EMPHASIS
Part of this semesters work was putting together a presentation as a team, our word to research was EMPHASIS.
The other groups had to research - in no particular order :
- Perspective
- Rhythm
- Light
- Contrast
- Colour
- Composition
- Unity & Harmony
- Size & Proportion
- Balance
Emphasis can be achieved in an art work through using one or more of the above:
Emphasis = Perspective, Light, Contrast, Colour, Composition
Perspective = Light, Contrast, Colour, Composition, Size & Proportion
The above process can be applied to each word.
There are a number of ways the artist can achieve emphasis, some example of this could be :
Emphasis through value
Through isolation
Through shape
Through size
A great example of emphasis and how it is applied can be found in Leonardo da Vinci painting of The Last Supper.
da Vinci,Leonardo. 1498. The Last Supper. [online image].leonardoda-vinci.org.
Available from: http://www.leonardoda-vinci.org/The-Last-Supper-1498.html
[Accessed 5 February 2012]
In the above painting the central character of Jesus is emphasised in a number of ways:
- Isolation is used by grouping the other characters.
- The centre window in the background is larger than the other two.
- The colours used for his clothing are strongly contrasting
- The perspective of the painting directs the viewers eyes to the image of Jesus.
The Presentation
(my part in it's down fall)
Painting
a symphony
a synesthetes view
a synesthetes view
“…All
worthy works of art employ
emphasis for, lacking this principle, a piece seems monotonous and boring to
the eye.” (Esaak [no date])
Esaak, S.[no
date].Emphasis-Art
History.[online]. About.com.
Available from: http://arthistory.about.com/cs/glossaries/g/e_emphasis.htm [Accessed 14
February 2012]
Conductor Carl St.Clair and Orchestra by September McGee
McGee, S.[no date]. Conductor
Carl St.Clair and Orchestra.[oil on Senso linen].[online image]. Septembermcgee.com.
Available from: http://www.septembermcgee.com/gallery/shopexd.asp?id=418 [Accessed 15 February 2012]
A traditional view of emphasis can be seen here in this
painting by September McGee, the conductor is standing isolated from the other
musicians, to the forefront off the painting and his out stretched armed leads
you into the rest of the work and represents September McGee’s view of an
orchestra. But is there an alternative
way we could view such a scene? And is there alternative ways to view emphasis?
One alternative way would be to view emphasis through the eyes of a synesthete.
So who or what is a synesthete? The term
synesthete derives from the word synaesthesia, which in its self is the
marriage of two ancient Greek words Syn – together and aesthesis – sensory and
refers to the automatic and involuntary joining of the senses experienced by a
synesthete. There are more than 60 variations of synaesthesia but the one I
will be concentrating on is sound – vision or more precisely music-colour
synaesthesia.
That
was the introduction of Vivaldi’s concerto for four violins, for most the experience there will be
hearing the music and looking at the picture on the screen- with the possibility
of some earache if you don’t like classical music- this however is how the
Dutch artist and musician Anne Salz visually sees the music.
Vivaldi by Anne Salz
Salz, A.(2004).Vivaldi.[oil on board].[online image].anne-salz.nl. Available
from : http://www.anne-salz.nl/uk_gallery_3.htm [Accessed 15 February 2012]
Here
I must stress that the music does not enhance the painting process, the music
is the painting, this is what she physically sees as the music plays. At first
glance there is no apparent area of emphasis, it is only when you study it that
you realise it is continually changing as your eyes pick out new shapes and
colours in the same way as the music changes and so the area of emphasis is
continually changing.
David Hockney
McCabe, E.(2012).David Hockney.[photograph].[online
image].gaurdian.co.uk. Available from : http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/jan/13/david-hockney-life-in-art [Accessed 17 February 2012]
Another
more recognisable synesthete is this guy, David Hockney. I specifically picked
him because if there is one artist who has been successful doing things “how he
sees it” it’s him. David Hockneys music-colour synaesthesia takes the form of
colour-shape and configuration.
Turandot Stage Set by David Hockney
Hockney, S.(1992). Turandot-Stage Set.[online image].
hockneypictures.com. Available from: http://www.hockneypictures.com/turandot.php# [Accessed 15 February 2012]
Although
he says he only allows it to influence him when painting stage sets, having
looked at his other work I suspect he allows it to creep in more often. An
example of how he uses it can be seen in this painting of the design for
Puccini’s Turandot stage set, ignoring the stairs which are a necessary part of
the stage he uses the shapes formed by the music to create much more subtle
emphasis, if you follow them they take you to the door way at the top of the
stairs.
Snails space with
vari-lites by David Hockney
Hockney, S.(1992). Snails
space with vari-lites.[oil on two canvases,
acrylic on canvas-covered masonite, wood dowels].[online image]. Smithsonian American Art Museum
. Available from: http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=71863
[Accessed 15 February
2012]
Another
less than traditional approach to creating emphasis in an art work can be seen
here, when viewed in this manner there is no focal point/ area of emphasis, it
is not until the work is view as the artist intended that emphasis is created
through the use of lighting.
Cosmic Synchromy by Morgan Russell
Russell, M.(1913).Cosmic
Synchromy.[oil on
canvas].[online image].The Athenaeum. Available
from: http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=27409# [Accessed 17
February 2012]
The
link between music, colour and art is not a new concept, synchromism was an art
movement started by Morgan Russell and Stanton McDonald-Wright in 1`913-14,
they believed that just as music has a set of scales so too does colour and a
painting could be composed in the same manner a symphony is composed.
It is most common for synchromism art works to have some sort of central vortex that bursts outward with colour, into complex colour harmonies. Which suggests the centre of this painting is the area of emphasis.
It is most common for synchromism art works to have some sort of central vortex that bursts outward with colour, into complex colour harmonies. Which suggests the centre of this painting is the area of emphasis.
Mary Blair
[unknown].(1941?).Mary Blair at work.[photograph].[online image].Unapologetically Female - life through a feminist lens.Available from: http://www.unapologeticallyfemale.com/2007/07/feminism-friday-female-animators.html [Accessed 17 February 2012]
The best way to sum
up I think is with the quote attributed to Albert Einstein “Logic will get you
from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.” With the emphasis on
imagination.
As with any subject building a solid foundation in the basics allows for future development and experimentation. At the heart of colour basics lies the colour wheel, first introduced by Sir Isaac Newton in a series of experiments published in 1672. Newton’s colour wheel not only showed colour but he also linked it to music and the Zodiac.
An exploration of Colour, composition, unity & harmony, balance, size &
proportion, rhythm, contrast, perspective, light.
Colour
Where to begin with such a vast subject? What is colour
might be a good place to start.
Colour occurs when an object reflects light back to our eyes
at certain wave lengths, so lighting has a direct bearing on how we perceive a
colour. If for example we painted a landscape scene in which we wanted to give
the appearance of a cloudy, over cast day we would use less saturated colours
than if we wanted to portray the same scene as being a bright sunny day.
As with any subject building a solid foundation in the basics allows for future development and experimentation. At the heart of colour basics lies the colour wheel, first introduced by Sir Isaac Newton in a series of experiments published in 1672. Newton’s colour wheel not only showed colour but he also linked it to music and the Zodiac.
It was not until 1810 and the publication of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe treatise on colour that any challenge to Newtons theory of colour was published. Whilst Newton concentrated on the physics of colour, Goethe explored how we perceive colour, the emotional effects and colour harmony.
In modern day terms Johannes
Itten 1888 – 1967 has had a great impact on colour theory, in his book The
Art of Colour: The Subjective Experience and Objective Rationale of Colour Itten
includes colour wheels, stars and spheres to support his theories on hue,
saturation and contrast. Ittens colour wheel was incorporated into computer
operating systems. I also think his quote from the book introduction is of
great value “if you are un-knowingly able to create master pieces in colour,
then un-knowledge is your way. But if you are unable to create masterpieces of colour
out of your un-knowledge, then you ought to look for knowledge”.
Colour schemes
Colour theory states
that to achieve colour harmony use any two colours that are opposite
each other on the colour wheel, any three colours that are equally spaced
around the colour wheel forming a triangle, or any four colours forming a
rectangle.
Classic colour schemes are:
1.
Monochromatic: based on variations in lightness and
saturation of a single colour.
Analogous: colours that are adjacent to each other.
Complementary: two colours that are opposite each other.
Split Complementary: variation of complimentary where by the two adjacent colours of the
opposite colour are used.
Tetradic (Double Complementary): two pairs of complimentary colours.
Triadic: three colours
equally spaced around the colour wheel.
A great way to see how some of the more famous artists use colour is at colourlovers.com; members take a famous painting and attempt to reproduce the artist’s palette.
From a design point of view an awareness of colour symbolism and target audience is essential as different cultures, age groups and social groups react differently to certain colours.
Red
- China: Good luck, celebration, summoning
- Cherokees: Success, triumph
- India: Purity
- South Africa: Colour of mourning
- Russia: Bolsheviks and Communism
- Eastern: Worn by brides
- Western: Excitement, danger, love, passion, stop, Christmas (with green)
Orange
- Ireland: Religious (Protestants)
- Western: Halloween (with black), creativity, autumn
Yellow
- China: Nourishing
- Egypt: Colour of mourning
- Japan: Courage
- India: Merchants
- Western: Hope, hazards, coward
Green
- China: Green hats indicate a man's wife is cheating on him, exorcism
- India: Islam
- Ireland: Symbol of the entire country
- Western: Spring, new birth, go, Saint Patrick's Day, Christmas (with red)
Blue
- Cherokees: Defeat, trouble
- Iran: Colour of heaven and spirituality
- Western: Depression, sadness, conservative, corporate, "something blue" bridal tradition
Purple
- Thailand: Colour of mourning (widows)
- Western: Royalty
White
- Japan: White carnation symbolizes death
- Eastern: Funerals
- Western: Brides, angels, good guys, hospitals, doctors, peace (white dove)
Black
- China: Colour for young boys
- Western: Funerals, death, Halloween (with orange), bad guys, rebellion
