Visual Analysis Flashcards
1
Q
composition - arrangement
A
- symmetry/ asymmetry
- vertical/ horizontal/ diagonal thrust
- has a central axis been used
-where/ what is the focal point - cropped
- empty/ full
- closed (eyes drawn to centre)/ open (numerous focal points, environment continues out of frame)
- how many figures
- where are they: middle/ foreground
- creates any geometric shapes?
2
Q
human figure
A
- movement
- facial expressions (mood, narrative function, obvious or subtle, similiar or diverse)
- body language (pose - contrapposto?, angle, dynamic, seated)
- proportions, physique
- clothing, hair (responding to anatomy, heavy)
- relationship w surroundings
- interaction with others (social setting)
- any highlighted features
- props/ objects
- what’s being obscured
- indications of gender, age and status
- idealisation
3
Q
pictorial space - illusion of 3D space
A
- linear perspective (2 point: pathways, draws eyes in)
–horizon line
–vanishing point
–orthogonals - atmospheric perspective: paler and bluer
- diminishing space
- foreshortening
- overlapping forms/ layering
4
Q
colour
A
- ultramarine v expensive (from a quarry in Afghanistan). visually dazzling.
- tints
-shades - saturation
- lustre
- luminosity
-primary colour are harmonious when together: all-encompassing feel
- cool colours recede from the eye (sense of depth)
- warm colours advance towards the eye
- lots of analogous/ different colours: disharmony
- range/ mostly analogous
- blending/ blocking/ patches
- monochrome (only tints and shades)/ polychrome
- grisaille: only shades of grey
- limited or varied palette
5
Q
light & tone
A
- light source
- tonal modelling
- highlighting elements of work
- creating mood (dramatic) or used symbolically (divine presence)
- strong contrasts of light and dark - chiaroscuro
- quality of life (soft, dim, warm, fluorescent, coloured, strobe, neon, diffused, dappled, strong, directional, shafts of light)
- glints
6
Q
materials & techniques properties
A
- opacity
- consistency/ viscosity
- drying time
- finish
- impasto (raised paint) catches light make it seem lighter/ leaves a shadow on painting’s surface
- optical mixing (unmixed colours onto painting surface in dots/ patches and mixes in eye of viewer - particularly in pointilism)
7
Q
style
A
the distinctive visual appearance of a work of art/ architecture
8
Q
pattern, ornament and decoration
A
- tooling/ sgraffito (taking a single line out in egg tempera)
9
Q
form
A
- 2D/ 3D
- curvilinear/ rectilinear
- weighty + solid?
- light and shade to define
- any parts lost in shadow? (tonal modelling)
- naturalistic/ abstracted?
10
Q
scale - what do you have to do as a viewer
A
internal - figures and forms in relation to the scale of the work overall
external - the scale of the artwork itself
11
Q
viewpoints
A
what role does it give the viewer
makes viewer feel part of the landscape if eye level
12
Q
fresco
A
- thin
- dries quickly (focuses on one section at a time as plaster dries quickly - true fresco when applied to wet plaster)
- quite translucent
- matte finish
- fresco secco is directly onto a dry wall
13
Q
egg tempera
A
- gesso + egg tempura
- bole + gold
- very opaque
- high viscocity: applied in thin lines
- dries very quickly
- glossy
- very stable
1- thin strips of wood (so less warping) to form a wooden panel
2- gesso (plaster). makes it smoother and stops it absorbing as gast
3. egg tempera mixed with pigment and egg yolk as a binder
4. bole added
5. gold leaf
14
Q
oil paint
A
- translucent (many thin layers, can be used for clouds). creates LUMINOSITY as light can pass through layers and reflects white back to viewer
- dries v slowly (can mix on surface, gradients are gradual)
- low viscosity (spreads further so bigger)
- large variety of colours, bright
15
Q
acrylic paint
A
- man made so many bright, unusual, different colours: modern
- opaque, often single colours, not luminous
- low viscosity (no thin layers, single colour on page)
- fast drying time (less mixing on surface, more blocking of colours)
- matt
