Design Principles- Visual Analysis
30.10.20 - 29.11.20 (Week 10 - Week 14)
Sajiya Mir (0340836)
Design Principles
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Taylors University
Final Project
Lecture
Visual Analysis: is a method of understanding design that focuses on the visual
elements and principles.
- This is an important part of visual literacy, a skill
that helps people interpret design in any form of media.
- Practising visual analysis sharpens the critical judgment
skills
- Phase 1: Observation
- observations made by looking at and identifying visual elements of a design. Try to understand and describe it in your own words, don't read about it beforehand.
- This phase is about looking, thinking, and finding the right ways to communicate your observations.
- Merely write what you see, don't give your opinions on why there are there.
- Phase 2: Analysis
- Analysis requires you to think about what you have observed and try to develop a statement using your observations as evidence.
- Identify how all the visual elements work together and what effect it has on the viewers.
- How are your eyes move throughout the work, and why?
- Talk about the design principles and how it's used.
- Phase 3: Interpretation
- Your observation, description, and analysis are backed up with facts about the design.
- Background research
- What is the meaning of the design? What was the purpose of it to be created?
Visual Analysis
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| Fig.1 Fig.1. John Ebersberger |
Phase 1 - Observation
This drawing is 20 by 16 inches long and is in portrait format. Medium
used was oil pastel with colors such as red, brown, green, and purple.
This design depicts three objects, a statue, a flower vase, and a bowl at the top of a table surrounded by a bush. The sizes of the three objects vary. Messy strokes have been used throughout the design to color. The drawings have no distinct outlines and used the contrast between dark and light to define a shape. Gray is used to shading the lower part of the face and parts of the body. A purple was used to draw the reflection of the flower vase and the bowl.
Phase 2 - Analysis
The design has an asymmetrical balance as the elements such as the table and the statues are not aligned in the center but rather more to the right side. The background is shown on the left than on the right. Emphasis is given on the statue, which colored lighter in contrast to the background.
Harmony is created using analogous color combinations such as blues,
greens, and purple for the flower vase. The painting strokes begin from the top right corner and travel to the bottom left corner, leading the viewer's eyes; this effect creates movement. Unity is evident in the design as the composition of the elements is in close proximity and complementary. The design has different proportions, establishing a visual hierarchy. First, we see a statue, then a flower vase, then a little bowl.
Phase 3 - Interpretation
Modern art was produced from the 1860s to the 1970s. Modern art
reimagines and reinterprets the way we view the world.
Post-Impressionism began in the 1890s with artists such as Paul
Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh. Post-Impressionist artists don't share a
common aesthetic. Instead, what brought them together was a mutual curiosity in free exploration. Post-Impressionists used it as a means to express emotions. The color palette reflects their subjective perceptions of the world: saturated colors and rich color ranges are present in post-impressionist work.
In the 18th century, Europeans tried to replicate their artwork
and architecture to follow the same principles as the Greeks and
Romans' works. When artists and architects applied these values to their work, Neoclassicism emerged. They concentrated on the study of science, history, anatomical correctness, and mathematics.
Realism in the art attempts to portray the subject without
artificiality and avoid unrealistic and supernatural to their
work.
Classical Realism is an art movement in the late 20th century in which drawing and painting emphasize skill and beauty. It is a
combination of Neoclassicism and Realism. Classical Realists often stylize their work for the sake of beauty and harmony. Attention is given to the composition of elements and design. Their work is classical because it shows a concern for order, beauty, harmony,
and completeness. Also, it is realistic because it comes from nature's representation.
Progress
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| Fig.1.1 Inspiration |
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| Fig.1.2 Sketch 1 |
Fig.1.3 Sketch 2
Fig.1.4 Sketch 3
Fig1.5. Progress
I started off by sketching out all the elements in clean lines. I shaded in the darker parts so that it would help later when coloring.
Fig.1.6 Progress
Next, I started with the vase and the rose. When coloring I used a few shades of blues as seen in John Ebersberger's work. In every element, he uses more than one color for details and highlights. I also used messy rough brush strokes when coloring.
Fig.1.7 Progress
Then I started coloring the state, since I knew I was going to use orange I tried using a complementary color such as blue for the statue. I used varying shades of purple and blue for shadows and highlights because I wasn't going to use black or grey for shading.
Fig.1.8 Progress
For the table, I had to pick a colour that would contrast with the blues and oranges. Since in this style of painting there is no definite outline, the contrast is what gives it its shape. So I used red which is a split complementary color of blue and green. I used shades of pink, purples, and darker red for shading.
Fig.1.9 Progress
For the first background, I tried to choose dark brown so that there would be high contrast and that would allow me to emphasize the statue more. However due to the statue being more of a cool tone the yellows and brown didn't go well. The statue looked very out of place. Therefore I tried another background.
Fig.2.0 Progress
This time I tried to pick a color that was a cooler tone and also complimented all the colors present. I went with shades of purples pinks and grey. I enlarged the window and colored the sky with blues and yellows. This time I removed the flower from the vase and instead added it around the statue.
Fig.2.1 Final
Rationale: The idea behind John Ebersberger's work reinterprets the way we view the world, and his color palette reflects their subjective perceptions of the world. He chooses a time and a place for his painting, but he does not draw all the elements present in the place instead he chooses to focus on one particular area or object. Keeping that in mind, the idea behind my design was to convey how I perceive the design room at Taylors, where I spend most of my foundation year. In the center of the room, we always had a table set up with statues and plastic fruit and flowers, so I decided to concentrate on that area. I wanted to emphasize that Appolo's statue as drawing the various statute in the design room was the most memorable aspect of our foundation years. Using a much deeper color pallet of blues and purples for shading, the emphasis was given. The statue was also illuminated with a yellow hue to reflect sunlight falling on the statute. This gave further emphasis. In the repeating of the roses framing the statute, on the vase, and with the oranges, repetition is demonstrated. The element has a visual hierarchy as the sizes range from large to small, encouraging viewers to first look at the statue, the vase, and lastly, the mirror. As the color palette was chosen to consist of complementary colors, harmony is apparent, and the overall painting has a warmer hue. Conceptual Unity is evident as it shows the elements typically found in a drawing class. Finally, with the use of colors such as red with blues and oranges with purple, Contrast was shown.
Feedback
[Week 11]: Ms. Maria suggested I further develop my sketch and try to find a subject for it.
[Week 12]: Ms. Maria suggested I try to connect all the three objects together to have harmony and unity in my design. She suggested I connect the leaves with the table and have some petals from the flower on the table. She also told me to focus on the shading when coloring.
Reflection
Experience: Out of all the projects, I had the most fun in this project. I got to learn and try out a new art style. I even got to try new brushes on photoshop to mimic the brush strokes of the artist. This project was fairly easy as I enjoyed doing it; perhaps the most time-consuming part was the statue, as it involved the use of several different colors and lots of details.
Observation: I looked at many other artists to see how light coming from the back reflects on different surfaces. I had to look at many references when coloring. I also observed how light could be used to emphasize an element.
Finding: In general, Impressionists are known for their use of vivid color and light. The artist uses deep shadows in this painting to contrast the backdrop with the foreground. In elements where various colors are used, the colors are softly blended into one another, so the contrast is slight.
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