Art Appreciation Ch. 3

Front 1

Define: Design or Composition

Back 1

it's a process, or act, of organizing the visual elements to effect a desired aesthetic in a work of art.

Front 2

Define: Unity

Back 2

oneness or wholeness. A work of art achieves unity when its parts seem necessary to the composition as a whole. Similar or repeated. (i.e., Andy Warhol's "Ethel Scull Thirty-Six Times" --repetitious silk-screened photobooth images.

Front 3

Define: Variety

Back 3

Different, contrasting (chaos)--When artists emphasize variety, they are usually exaggerating differences rather than similarities among their images. (i.e., "The Subway" by Palmer Hayden's)

Front 4

Define: Balance

Back 4

Refers to the distribution of the weight--of the actual or apparent weight of the elements of a composition. (Actual & Visual balance)

Front 5

Define: Actual balance

Back 5

actual weight and actual balance are not typically at issue in two-dimensional works such as drawings, paintings, and prints, but nonetheless do speak of balance in these compositions

Front 6

Define: Visual balance (pictorial balance)

Back 6

refers to the distribution of the apparent or visual weight of the elements in works that are basically two-dimensional.

Front 7

Define: Symmetrical balance

Back 7

mirror image on a vertical axis.

Front 8

Define: Asymmetrical balance

Back 8

physically balancing the visual weight of the pictures elements (i.e., teeter totter, "River Dwellers" by River Dwellers)

Front 9

Define: Radial balance

Back 9

Symmetry in repetition of shapes beyond left/right radiation from a central point. (i.e., snowflake) The design elements radiate from a center point (like a daisy)

Front 10

Define: Rhythm

Back 10

Visual spacing between lines and shapes (i.e., planet orbits, "Backs" by Magdalena Abakanowicz)

Front 11

Define: Repetition

Back 11

Repeated elements, not always exactly the same.

Front 12

Define: Pattern

Back 12

identical repetition with rhythm

Front 13

Define: Scale & proportions

Back 13

Size & relationships (monumental)

Front 14

Define: Conceptual Unity

Back 14

Can have diverse elements that are unified in 'meaning' or relationships

Front 15

Define: Cartoons

Back 15

Black outlines & solid colors make unity

Front 16

How to achieve balance: visual weight is affected by what (6) factors?

Back 16

size (big v little), shape (complicated v simple), color (intense v dull), value (dark v light), focal point, and placement (objects closer to edges/corner take a more visual weight than objects closer to center.

Front 17

Define: Fulcrum

Back 17

Balancing Point

Front 18

Define: Scale

Back 18

refers to size--small, big, or in between. Scale is the relative size of an object compared with others of its kind, its settling, or human dimensions.

Front 19

Define: Hierarchical scaling

Back 19

use of relative size to indicate relative importance of the objects or people being depicted.

Front 20

Define: Proportional

Back 20

the comparative relationship, or ratio, of things to one another,

Front 21

Define: Distortions

Back 21

A technique used by artists to subvert the realistic scale of objects to challenge the viewer to look at the familiar in a new way (charachaters)