Madison Deitch
Mr. Nagle
IB Art SL I/II
5. Nov. 2013
Drawing
is comparable to dancing, because the final project requires energy, balance,
and movement. Creating art is much more energy-consuming than it may seem.
Correct positioning is often necessary to form a successful piece of art. If an
artist does not have the energy to stand, he does not have the energy necessary
to produce to accurate piece of art. Precise artwork, especially in
observational drawing, takes a certain level of control over body position. Standing
while creating art, increases the artist’s energy and also encourages him to
step away. The simple act of walking away from the piece and viewing it from a
distance can open the eyes of the artist to mistakes that had not appeared
while he was too close the drawing. Just like music, artwork requires rhythm.
Art should flow like a dancer. Also, as in a group dance, elements of a piece
of art should work together. In order to have a completed piece, balance must
also be considered. Asymmetrical or symmetrical balance should be incorporated
into artwork. I did an artist’s page on Leonardo da Vinci’s Study of a Horse no. 105, and I learned
the importance of reference photographs. I could not have drawn a horse in such
detail without having studied the pictured. Body positioning is a much bigger
factor in my artwork than I had really ever considered before.
Gestalt
principles are so incredibly intriguing, because they seem to play tricks on
the mind. The viewer of a work of art could see a unified whole when in
reality, his mind is assuming that there are lines where there are none. In
other cases, proximity can be used to convince a viewer that there are parts of
a whole to make up something greater, and this is a common technique in
connection with symbolism. For instance, a young artist affected by the
incidents of September eleventh created a piece in which hearts were in close
enough proximity to each other that they formed two arrangements that resembled
the twin towers. Above the two forms are more hearts with wings; this could
symbolize the victims of 9/11 as they ascend to the afterlife, or it could
symbolize those affected rebuilding the towers by coming together, with common
troubles, to support each other. Gestalt principles can be used in creative
ways to get a point across.
Every
time I get discouraged in my mathematics courses, I remind myself that math is
important for art too. In fact, quite a few of the most famous works of art
known today include mathematics. The Golden Mean, represented by the Greek
letter “phi,” is a commonly used rule in the world of art. It is applicable to
face structure, architecture, and spirals. This mathematical rule has been used
by many a famed artist, including Leonardo Da Vinci in Vitruvian Man, Michelangelo in Creation
of Adam, and Benjamin West in The
Death of General Wolfe. According to the Golden Mean, a “perfectly
proportioned” human should a height that is .618 times the height of his navel.
Things like this are especially important to me as an artist, because I am
interested in the field of characters and figures in art. Therefore, I am
genuinely glad that such studies were included in my homework.
