Working with a partner or in a small group of three or four, select a piece from the Permanent Collection of Eastfield College and consider how the artist used the Formal Elements of Line, Space, Light, Value, Color, Texture, Pattern, Time and Motion in the artwork. In a 250 word comment to this blog post write about at least three of these elements in the artwork you have selected. Think about how the artist uses contrasting color to emphasize certain objects or areas. Does the artist use line to create movement and direction? Does the value or lightness and darkness create an illusion of depth or three-dimensionality? These are questions you can ask of the work to help you think more about the presence of the Formal Elements within it. Your writing must include the artist's name and the title of the artwork.
This assignment is due at 9:30am on Tuesday, December 6.
In the wonderful campus of Eastfield College, there is numerous piece of art to be appreciated not only for their magnificent colors, textures, and shapes but for their hidden symbols. One piece of art that cached our eye was the art work done by Jay Etheridge in 1987. What I found most interesting was the name of the art which is called” Purgatorio Elementary”. It speaks for itself. This weird, yet, cool art piece says a lot about the government ruling the world and society. Jay used woodcut to create the work of art, uses dark colors for the work such a s pale yellow and black, and uses time and motion to highlight the progress of politics in today’s governmental ruling. As I mentioned before the title says a lot about the painting. We made some research and discovered that word purgatorio is an Italian word that means purgatory in English. Purgatory is place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God's grace, are, not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions. So my partner and I guessed that the people in the picture were Christians or politicians committing sin. Furthermore, the picture presents the nature of sin, examples of vice and virtue, and moral issues in politics and in the church. All of these things are inevitable because humans tend to do things that they know are wrong. The colors and texture jay uses match the concept of the art the idea that when one is in purgatory, must be punished for their sins. It is not mysterious how Jay names the people in the art fourth graders when evidently they seem way older than the age they are suppose to portray. Jay’s woodcut texture adds fine wrinkles to the comedy like characters in the work and the dark colors also justifies the title, sins are dark so the “purgatorio” must be dark as well. the darkness In the picture also emphasis the characters comedy like structures. My partner and I came out with two concepts of the people in the work. We are not sure if our thoughts are correct but they seem to make sense. The first concept we came up with is the concept of time. How kids now a days are learning to sin faster than back in the days. These grade four students are doing things fourth graders should not do like smoke. Kids in this era are growing up too fast. On the other hand, the work can also represent all the Christians or politicians who are too immature for their ages and are not following the rules of the church and dictating a country without sympathy of others in it. In other words, the work “Purgatorio elemtry” has to do a lot with morality in humans. I loved its weird creepy vibe.
ReplyDelete- RUBY GARCIA
“Yesterday’s girl… a portrait of an artist”
ReplyDeleteThis piece of art has caught my eye on numerous occasions as I walk through the hall of the Eastfield Campus. It is fantastic that the campus values art and exhibits the student’s work. “Yesterday’s girl… a portrait of an artist was created in 2009 by Mathew Bourbon. From only a glance the image of the lady is not recognized, but the colors captivate you and draw you in.
While line is noticed with the different patterns, it is not line that brings the lady into focus. It is the contrast of colors in a pattern that creates the image. The way he uses color and the pattern is similar to Chuck Close’s paintings, yet in this painting the colors are not blended. Each color stands out on it’s own.
Oil on canvass always seems to form a texture. The texture in this painting is very different than many oil paintings I have seen; it looks like smooth tape. While only one color stands out in each stripe, or block in the pattern, it looks layered. There is a definite pattern in this creation. There are different shapes made of different colors. The top of her head and her shoulders are made of all different shapes. Her face and around her hair around her face are primarily horizontal stripes which resembles an ancient Egyptian god.
It is pattern and color contrast that form the three-dimensional image in Matthew Bourbon’s painting. It is magnificent to see this image brought out in such an imaginative way. The mind of an artist is fascinating!
Carrie Wright
Art Assignment #5/Forms of Elements ….By Helen Trimble
ReplyDeleteThe picture by: Peter Lison, Big Town, Charcoal and Ink wash on paper 2008/Eastfield Permanent Art Collection/EFC pc 89, is a picture that I can identify the forms of elements. The first thing that I see is the words. They are big and bold, “Big Town.” I can see the lines of the letters that form the words. The letter “O” has an image of a pattern in it. That figure is the image of “Downtown Dallas.” It reveals the buildings and the skyscrapers of downtown Dallas. I can see the shapes and form of each building which creates a hard texture. The image of downtown Dallas gives value to the sign, it compliments and shows connection, “Big Town and Downtown.” The color is black and white, so one would look at the picture as a whole and the lines and shape of the wording is the focus. The word “Montgomery Wards” let me know the store is somewhere close by. The vertical lines extended down to the scrubby and grass gives some life to the picture. The forms of the clouds in the sky reveal darkness. I see the sign on the right that says, “Gun Show here Aug. 23 & 24; lets me know guns are exhibited and sold in this area. Guns indicate violence or problems. This is the content of what this picture expresses to me. The forms of element, or the overall structure of this art is the lines, the words, pattern, texture, color and light, and the shapes of the clouds and scrubby. The patterns of nature show hope, but the gun show reveals failure and decline of a community that might be happening at Big Town and Down Town.
The amazing art work that I chose to write about is, Kitchen Transitions, by Rick Maxwell. This piece is very large and filled with many different formal elements including line, light, value, color, texture, pattern, time, and motion.
ReplyDeleteThe vibrant colors in this art work are hard to ignore. Mr. Maxwell uses a variety of colors including: blue, pink, yellow, green, red, black, and gray. There are several other colors as well. Not only is there a variety of colors, but they have been put together is several different patterns. One such pattern utilizes lines that seem to represent the sky on both the right and the left top corner areas. Another pattern that I feel is significant is the pansies that are representing the wall paper of a kitchen. There is also a representation of a kitchen floor with a green and yellow gold checker board pattern.
Next, the time and motion in this piece is very significant. It is as if it is literally telling a story. The kitchen is in the center, and on the left there are two dogs covered in patterns that have been raised, giving a three dimensional effect. It seems as though the dogs are outside and on a deck during the day time. On the right of the kitchen there is a man with a red velvet jacket on playing a glitter blue guitar. He also seems to be outside on a deck, but since there is a moon one could say that this is representing night time.
Finally, with all the many elements in this vibrant and texture fill art work one could observe this for hours. I know I can. My favorite thing is the use of untraditional elements such as the velvet texture, and the glitter.
-Ashley Torres
The permanent piece I chose to write about it one I walk by just about every day passing to the G building. At first glance is looks like a bunch of colorful squares and lines. However, taking a moment to really look at it, you’ll see the shape of a woman and possibly something right out of Egyptian times. The piece is entitled Yesterday’s Girl… is a portrait of an artist by Matthew Bourbon. It is an oil painting on canvas.
ReplyDeleteIf you get up close to the painting, there are several things to look at. One would be the texture that the oil leaves on the canvas. The next is the crisp lines of paint. Nothing seems to smear or intersect another color and there is no blending of oils. The use of color is interesting. It reminds me of Chuck Close’s work—there is no one color or even set. The colors are vibrant and stand out in their own way to make the image what it is. The artist uses a variety to get his point across. The pattern is lines and at the top squares. The use of that pattern forms the image.
I mentioned earlier that it made me think of something Egypt. If you look closely at the way the painting is set up, it looks as if it is a Sphinx. It has the type of headdress that the Egyptian Pharaohs wore. It is absolutely fascinating. Knowing that, it can also make you think of the name… Yesterday’s girl.
The title of the artwork I chose was the drawing of Big Town by: Peter Ligon.Form is the shape, visual appearance or configuration of an object.The various visual elements, known as elements of design, formal elements, or elements of art, are the vocabulary with which the visual artist composes. These elements in the overall design usually relate to each other and to the whole artwork.The telephone lines and power lines are line like shapes considered elements that can be used in the composition of the image. Movement is a source of line in the trees or shrubbs and the shadows that change according to the time of day that can also direct attention toward the main subject of the drawing or contribute to drawing by dividing it into compartments. Vertical lines tends to have the impression of height in the sign Big Town and also the power lines. Color is characterized by the attributes such as hue(what is called any color that can be plucked in a pure state, out of the light spectrum). Space applied to this artwork applies to the illusion of movement which is achieved by leaving white space in the direction of the eyes of the person viewing it. Texture of this piece is the illusion of having physical texture. The value or tone of lightness is the property or dimension of the color space defined in a way to reflect the brightness of the color.On subtractive color , value changes can be achieved by adding black or white to the color which would reduce saturation.
ReplyDeleteJacqueline Jones
The art work that I have chosen is the "Kitchen Transitions" by Rick Maxwell. The reason I chose this piece of art work is because just at first glance you can tell this artist put the most of the formal elements into it. First I am going to talk about the texture of the art work. Maxwell used several different textures that overlap each other, that makes it look like some of the objects are coming out towards you, like 3-D. This art work looks like it is several different small art projects put together to make one great project. It is like a collage of different colors and shapes randomly put together, but still looks interesting enough to look at it for a second and continue walking to your next class. I'm not sure if this art work has any true meaning or was just made because it looks cool. The Elvis looking object is kind of confusing with the lost dimensions behind him and two stray dogs to the left of him. There are various kinds of patterns throughout the art work with twisty lines to checker board lines to zig zag lines with different colors in each of them. There is no space dividing each of the lines or objects. I would like to say that it would be night time in this fantastic piece of art work because of the moon shape object behind the Elvis shaped object, but there is no telling. It looks like poor Elvis and his two stray dogs traveled to far in the Bermuda Triangle and got lost in another dimension.
ReplyDelete-Carl Dean
One specific painting caught my eye, Trinity River made by Billy Hassell. Most of the attention was because of the fact that I had never seen it in the school before, but also because of its range in colors and natural life. The painting contains a lot of variety, and it takes some studying to notice everything embedded in it. One of the main aspects that are eye catching are all the bright colors included. The pink and yellow flowers are placed along the bottom side of the painting. You can spot long fish, a catfish, and other types, along with a turtle, a frog, certain insects, and hovering above them all a bird eager for bait. The animals and flowers vary in bright colors. All crowded and taking up the space of the painting, making the depth of painting seem increasing into the background.
ReplyDeleteAll the action is at the bottom of the painting, were all the animals are and it stops at the bird floating right above them all. The painting sort of leads you to the top were you notice weeds, and the rest of the river, all leading to an empty open space on the water. The texture of the painting seems fluid like, all in the animal in connection with its environment. Although a little too crowded, they all seem like they belong there. The painting represents more of a photo you would see in children’s picture book, other than a real life image. Altogether though, the painting is still fascinating and eye capturing as well.
-Cecilia Hernandez
One of the paintings that is extremely intriguing is the,"The Anatomy Lesson" by Xie Xiaoze. The painting depicts
ReplyDeletean antomy lesson being taught, and one is able to see this through a window of the classroom.
Although, at first the painting seems very simple, basically being a few well placed strokes of white on the black
background, it is a very complex piece. Mr. Xiaoze, is able to add line,value and depth to his painting. What makes the painting
very nique is that the painter is able to make the painting seem so real, the depth in the painting makes it seem like a photograph.
The proportion of the painting; the positions of the people in the painting is obviosly well thought of and consciously placed. The
visual texture and created by the platform and how the painting also shows movement and activity is outstanding. In addition, although
the painting is very simple, the painters vision made it come to life and the addition of the elements is extremely surprising; how he
is able to add that many elements to such a restrictive art parameters.
-Javier Lopez
Manivong Vongduane's untitled artwork, EFC.PC 61, graphite on paper, created on November 27, 1996, presents many formal elements such as texture, line, value, and shape. All the aforementioned elements dominate within the artwork as they are all present in heavy proportions. The teapot is the dominant structure due to its simple but yet fine work of value and texture. The cracked-like texture on the teapot that Vongduane used were shading effects, hence the value created. As a result it made it posses a third dimensionality which gave it more realism. There is relatively few space, however, enough is present to give it a sense of completeness. The same effects were applied to the cups which are located below the teapot; all four cups were created in the same way as the teapot. Value dominates the artwork in my opinion because of the contrast of the black and white effects on a proportional equilibrium. The lines and shading effects in the background of the artwork provide line and gives a feeling and notion that there is depth present and that it isn't a two-dimensional piece. It gives the objects shape and volume, especially to the cup that its knocked over on its side in front of the other cup. Simple details such as this can have an effect that can create depth and shape. There is a also a feeling evoked when one sees Vongduane's artwork. I, personally, see an old-fashioned cabinet in which grandma used to store kitchen appliances, in this case being a teapot and cups. Vongduane's untitled artwork may a simple piece of art only in the eyes of those who see it as such, but to those of us who analyze even the smallest detail can truly see beyond just the “teapot and the cups.”
ReplyDelete-Ampelio Mendez
Rick Maxwell’s “Kitchen Transitions” has a bit of all the formal elements. There is so much color, texture and patterns. His artwork transitions from the day into night, causing the colors to get darker as they transition. He uses cool colors against warm colors to make things stand out, such as the floral design on the dog. The light blue guitar also stands out against the pink and velvet color. The colors on the left side of the artwork are brighter than those on the right side. It appears that the left side is representing the day, so it’s brighter. Meanwhile, the right side is darker, and has a moon giving it a feel for the night. Also when you think of watching a musician with a kitchen feel, you think of a dark atmosphere which is represented by the darker choice of colors as well.
ReplyDeletePattern is shown absolutely everywhere. The background is a repetitive floral pattern that reminds me of “grandma’s” kitchen. The checkerboard outline is used as the border of the house containing the kitchen. The dark grey background with glittery dots within it can be seen as stars that go along with the moon. It isn’t really seen on the left half of the painting which once again it is showing the transition of day to night. Then there is the fruit pattern which is obviously items found in the kitchen, but also sometimes even seen on wallpaper or paintings found in the kitchen. The checkerboard pattern is the old classic look kitchens use to always have. The tile found in most old kitchens had a checkerboard pattern which is shown on what appears to be the floor of the kitchen in the artwork.
The texture in this artwork can not only be felt but seen. Just viewing the musician’s clothes you can tell it has a very soft velvet feeling. As you view his guitar and his shoes you can see all the glitter giving it a rough looking texture. So not only is he clashing the colors but the textures as well. The grey background behind the musician as well as the dogs appears to be hills of grasslands. The texture is rough and swaying in way that grasslands do when the wind blows through them therefore representing this motion.
Rick Maxwell used these formal elements to make things stand out and to show a transition of day and night. He also used the elements to give the artwork more of a kitchen feel without actually drawing an everyday kitchen.
-J.West
I chose to do my assignment on the piece “Figura” by Pedro Coronel. At first glance, the piece generally resembles a face of an androgynous human. In the middle of a turquoise space, the face assaults your senses with an array of colors that contrast the turquoise backdrop. The outer parts of the “face” are a hue of a light pink, the general backdrop of the face is a tame brown, and the mouth and the nose have an intense red. The contrasting colors of the piece are solely responsible for how the image jumps out at you. Also, the unorthodox use of line to construct the face is another thing that grabs attention from the viewer. The face is asymmetrical, and the work shows no depth or volume, giving it a two dimensional appearance. There seems to be no general flow in the picture, and nothing seems to indicate movement. The way the different colors and shapes intersect to form the face gives me the feeling the artist was trying to communicate the sheer diversity between people. The artist did seem to use some form of pattern, as the colors seem to intensify when looking from the outer part of the face toward the center. Overall I really enjoyed the piece. Whether or not it was the intention of the artist to convey a message of diversity amongst humans, that was the first thought that had leapt into my mind when I first looked at this colorful work of art.
ReplyDelete-Joshua Rowe
The name of the artwork located in the F-building of Eastfield, speaks for itself. The artwork is called “Purgatory Elementary”, made out of wood cut. The artist’s name is Jay Etheridge completed in 1987. The artist gave his art piece to Eastfield College as a loan. Purgatorio is Italian for purgatory.
ReplyDeleteAs I look at this art piece I can tell there are several different types of personalities. A few examples are a shy boy, clown of the class, a few appeared as intelligent, or the sporty type individuals. On each side of the painting seem to be the teachers or in other words leaders of the class. Also, the piece seems to give clues that it’s a history class according to the American flag and other objects in the background. With that said the artwork seems to represent Christians’ perspectives and describes discussing the nature of sin examples can be vice and virtue as well as moral issues in politics in the church. The artwork has scenes of supposedly fourth grade students that appear older than their age. The people in the art are illustrated as a comedy image. The “children" appearance may show that they know too much for their age. And they are doing such things that fourth grades would not be doing regularly. Or this piece may try persuading us the “children” are representing political leaders who govern our country but appear immature for their age. The art’s elements could be best described as a sketch of drawing with simple colors and rough texture.
-Dina Odeh
Catherine Night picture "Highwire" Really caught mine, and my groups attention! I really like how she took a digital picture and broke it into pieces, which to me almost resembles a puzzle. Which the pieces are overlaping one another even though I know by looking at the piece there is no way in doing so, but it seems to me as if she trying to give me a challege. Seeing how she posted the same picture sometimes twice over one another! I also like how she keeps the pattern of a telephone pole, and the sky blue background as if she is trying to make us see the picture and how it can unfold into pieces which make a whole. She also keep's it in line with the ground, in which almost seems the pieces just branch almost into like a tree. Im not exactly sure what Catherine was trying to say by creating this piece my best guess would have to be that, she say nature and wanted to give it kind of an illusion, as if you were looking into a bunch of mirriors and all you saw were clouds water and telephone pole's but over and over again. It's a mystery to me that im just not quiet sure what it was exactly she was trying to get us to understand.She most be very down to earth, and really care for nature! The picture almost in 3D like jumping out at you almost in some aspects.
ReplyDeletekimberly g.
The work of art I chose to do was the piece Kitchen Transitions by Rick Maxwell. It's a very fun and easily grasps your attention as well as shows all the elements of art. I was fascinated in how the artist chose different materials to do his separate pieces. It seemed he used different pastels in some areas, velvet, wallpaper, different fabrics, and also had a 3-D dimensional effect used for the man. There is a lot of line interpreted into the art work which gives it it's depth perception.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that caught my attention was the transitions of all different style of kitchens and the incoorpiration of the dogs, stars, moon, and flower. Portraying multiple different tastes and styles of kitchens all in one piece gives the feeling of the new era and how taste changes every year. The colors are very dominant and vibrant and there are tons of different shapes and angles that bring it all together. My overall favorite part of the painting was all the different materials that were used and how those materials could actually tell the story of that certain kitchen decor. From my point of view, the use of the glitter, velvet, night sky, and the man with the instrument describes a fun environment that differs completely from the floral or fruit wallpaper.
From the other art works that were seen, I enjoyed Kitchen Transitions the most mainly for all the elements of art thrown into one but how all the random materials and colors turned out to fit perfectly together and make an extraordinary piece of work as well as the perception of the whole piece popping out towards you.
Abby Henson
The permanent art collection of Eastfield College has many beautiful works that we owe appreciation to. One of the more interesting art pieces that I personally liked is the "Trinity River" by Billy Hassell. This piece has several formal elements that make it a very unique work of art. One of the formal elements is the element of color. Hassell uses a variety of colors, going from the hot colors such as red to the more cold colors such as blue. He uses the elements of lightness and darkness to convey a three dimensional form, where red is more towards the front of the painting and dark colors such as dark green and navy blue are towards the back. Pattern is also used in the painting to transcend from the tightly painted aquatic creatures, to the broad blue sea and horizon. Another formal element portrayed in the work of art is texture. When I walked by this painting I felt that it was actually coming out of the wall and frame because of the way it was painted by Hassell. All of the animals, especially the long beaked bird, pop out of the paining because of the texture and the specific pattern that the artist conveys. Value is one of the formal elements that brings the work of art to life. It provides density and layers to the work of art that go from a small piece of terrain, where the butterfly and frog make it seem as if your standing at a shore line, to the trees and open river in the back. Thus making it seem as if the individual is looking at a never ending body of water that the sun sets into.
ReplyDeleteEdwin Camacho
The piece of art that caught my attention not by its color, or its huge size. But jus thy the idea, and the outcome of the artwork. It is called 'Highwire' but Catherine Night. It is not the normal painting or clay piece, it is a digital print that was done in 2010. I feel this piece is unique because of the fact it is one item put together in so many different pieces. Without all of the pieces it would not become a whole. The art is a electrical pole and the artist took multiple pictures from different angles of the bottom and then did the same going all the way up the pole. She pieced it together with all the different individual pictures to make the entire thing. When looking at the piece there would not be any physical texture, but I believe there is visual texture. The different squares layered on top of each other give depth and show some kind of texture. So the texture to me would be seen but not felt. Also the line in the art was very different although there were lines all through out the piece your eyes focused on the pictures and the whole piece. The shape and spacing, the main focus of the art was the electrical pole, at the bottom of the piece it starts out rather large and then gets smaller then gets larger again. The background being a solid blue helped the piece stand out on its own just like the electrical pole normally does. The pieces of the art weren't even perfectly placed, it wasn't a perfect placement of the pieces to make the whole, it looks like they were put on there in a organized yet random style, but yet the whole pieces still made up something very cool. I am not sure that I have ever seen a piece like this but it was very interesting to read about and now write about.
ReplyDeleteParker Page
I decided to observe the charcoal and ink wash on paper drawing named “Big Town”. The artists name is Peter Ligon, it was completed in 2008 , and the I.D. number is EFC pc 89. The hues or color range from white to black. There are visual textures that are created by the lines used to form the plants in the picture. Telephone poles are applied or suggested lines as well. The bushes and scrubs form a pattern. There is no color which I think would drastically change the mode of this picture seeing as though I pass by this sign daily. The white on the paper is created by the white left on the space that is not disturbed by the charcoal. The eyes are drawn to the darker portions of the paper that are also forms of depth. Overall the huge sign is eye catching and draws me in from the crown. It also has two-dimensionality on the paper.
ReplyDelete-Alexandrea albert
“High wire” By- Catherine Night
ReplyDeleteIt doesn’t necessarily catch the eye. But when you look at it, it sort of makes you wonder. It gives you a type of captivating feeling. Its more than just a bunch of small pieces put together to make a bigger picture. In my opinion she makes you try to figure out where it starts and where it ends. At first glance you might not notice the water at the bottom of the piece. More attention seems to be focused in the middle. To me it seems that each frame has been carefully taken and placed around the area it would normally be, but in a type of offsetting way. The outer portion (or the base of the painting) is a light sky blue, as if she were attempting to make it the same color blue as the blue in the smaller pieces. Like most artist, Catherine uses line to create direction as opposed to movement. A line is a moving point. In art, lines almost always have a certain type of width, but its length is the more important dimension. By using different photographs she gives her work more depth than it would usually have. It also gives the piece an upward feeling.
Another formal element id like to discuss in this particular piece is texture. It is seen, but not felt, sort of a visual texture. The clouds are softly captured in the smaller photographs, while the water (knowing that water is wet) is at the bottom.
Shape is also a factor in this piece. A regular telephone pole would be standing straight up; a straight up and down shape. But Catherine’s piece looks like its multiplying. Sort of a sprouting outward feeling at the top as opposed to staying straight. The value of the smaller pieces contrast against the base of the piece; giving it the illusion of it growing.
-DaRell Jones
The piece of work my group and I picked to talk about for our discussion is “Highwire” by Catherine Night. The work is composed using digital media and is made by manipulating digital photography. When going around the school looking at the pieces our group saw a lot of great pieces. Some of the pieces like the one we picked I had walked by several times and not noticed. This piece of art includes several different formal elements of art. The first clearly distinguishable element from the piece is line. The artist uses line to form a shape with the pictures she has taken. The pictures in the piece are all of telephone poles and the clouds and towards the bottom the water underneath the poles. It looks as though the artist has taken several different panoramic shots of the scene she captured and arranged them to look like a telephone pole as a whole piece. The other element that was apparent to us was the large amount of blank blue space left in the background. We discussed for a while as to why the artist might leave the background blank. One of our group members suggested that the piece of art looked like a puzzle. That’s when we thought that maybe if all the little pieces that make us this work were taken apart maybe it would be a puzzle that could be put back together into a bigger picture. Pattern is also very evident in this piece, the little boxes or pictures themselves are arranged in a way that looks uniform throughout the piece.
ReplyDelete-Betsy Thomas
Group: DaRell Johson, Parker Paige