Humanities Study Guide

Humanities Study Guide

© 2020 Page 7 of 62 example of this is shown in The Creation of Adam because the audience can feel God moving from right to left to touch Adam's finger. An artist may do this with lines or by showing things in motion like clothing or trees. Proportion is the term we use to describe the emphasis on items in the work due to their scaling. For example, consider a painting with a large donkey and small people in the background. The donkey is large, implying that it is closer than the tiny people who are presumably far away. When we look at all the elements in a painting and how cohesive it feels, we consider this the unity. Lastly, we have variety , or the contrast of details, colors, shapes, and regions within a work of art. All of these elements together create the composition of a painting. Abstract Paintings When we picture great paintings in our minds, we typically picture those with clearly defined subjects, like women, ducks, or ponds. When we lose sight of what we are looking at, it can be easy to dismiss the work for something childish or not worthy of prestige. This concept would break a lot of abstract artist's hearts. Abstract or non-representational paintings typically have no subject, but they emphasize lines, color, and texture. The goal of abstract art is to represent the qualities and elements that stimulate our vision or sensa . By appealing to our sensa, abstract art frees us from our human habit of only seeing subjects and not diving into our emotions. Another aspect of abstract art is presentational immediacy , or having an awareness of something all at once, not piece by piece. For example, this would be like looking at a painting and seeing the artworkwhile recalling a memory or dreaming of a new place. Evaluating Paintings When we evaluate paintings, it is important to look at the qualities we have discussed and how they contribute to the painting. It’s useful to consider the choices an artist has made, especially if they choose to follow conventional rules...or if they specifically choose to break them! 1.3 Sculpture Unlike paintings, sculptures are predominately things we picture as being three-dimensional. They are ancient forms of creative expression that transcend time. Typically, they are either representative or abstract. One of the most common subjects of sculptors is the human body and its various forms. The first sculptures we will discuss are sunken relief , and for these works, sculptors typically carve into a rock. They project inwards and are dependent on light and touch to be experienced. Low relief sculptures also project inwards but are not as prominent as sunken. The depth of the sculpture or risen parts is minimal. High relief sculpture refers to art that has been carved into a material, and while some remains connected to the source, there is a protruding portion that is emphasized. Full- round sculptures are free-standing and usually more difficult to create. These are the three- dimensional sculptures that we picture in our brains. Sculptures can be made of almost any material, but there are generally only two ways for an artist to create them. The first way is the subtractive process , or removing material to create the work of art. Usually, this is done with stone or wood, and Achieve