Positive and Negative Space examples

Please note that because of glares from the actual photos, it was not that easy to cut out the precise sillhouette in Photoshop, which is why these individual pieces might look somewhat grainy.  However, I actually like the effect it gave so I didn't actually mind.  Below are the two examples.  The first is the examples of the objects in positive space.  I have tried to illustrate overlap in four areas, the wine bottle to the wine glass, the tea pot to the tea cup, the fork to the plate, and the spoon to the knife.  These were difficult to display in a 3D element.  I feel I could have done a better job by tracing the outside of the dominant object in these instances with either white or black respectively to further illustrate the overlap, but wasn't sure if that was acceptable for the assignment.  The second is the same piece, only showing the negative space. 

 

Below is the second part, where I took the negative space and displayed it differently and added some text.  I guess I envisioned this being on a menu or as an advertisement in traditional media.

Collage

I know, I'm a romantic.  This collage is a gift I made for my fiance for Valentines Day.  I knew this was our project for the same week, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone.  Further, most of the pictures I had on my computer were of us together anyways!!  I tried to vary the size of the photos so as to enlarge some of the photos that I really like and are important to me.  The smaller photos are intended to build a heart-shaped frame for the black and white image, which I think is the focal point.  That message is meant to show the importance both my fiance and I see in love, not only for each other but for our families, friends, and careers.  Let me know if I did my job lending importance to some photos over others, or if I failed.  Thanks! 

Absence of Focal Point

I've been waiting to use Jackson Pollack as an example and this seems like as good an opportunity as any.  This piece, titled "The Key" is an example of a piece of art with no real focal point.  While there is something that absolutely captures me with this piece, I am having a difficult time understanding what it is and why it is able to do this since my eye isn't quite sure where to land when looking at it.  I find myself looking for something to capture my eye, and when not one single element does I am not sure how to feel. 

Image courtesy of: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/pollock/pollock.key.jpg

One Element

I first saw this piece on as a poster on the wall of a friend of mine that was studying architechture.  This M.C. Escher piece has one element as the focal piece: the glass ball in the hand.  However, what is cool about this piece, is that element is a mirror and shows the reflection of what is behind the hand holding it.  It's really neat in my opinion, that it uses the focal point as the vehicle to show what is going on behind the hand.  I have circled in white the focus point. 

Placement

As a lover of Van Gogh, here is another piece of his to illustrate focal point. This piece, I believe titled "Bedroom", has a focal point on the right side of the canvas.  To me, the focus point is the bed, which is disproportionately large in comparison to the other elements in the work.  It is a different color wood than the chairs and the desk in the piece, and it spans nearly half of it's width, meaning to me it has more significance than the other elements. 

Image courtesy of:  http://www.famous-paintings.org/Vincent-van-Gogh/90.jpg

Isolation

This piece, titled "A Pair of Shoes" by Van Gogh is a great example of focus point being delivered as a result of isolation.  The feeling that results from Van Gogh choosing to make an old, weathered pair of work boots the focal point is that of exhaustian.  The browns in the background could either be that of the fields from which those boots are used, or the dirt floor of the workers quarters.  The sad, defeated sole on the left looks frail in comparison to it's mate.  All this is inferred from these being the focal point, where as if they were simply an element of the piece, it would have needed many more elements to deliver the same message. 

Original image courtesy of: http://rosemarywashington.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/van-gogh-a-pair-of-shoes.jpg

Contrast

This piece by Jane Jones, entitled "Natures Magic" is a great example of the use of contrast to create a focal point, or point of emphasis.  The deep red stripes of the lily (at least I believe it is some sort of lily, but admittedly do not know flowers that well) immediately attract the eye, and differentiates itself from the rest of the blues and whites of the vase and the tablecloth.  The shot above shows the piece with a yellow circle around the aforementioned focal point. 

Original image courtesy of:  http://www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com/images/stories/march10/jane-jones.jpg

non-objective unity

This piece, by Picasso (courtesy of bing.com/images) shows a solid use of unity by continuing the body of the subject on the left to the one on the right. I see it as a woman looking at herself in a mirror.  The continuation is executed by the arm that stretches across the piece.  It gently takes the eye from the subject to her reflection.  I'm not sure that it matters,  but it woudl appear that the woman in the piece is pregnant.  Unless it's supposed to represent continuity of life?

Hard to follow

This piece from an unnamed American author (courtesy of bing.com/images) is a piece that I find very hard to read.  I like the proximity and repetition of the circles, but there are angular subsections that are almost tiangular in appearance.  The different colors of the backgrounds in varius subsections also magnifies these boundaries that seem to over-power the repetition, color, and promity of the circles.  All in all, it just makes it difficult for me read it because I can't see through the confusion.

Repetition

This abstract piece by Bruce Gray (courtest of bing.com/images) is a great example of repetition.  In this piece, the circle is the obvious the focus of repetition.  There are circes repeated within other circles, and they are repeated throughout the entire canvas.  Much like the example on pg. 36 of the text, the use of repetition creates a unified, albeit unpredictable composition. 

One criticism I have is that there are several spots of the canvas that are blank, and they appear to have no deeper significance. I think these spots could have been utilized rather then simply being blank, as it does sort of deter from the overall continuity of the piece. 

Proximity

This piece titled,Several Circles , by Wassily Kandinsky (courtesy of bing.com/images) is a nice example of proximity.  If not for all the circles being nested in/on to the two bigger, blue circles in the piece things would be disjointed.  The use of color and opacity sort of make it feel like the smaller circles are being pulled towards the bigger.   

Grid, repetition, and continuation

I like this piece as it demonstrates several of the ways to achieve unity:  grid as organization, both types of repetition (similarity and variety), proximity, and continuation.

The grid is clearly used to organize the piece with the position of each person. I feel like each section of the grid is composed of both the person telling the secret and the person being told--it provides a symmetry and continuity by doing it this way.

It also demonstrates a successful use of repetition. Despite that each face is unique, the pattern repeats and creates a rythym. Therefore, to me it demonstrates both types of reptition.  The pattern repeats in a similar, organized matter and the variety of faces show a repetition of variety.

Rockwell also uses proximity well in this piece. Not only does putting the faces close together add a dramatic flare, but if there was too much space between each face, it would simply be a collection of faces and there would be no real relationship to each other.

Having not looked at this piece in probably a decade, I must say how neat it is that he ends each row with one person who has just received the secret and starts the next row with said person telling another. An artistic cliff hanger, I suppose, until it comes full circle at the end. A great use of the grid to tell the story.