UNIT #6 SPACEMs. Tanguay

Visual Art I

Fall 2012

6.2 SPACE IN OUR ENVIRONMENT Space: An element of art that indicates areas

between, around, above, below, or within something.

Why is this an element of art? It is not always empty or invisible (smoke, dust,

pollution, clouds, fog, smog) We “see” space by seeing its boundaries (size, form,

volume)

We could say that space is “empty form” We can sense/experience space around you

through movement.

6.3 SPACE IN 3-D ART

Space is most important to the following artists Architects Sculptors

Positive space: the enclosed areas of objects in an artwork. They may suggest recognizable objects or nonrepresentational shapes.

Negative space: the space not occupied by an object or figure but circulating in and around it, contributing to the total effect of the composition.

SPACE IN PUBLIC ART

Oklahoma City National Memorial Memorial designers must try to address the needs of

numerous people: Victims’ families Survivors City planners Business interests General public

6.4 SPACE AND THE PICTURE PLANE Picture plane: the flat surface or plane that

the artist organizes the picture in. Modern artists take great care in deciding where

to place shapes on the picture plane. Artists also refer to space as unfilled areas of

the picture plane or as ground (background) in a figure-ground relationship. These are also referred to as negative space.

6.5 REPRESENTING 3-D SPACE IN 2-D ART Many pictures we call “realistic” appear to have

3-D space: height, width, and depth. However, they do not have actual depth.

Depth can be created with foreshortening (Ch4) and with shading (Ch5). It can also be created by changing the size of an object. These make an object seem solid and 3-D

There are four techniques that help create a sense of depth Overlapping High and low placement Linear perspective Aerial perspective

OVERLAPPING

Overlapping: a technique in which the artist creates the illusion of depth by placing on object in front of and partially covering another.

HIGH AND LOW PLACEMENT

High and low placement: a technique in which the artist places an object lower in the picture plane to make it appear closer to us than another object that is placed higher.

The Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter Morning, 1897 by Camille Jacob Pissaro

LINEAR PERSPECTIVE

Linear perspective: a technique of creating the illusion of depth on a flat surface. All parallel lines receding into the distance are drawn to converge (come together) at one or more vanishing points on the horizon line. The most complicated method of showing depth.

Vanishing point: a point on the eye-level line (horizon line), toward which parallel lines are made to recede and meet in perspective drawings.

Horizon line: a horizontal line across a picture-plane which establishes the viewer’s eye level or height of view. Parallel lines in the picture converge to vanishing points on this line.

Types of linear perspective include: One-point perspective: a way to show 3-D

objects on a 2-D surface, using one vanishing point.

Two-point perspective: a way to show 3-D objects on a 2-D surface, using two vanishing points and two sets of converging lines to represent forms. The forms are seen from an angle and have two receding sides.

AERIAL PERSPECTIVE Aerial perspective: the diminishing of color

intensity to lighter and duller hues to give the illusion of distance. When air is filled with particles, objects

become less visible Outlines of objects

become less distinct in the distance

Fur Traders Descending the Missouri, 1845 by George Caleb Bingham

6.6 3-D SPACE IN ABSTRACT PAINTING People tend to think that abstract art does not

show spatial depth but this is not always true. Abstract artists can show depth by overlapping,

variation in size, high-low placement, and color variation.

The Golden Wall, 1961 by Hans Hofmann

6.7 FRAMING

Framing: once the artist decides on the horizontal and vertical borders of a picture, framing determines the space and point of view for a picture. The limits of what is seen in a picture. Framing can affect the space, the point of view, and

the meaning of a scene. Pictures framed very close to the central figure are

sometimes called close-ups