The Presentation

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 :

1. Perspective
2. Rhythm
3. Light
4. Contrast
5. Colour
6. Composition
7. Unity & Harmony 
8. Size & Proportion 
9. Balance  

 During my research for the project; as well as watching the other presentations, it became more and more apparent that while each word gives the impression of being a separate facet they are in fact very much intertwined and often there is a reliance on one or more to achieve the other.

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:

1. Isolation is used by grouping the other characters.
2. The centre window in the background is larger than the other two.
3. The colours used for his clothing are strongly contrasting
4. 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

“…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]

During my research for this project I came across this statement, it’s the end section on a definition of Emphasis in art, the first question I asked myself was “is this a traditional academic definition or is it an artistic definition?” , the second was “as a evolving digital artist should I accept it as being set in stone and unquestionable?”

 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. 

 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]

Finally we come to Mickey Mouse and Mary Blair, unless you know your animation the link between the two will not be obvious, Mary Blair won a scholarship to Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles where she studied under Morgan Russell of Synchromism fame. In 1940 she joined the Disney studio where among other things she worked on fantasia which is considered to be the closes a non synesthete will come to experiencing synaesthesia and shows emphasis through colour, shape and movement. 

 

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.

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