READ THE INFORMATION ABOUT COMPOSITION – DIRECTION AND EMPHASIS - BELOW. RESPOND TO TWO OF THE FOLLOWING PROMPTS BY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24th AT 6:00 PM.
MAKE SURE YOUR NAME IS IN YOUR RESPONSE.
PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR RESPONSES ARE EACH AT LEAST 5 SENTENCES LONG AND ANSWER ALL THE BULLET-POINT QUESTIONS TO RECEIVE FULL CREDIT!
REMEMBER - THIS IS A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT - DO NOT USE TEXT LANGUAGE – CHECK YOUR SPELLING, GRAMMAR AND USE PROPER CAPITALIZATION!!
COMPOSITION: The plan, placement or arrangement of the elements of art in a work.
Once you have decided upon the subject matter of your second tile project, you need to begin designing the composition. Think of a composition almost like a musical composition – a collection of sounds that are placed next to, behind, over and under each other in a way that is aesthetically pleasing.
In a visual composition, the job of the artist is to arrange the Elements of Design: Color, Shapes, Textures, Pattern, Space, Direction, Line, and Value. The elements are arranged according to the Principles of Design: Proportion, Balance (symmetry and asymmetry), Rhythm (movement), Emphasis, Variety, Contrast and Unity.
In this week’s blog, we’re going to focus on the Element of Direction and the Principle of Emphasis.
When thinking about Direction, consider how an artist manipulates you into looking around an entire piece of artwork by directing your eyes around the composition. The artist does this by using angles, lines, colors, shapes and textures which move your eyes around the image. Human beings naturally look for patterns and our eyes will follow similar colors around a design.
When thinking about Emphasis, consider how the artist manipulates you into looking at one part of the composition first by making it stand out by making it larger, darker, brighter, more textured, closer to the viewer, etc.
PROMPT #1
- Look at the picture mosaic tiles on the right (they are the same images from last week!). Choose one piece of artwork and think about the composition of that image. Focus on the Element of Direction in that piece. Describe how your eyes move across the composition. Be specific.
- For example: When I look at the tile, “Yosemite Falls”, my eye is first drawn to the upper right-hand tile where the waterfall begins. I look there first because it is a smooth, light-colored area surrounded by a darker, more textured rocky area. The waterfall also creates a tall triangle that points to the area where the waterfall first comes through the rocky cliff. From the waterfall’s origin point, the waterfall draws my eyes straight down on the right side of the image. The water widens out and then comes back to a small point which pulls my eyes from the right side of the picture to the lower left-hand side of the image where the waterfall hits the rocks on the bottom. From there, my eyes are drawn back up the left-hand side of the image along the lines of the rocky cliffs. The greenery on the rocks kind of “swoops” up the sides of the rocks; I follow those lines and colors up the side of the cliff until my eyes reach the top. Then I follow the light green swath of grass from left to right until I reach the waterfall again and then I repeat the process.
PROMPT #2
- Look at the picture mosaic tiles on the right. Choose five pieces of artwork and think about the composition of that image. Focus on the Principle of Emphasis in that piece. Describe what you look at first in each of the five compositions and WHY. Be specific.
- For example: When I look at the tile, “Yosemite Falls”, my eye is first drawn to the upper right-hand tile where the waterfall begins. I look there first because it is a smooth, light-colored area surrounded by a darker, more textured rocky area.
PROMPT # 3
- Describe the design of your current project. Be specific – describe the entire design.
- Describe how you intend to:
- Create Emphasis – what will you do to draw the viewer’s eyes into the image – what will the viewer look at first?
- Create Direction – what will you do to move the viewer’s eyes around the entire image?