1. Art 1010: Class #3 The Principles of Design
Prince George’s Community College
Largo Campus, Marlboro 1019
TWTh 6:00 – 8:40 p.m.
Bryce Walker

2. Things to discuss today
Quiz #1 (Elements of Design)
Papers review
Art discussion (NEA Paper)
Principles of Design
Fred Wilson
Study Guide for Exam #1(June 9th)
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

3. ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker
Principles of Design
Goals and objectives for this unit:
1. Understand how artists create both symmetrical and asymmetrical balance.
2. Discuss how scale and proportional relationships communicate.
3. Analyze the nature of visual rhythm.
4. Discuss how viewers can be influenced or affected by visual rhythms.
5. Understand how you can use the principles of design in our daily lives and creative endeavors.
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

4. ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker
Principles of Design
Principles of Art- Guidelines for making the decisions involved in designing a work of art.
Unity and Variety
Balance
Emphasis and Subordination
Proportion and Scale
Rhythm
The principles of design are a natural part of perception. Most of us are not conscious of them in everyday life, but artists usually are very aware of them, because they have trained themselves to be aware.
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

5. Unity and Variety
Unity- A sense of oneness, of things belonging together and making up a coherent whole.
Variety- Counterpart to unity that creates visual interest.
“Memory of Oceania”, Henri Matisse, 1953
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

6. Unity and Variety Visual Unity Conceptual Unity
Unity of shapes, lines, colors, etc…
Conceptual Unity
Unity of ideas
“Repeating shapes and restricted color gives visual unity to the work, but it is conceptual unity that asks for our interpretation.” (p. 123)
“Shimmering Substance” Jackson Pollack, 1946
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

7. Balance Symmetrical Balance
Implies a center to the picture where both sides are in balance.
Approximate symmetrical balance is when the picture is weighted evenly on each side, but not a mirror image.
“Arnolfini Double Portrait,’ Jan van Eyck 1434.
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

8. Balance Symmetrical Balance
Sometimes the symmetry is so perfect that the two sides of a composition are mirror images of one another.
Symmetrical balance is often used to express order, harmony, and authority, whether earthly and social, or cosmic and spiritual.
“Balance,’ Thomas Grill
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

9. ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker
Balance
Asymmetrical Balance
Two sides that do not match. Balance still occurs because the visual weight of the two sides are very similar.
“The heaviness or lightness of each form depends on its size in relation to other sizes around it, its color in relation to other colors around it, and its placement in the composition in relation to placement of other forms there.”
(p. 129)
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

10. Balance Rules of Asymmetry
A large form is visually heavier than a smaller form.
A dark-value is visually heavier than a light-value form of the same size.
A textured form is visually heavier than a smooth form of the same size.
A complex form is visually heavier than a simple form of the same size.
Two or more small forms can balance a larger one.
A smaller dark form can balance a larger light form.
“Death and Life” Gustav Klimt, 1911
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

11. Balance ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker
“A Bar at the Folies-Bergere” Edouard Manet, 1881.
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

12. Emphasis & Subordination
Complementary Concepts
Emphasis means that our attention is drawn more to certain parts of the composition than to others.
Emphasis can be made by the use of size and placement, contrast, value, and color.
Subordination means that objects not intended to draw attention have blurred details, sit outside of the center of the picture, and do not possess colors that jump out.
“The Banjo Lesson” Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1893
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

13. Emphasis ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker
“Executions of the Third of May, 1808” Francisco de Goya, 1814
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

14. Scale and Proportion
Scale means size in relation to a standard or “normal” size. Some things can be seen as a ‘small’ scale while others as a ‘large’ scale.
Proportion refers to size relationships between parts of a whole, or between tow or more items perceived as a unit.
“Plantoir” Claus Oldenburg and Cossje van Bruggen
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

15. Scale and Proportion Fixed Proportions
Many cultures have developed a fixed set of proportions for depicting a “correct” or “perfect” human form.
Human proportions vary for symbolic or aesthetic purposes.
The Hierarchical Scale is used to show dominion of a king over a group of people. The scale was used in the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman empires.
“Virtruvian Man” Leonardo da Vinci, 1485
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

16. ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker
Scale and Proportion
Golden Mean- Discovered by the Ancient Greeks. A section divides a length into two unequal segments. The ratio turns out to be 1 to 1.618
A rectangle constructed using the proportions of the golden section is called a golden rectangle.
“Golden Rectangle”
“Parthenon”
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

17. Rhythm Rhythm is based in repetition. What types of art need rhythm?
Music
Dance
Poetry
Visual Arts
In Paul Klee’s “Landscape with Yellow Birds”, where do we see rhythm?
Swaying of forms
Flying yellow birds
Full moon implies an arc of circular rhythms
“Landscape with Yellow Birds” Paul Klee, 1923.
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

18. Rhythm
Articulation means to utter clearly in distinct syllables. It also means to be made clear, distinct, and precise in relation to other parts.
Articulating can take place n varying forms: speaking, writing, and even architecture.
“Leon Battista Alberti used rhythms to articulate the monumental façade of the church of Sant’ Andrea.” (p. 143)
“Church of Sant’ Andrea” Leon Battista Alberti, 1470
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

19. ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker
Summary of Principles of Design
Unity
Balance
Emphasis
Proportion
Rhythm
Ugly Bugs Eat Pork Rinds
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker

20. ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker
Summary: Elements and Principles
Elements
are a set of techniques that describe ways of presenting artwork.
Principles
are the set of rules or guidelines of art that are to be considered when considering the impact of a piece of artwork. They are combined with the elements of art in the production of art.
ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce Walker