Design Principles (assignment 2)

1. How does an artist create asymmetrical balance? 

This is the Japanese woodblock print named Hara-juku which was the thirteenth of the fifty-three stations of the Tokaido (East Sea Road) was depicted by Ando Hiroshige from 1831-1834. This Japanese art is known for elegant asymmetry that is perfectly balanced. Here, the artist depicted the mountain (Mount Fuji) on the right is balanced on the left by empty space, the close proximity of the travelers, and their movement away from the mountain.

2. Describe several ways used to unify an artwork?

Artworks are constructed using the element of art and the principals of design. Shape, color, line, space, and texture are the elements of art. These five elements contribute to unifying an artwork. For instance, color divides into cool and warm. Also, contrasting color effectively unifies artwork.

Here, this art uses pink and green on white laid paper. There is a violet pink hue under everything. The touch of green at the place where the mid ground meets the sky, together with the same green in, behind, and under the tree makes the color story of “pink compliments green” work throughout the picture. Imagine this image with green only in the tree, and nowhere else, and the resulting picture would lack unity.

3. How does scale change the meaning of an artwork?

Scale is more than simply the object’s size; however, it is the size of the art object in relation to another object. The scale of art represents different meaning and effect. For example, this image shows a recycle art of Optimus Prime is 40 feet tall and its weight is 6 tons. Such large scale gives people a sense of godlike grandeur and power. Additionally, this recycle art create a mighty sense of vision impact that makes people feel it is a real robot. On the contrary, if it is a small Optimus Prime, people will regard it as a toy.

Egyptian and Greek Arts

            When I was watching the video on Youtube, I realized there was a deep relationship between Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greek that Ancient Egyptian arts influenced Ancient Greek arts for a long time. In the video, some of those artworks were similar even though they came from two different civilizations. However, similarity doesn’t mean sameness. These two cultures’ artworks still have a lot of different places. First, Ancient Egyptian was an ancient civilization of northeastern Africa which concentrated along the low reaches of the Nile River. Ancient Egyptian had its own religion belief, and it was a classical society. These two things were greatly represented by its art produces.  In other words, Ancient Egyptian’s religion and classical concept effectively influenced its art style so that Ancient Egyptian art aimed at preserving order and stability, or the prevailing relationships between the king, people, and the gods. Beside, because Ancient Egyptian experienced several different period, Ancient Egyptian arts had been more and more various styles and characteristics so that we can see some Ancient Egyptian arts are also characterized by heroic battles, nature, and a high proportion of surviving works were intended to provide solace and utility to deceased in the afterlife. 

        This is the statue of the Pharaoh  Menkaure and His Queen which carved out of slate and dating to 2548-2530 B.C.E, is an example of Old Kingdom 4th Dynasty royal sculpture. The statue, which stands about 4feet 8 inches high. Menkaure is portrayed in the familiar Egyptian pose standing as if attention with his left leg extended forward, his arm held stiff at his sides, and his fists clenched holding some unidentified cylindrical objects. His stance appears assertive, indicative of his power. 

His queen stands in a more naturalistic way than Menkaure with her right arm reaching around his waist and her left one bent at the elbow and holding his left arm. This status symbolize the royals were granted power by the God. And it emphasizes the class in Egyptian society,

  

      On the other hand, early Ancient Greek was influenced by Ancient Egypt; however, Ancient Greek arts kept developing and the arts of Ancient Greek had eventually brought a hug influence to many countries especially the area of sculpture and architecture. The Ancient Greek style is noted for the repose, harmony, and proportion of its effects. Furthermore, Ancient Greek art is characterized by the representation of living beings. It is concerned both with formal proportion and with the dynamics of action and emotion. Its primary subject matter is the human figure, which is also the form of the divine. Monster, animals, and plants are secondly. The chief themes are form myth, literature, and daily life. 

        Statue of a Kouros (Youth) is one of the earliest marble statues of a nude human figure carved in Attica. The rigid stance, with the left leg forward and arms at the side, was derived from Egyptian art. The pose provided a clear, simple formula that was used bu Greek sculptors throughout the sixth century B.C(around 590-580 B.C.). Without the plinth, this statue is 76 inches. In this early figure, geometric, almost abstract forms predominate, and anatomical details are rendered in beautiful analogous patterns. The statue marked the grave of a young Athenian aristocrat.