of the composition by means of the cheese wheel’s intense warm oranges. At first, the cheese recedes in the picture plane due to scale change, overlapping and linear perspective, but it quickly comes forward because of its nameability, intensity and warmth. And, the cheese wheel’s colour gradation from yellow-orange, to orange, to red-orange readily links it to the other intense reds seen on the numbered placards and in the thin lines around the sausages and empty white trays. This fast, back and forth movement is further accentuated by the intense blues, dark blues and cool blue-greys in the cast shadows of the cheese, the sausages, and the trays. And because these colours are intense and easily nameable, they attract the eye quickly, yet their cool temperature forces them back. This slow to fast spatial fluctuation activates a composition that would otherwise be still and quiet. In addition, Thiebaud’s thickly layered paint application evokes directional mark-making. The texture of the paint, its slow pastiness, mimics the characteristics of a frosted cake. By sculpting and caressing the forms equally, Thiebaud integrates the entire composition while simultaneously drawing attention to the food and making it more alluring. Thiebaud’s sporadic urgency of colour and temperature contrast, the fluctuation of motion from fast to slow and forward to back, and the barren simplicity of lines and forms against the slower, low contrast background create a curious range of motion. As the eye hops back and forth in this otherwise slow composition, Thiebaud entices you with a brief spark of exhilaration, yet he tempers it with the pervasive hum of monotony. The cheese still draws your attention, the intense blues flicker forward and back, but the abundance and glamour of the food has all but vanished. Your initial interest fades as you take in the emptiness. Yet, the warmth and intensity of the cheese entices you again. Thiebaud continually draws your attention, inviting you to reinvestigate as the feeling fluctuates between anticipation and disappointment. In Eric Fischl’s The Old Man’s Boat and the Old Man’s Dog, there are five nude and partially nude young male and female figures sprawled across a boat deck with a dog – a dalmatian – that is standing and barking. The figures draw your attention with their recognizable forms, high value contrast and warm to cool relationships. Placed horizontally in the middle of the composition, is a large female figure. She is lying on her side with her back to the viewer. Her buttocks are accentuated, with their high value contrast and warm to cool shift. The two men in the back of the boat are seen moving towards the left. Their similarity is accentuated because of their nearly identical high colour contrast – the red-orange against tinted yellow154 Copyrighted Material

Eric Fischl The Old Man’s Boat and the Old Man’s Dog, 1982 Oil on canvas 84” x 84” © Eric Fischl



pink – which indicates their sunburned arms and legs. Next to them is a male figure whose right knee is bent to prop up his arm. The last figure is a blonde haired woman in a blue bikini and orange life jacket. She is leaning against the bottom left edge of the picture plane with a fishing pole tucked between the toes of her right foot. Fischl uses scale change, overlapping and the boat’s perspective to establish the illusion of three-dimensional space. The picture plane, divided into three large triangular sections – the boat, ocean and sky – reinforces the spatial order from the largest, closest and most attention-grabbing area to the smallest, furthest and least eye-catching. By synchronizing the spatial order with eye movement, Fischl has created a slow, deep space that convincingly moves the eye from foreground, to middle ground, and finally to the background. But there is also a side to side motion as the eye moves abruptly from one element of high contrast to the next. For example, the eye moves from the intense orange of the figures and orange life vest to the intense blue horizontal line on the deck and to the blue ocean. So the eye moves from side to side and then back to the ocean. In addition, the colour contrast and subsequent movement intensifies where the complementary colours orange and blue are next to each other. And the areas with high value contrast – the cast shadows of the figures, their dark hair and the dalmatian’s black spots – move the eye vigorously across the composition. Together, the high colour contrast and high value contrast creates a series of brisk, loud snaps, while the areas with low colour contrast and low value contrast – the ocean, sky and light skin tones – move the eye slowly, like a murmur. The figures, their placement and postures move the eye from large to small and from front to back. The figures also create continuity, as the eye follows the path of their flesh tones both vertically and horizontally. This movement echoes the side to side and front to back motion established by the areas with high contrast, albeit more softly and fluidly. The painting’s nearly 50-50 light to dark contrast is heightened by the high colour contrast of orange and blue. Its complementary colour palette quickens the composition and further integrates the figures and the foreground with the ocean and sky in the background. Although naked, the figures do not seem to be physically engaged with each other. Most appear to be self-absorbed with the exception of the two men in the back of the boat who are reaching for something just beyond the left side of the picture plane. And lastly there is the dog, whose form quickly moves the eye to the right because of its recognizability, variety (in its speckled black and white coat) and implied movement – its teeth are bared, possibly because it’s barking as it steps across the right leg of the larger central female. As the eye shifts to the right, your attention is directed to the darkening sky and the raised swells of the water. As you explore Fischl’s narrative, you deduce a scenario in which a group of friends went boating – a day in the sun to drink, fish and relax. As the day progressed, the figures became either tired from the sun or drunk. At least one, you might surmise, has passed out. And as the waves rise, the sky darkens, the dog barks and some of the figures begin to stir, there is an awkward moment as they become aware of their situation. And Fischl has used visual dynamics to clarify this feeling. He has composed the painting to move the eye back and forth 156 Copyrighted Material

Colour Systems

from calm to agitated, front to back and side to side like the ocean itself. A sense of urgency is created by the three contrasts of colour and the recognizable forms. The eye-catching and easily identifiable figures, dog, ocean and sky commingle with the passive flow created by the similarity of flesh tones and the integration of the colours and values of the ocean and sky. Both eye movement and flow have the same front to back and side to side motion, yet there are two speeds that amplify the specific rhythmic motion. And the contrasting speeds of motion also accentuate the contrast between the elements that evoke agitation – the dark angular waves, the man moving on hands and knees, the barking dog, and the orange and blue colour contrast and with those that evoke calmness – the passive figure in the middle, the nonchalance of the figure who is drinking and the woman casually fishing. By moving the eye both abruptly and slowly side to side, and back and forth, the artist is allowing the viewer to become actively involved in the scenario. You almost hear the waves slap and feel the boat pitch back and forth. Fischl has conveyed a particular feeling without being sentimental. He is not creating a tragic, funny or vague image. It is the moment of awareness when a situation is on the verge of tragedy. And, just like the figures in the painting, you too must quickly piece together the threat of danger. It is this precise state of awareness when the feeling of panic is most potent. Fischl has painted this moment. Understanding what captures the viewer’s eye is the basis of visual dynamics and the basis of art. But it is only the beginning. As you learn to move the eye, your ability and confidence will grow. Yet art does not reside here. You must learn to use the elements of visual dynamics to express yourself clearly. Just like the artists whose work I have discussed, to hold the viewer’s attention you must convey a specific feeling. While subject matter, like sex, death, food and all things cuddly may initially capture the viewer’s attention, it is the clarity of feeling that holds the viewer’s eye. And achieving clarity is perhaps the most difficult task for an artist to accomplish. With this in mind, it is important that you understand how to simplify clarity of feeling by using the concept of visual dynamics. Have you got the viewer’s attention? Have you created contrast, motion and noise? How loud or quiet do you want your composition? How fast and in what direction do you want the eye to move? And finally, have you clarified feeling? Simple enough questions, but they are extremely important. And it all starts with the ability to move the eye.



Shaver


Design A Visual Primer Buy Shaver

Buy Shaver is Professor in the Foundation Program at The University of the Arts, Philadelphia.

ISBN 978-1-84150-363-9


An overview of the visual arts fundamentals, Moving the Eye Through 2-D Design provides a step-by-step approach to understanding what causes us to look at a painting, photograph, or any two-dimensional media and what is needed to maintain visual interest. This volume introduces a goal-oriented method that applies aspects of line, shape, value and colour directly to moving the viewer’s eye to and through a composition. With this method, artists learn to incorporate feeling into the creative process from the outset rather than leaving it as a subjective afterthought. Equally applicable to the fine arts, applied arts and digital media, Moving the Eye Through 2-D Design provides a simple and comprehensive methodology through which artists can create dynamic art.


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Buy Shaver

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