Transcript Slide 1

Composition 2
The Visual Elements
The visual elements (also sometimes called
design elements) are the ‘things’ which make up
an image - line, tone, shape, colour and so on.
1
List of Visual Elements
Line – actual or implied lines within the composition
Shape – areas defined by their edges within the piece.
Form – the three dimensional quality of an object or shape –
its length, width and depth.
Tone – describes the darkness or lightness of a particular
area in an image. shading is often used to emphasize the form
and an object’s three dimensionality.
Colour - hues with their various values, intensity, and
saturation
Space - the space taken up by objects or the space inbetween objects (sometimes called negative space).
Texture - surface qualities of the artwork.
2
Line
Line is a really useful design
element when constructing
images.
Lines are formed by the
edges of things when there
is an apparent contrast
between light and dark
areas or between different
colours or textures.
Lines can also be
suggested or implied by
patterns or repetition.
Henri Cartier Bresson
In this image where are the
implied lines and where do
these lines draw the
viewer’s eye?
3
Horizontal And Vertical Lines
Chris Monaghan
Horizontal lines can suggest
a feeling of stability,
calmness or tranquillity.
Vertical lines can suggest
power and strength.
4
Paul Strand
Study this urban landscape by Paul Strand. Discuss what Strand might
have been saying about the society … would you like to live there?
How do the strong vertical lines and dark shadow areas affect your
interpretation of the image?
5
Diagonal Lines
Diagonal lines tend to be visually dynamic – suggesting
movement, a ‘visual tension’ and/or excitement.
6
The model was
lying on a bed.
How does the
photographer
make the image
more visually
‘dynamic’?
Chris Monaghan
7
David Bailey
8
Curved Lines
Curved lines often suggest organic (living, breathing) things.
9
Mario Testino
Spot the curves in this portrait of an actress.
10
Colour
White light is actually made up from just the right
mixture of every other colour of light.
11
Primary Colours:
Red, Green, Blue.
(RGB)
Complimentary
colours:
Cyan, Yellow,
Magenta.
12
13
Which of these images uses
complimentary, and which
uses analogous colours?
How does this colour choice
help or affect the meaning of
each image?
14
Form
(The three-dimensionality of the artwork)
Masolino, St. Peter Healing a Cripple and the Raising of Tabitha, 1425
The added black lines show the use of a ‘vanishing point’ to create a
realistic impression of three dimensional space – commonly referred to as
15
‘realistic perspective’.
Film still from The Manchurian Candidate
How does the photographer suggest three-dimensional space (i.e. depth)?
16
1. Man’s head is larger than woman’s so our brains interpret this as suggesting that he is
nearer to the camera than the woman.
2. Background is out of focus suggesting depth
3. The lighting creates shading suggesting three dimensional form
17
What visual
element(s) help
give this
photograph ‘depth’
and a threedimensional
character?
Fay
Godwin
18
Some artists completely
rejected the idea that a
work of art had always
to imitate the threedimensional character
of the world, as in this
collage by Henri
Matisse entitled The
Snail.
Matisse
19
Tone
Tone describes the darkness or
lightness of a particular area in
an image. Very light areas are
sometimes called highlights
and very dark areas are called
shadow areas.
Shading (where the tone
changes gradually from
highlight to shadow) is often
used to emphasize the form and
three dimensionality of an
object.
Angus McBean
20
Balancing The Visual Elements
Where is the subject placed in
this painting?
Images with a centrally located
subject are sometimes called
‘formal’ compositions. Having the
subject in the middle might create
a sense of visual ‘balance’ but
can also appear rather boring to
the modern eye.
Visual balance is achieved by the
placement of the visual elements
(lines, shapes, colours and so
on).
Note: Not all images are
‘balanced’.
Gainsborough
21
How does the photographer ‘balance’ this image?
22
At first glance this
image might not
appear balanced,
but look more
closely ….
How does Shomei
achieve balance in
this unsymmetrical
image?
Tomatsu Shomei
23
Is this image
balanced?
If so, how?
If not, why not?
Chris Monaghan
24
Juxtaposition
Juxtoposition is the placing of things close to one another in order
to emphasise their difference.
What is the major difference being emphasised here?
25
Framing & Cropping
Togetherness
26
Framing & Cropping
Loneliness
This is the same photograph as the previous image but
with a different crop.
27
John
Hilliard,
cause of
death,
1974
28
Aspect Ratio
(the ‘shape’ of an image)
29
Richard Billingham
Richard Billingham produced a series of photographs about
his parents. He used the amateur 6:4 aspect ratio shape for
his images (just like amateur 6 inch x 4 inch prints).
Why might he have chosen this aspect ratio?
30
The Gaze
Titian, Venus D’Urbino,
1538
When we look hard at someone else
our gaze can sometimes be
interpreted as if we are saying “I am
the powerful one here”. Manet’s
Olympia caused a scandal because
he painted a woman in a
contemporary setting who seemed by
her gaze to be the one with all the
power (In 1863 women were meant to
do as they were told by men!)
Manet, Olympia, 1863
31
Richard Avedon
Images in which the subject looks directly at the viewer can have a
powerful or disconcerting effect.
32
Composition Summary
Visual elements:
Some ‘Rules’ of composition
33
Composition Summary
Visual elements:
Line, Shape, Form, Tone, Colour, Space, Texture
Some ‘Rules’ of composition
Juxtaposition
Symmetry
Repetition
Rule of thirds
Rule of odd and even
Rule of space
Simplification
Balance
34