Hello everyone! Welcome to Part 2 of our

first lecture, Principles of Design. In

this part of the lecture, we will explore

a variety of visual elements that affect

how art is created, used, and interpreted.

As mentioned before, please feel free to

pause this video at any time to take

careful notes.

We begin by looking at space. The term

"space" here refers to the area that

contains the artwork, the area

manipulated and worked on by the artist

that is then visible and offered for

viewers to contemplate and experience.

Here we see that artists can utilize

space to give a sense of illusion, or

naturalism, to an image, especially one

that is made in two dimensions,

consisting of height and width but not

depth. Alternatively, artists can also use

space to ignore reality and collapse or

compress the area occupied by the visual

elements. Here are some of the components

that artists use to design the space in

an artwork: size, overlapping, position,

displaying or including different textures

adjusting the brightness of colors, and

the use of perspective.

Using size is an important way to express

visually how elements within an image use

the space. Typically, things that are

bigger in size will take up more space—or

volume—in the real world. And to mimic

that phenomenon, artists will use the

sizes of elements within the visual space

to help viewers interpret the intended

relationships and sizes of elements in the

image.

Here we have the print "The Great Wave Off

Shore at Kanagawa," created by Katsushika

Hokusai in the 19th century. Hokusai has

arranged the waves in this visual space to

appear in an overlapping fashion, with the

wave closest to us in the foreground

appearing smaller than the wave farther

away in the midground. The size of the

large wave in the midground appears

especially menacing and dangerous when

compared to the size of the human figures

in the canoes, who seem tiny in

comparison, and at the complete mercy of

the ocean.

Perspective, in addition to size, is an

important way to communicate the

appearances and relationships of

components in an image. We are going to

look at several types of perspective that

artists use to create the illusion of a

three-dimensional area within a two-

dimensional visual space.

Atmospheric perspective is the depiction

of a space that allows the viewer to

understand smaller elements to be farther

away and larger elements to be closer,

giving the illusion of a real, three-

dimensional experience when the actual

space is only two-dimensional.

For example, there are four temples on top

of four hills in this image. Even though

they are depicted on a flat surface, the

temples appear to occupy different planes

of physical space, with the largest temple

on the left closest to us in the

foreground, and the smallest temple in the

center farthest away in the background.

Notice that both size and color hues are

utilized here to suggest an illusionistic

portrayal of the landscape and the temples

on the hills, with the darker or more

saturated hues used to make the largest

temple appear closer and the lighter, less

saturated hues used to make the smallest

temple appear far away.

Linear perspective is a system devised by

artists of the Italian Renaissance, who

used mathematical relationships between

lines and space to create the illusion of

three-dimensional depth. Artists use

linear perspective to arrange elements in

a way that will create implied lines and

focal points—called vanishing points—to

enhance a viewer's ability to interpret a

space as being three-dimensional.

In this painting, Hayllar allows the two-

dimensional surface to look convincingly

three-dimensional. Linear perspective is

an important part of this effect. Let's

take a closer look.

Here you see the components of linear

perspective that make Hayllar's image so

convincing. There is a horizon line

bisecting the painting in half about

midway up the height of the canvas.

There is a focal point placed along that

horizon line, where the artist wants the

viewer's attention to be drawn. Take a

close look and you'll notice that the

focal point is here labeled as a vanishing

point, and it is right between those two

figures in the foreground on the left. And

then there are a number of implied lines

that create converging lines—also known

as orthogonals—to help direct our gaze to

the focal point along the horizon line. By

using these elements as guides, the artist

can create a realistic looking space with

the help of arrangement, color saturation,

size, and now linear perspective.

Linear perspective can contain one or more

vanishing points, with orthogonals

leading to them in the same technique as

we just saw. Similarly, multi-point

perspective allows artists to portray

scenes from views other than directly

frontal. Specifically, a worm's eye view

portrays a scene from below, where the

viewer is looking up. And a bird's eye

view portrays a scene from above, where

the viewer is looking down. In this type

of perspective, there are multiple

vanishing points.

In this woodcut print by Escher, we the

viewers are situated above the scene

portrayed in the image, putting us in a

bird's eye view. The reason why this is

also multi-point perspective is because

there are multiple points in the image

that could serve as focal points, or

vanishing points, on various horizon lines

Look carefully and locate some implied

lines that converge on a specific focal

point. What do you notice? Do you see the

columns, staircase, and rooftop terraces?

Escher uses all of these components to

direct your gaze to linger on different

points of the image, moving up along the

structure and taking in details as they

come.

The term foreshortening refers to the type

of perspective that allows us to see

something that is meant to be protruding

toward us in a realistic way. Artists use

foreshortening to increase the illusionism

of the visual space by mimicking the way

we would view items coming toward us in

the real world.

For example, Mantegna's The Lamentation

over the Dead Christ, also known as

"The Foreshortened Christ," portrays the

dead Christ figure from a surprising

angle. The feet of the figure are meant to

appear closer to us, the viewers, than his

head, and Mantegna must adjust the angles,

sizes, and focal points to create this

illusion.

In art, the term balance refers to having

visual "weight" that exists in the image.

Balance is often achieved by controlling

the size and arrangement of elements

within the image.

When visual elements are equally

distributed across the image, there is

symmetrical balance. Artists often employ

symmetrical balance to make their images

more easily understood and visually

appealing to viewers.

Here we have a ritual container from the

Shang Dynasty in what is now the country

of China. This object displays symmetrical

balance. If you bisected the object in

half vertically down its center, you will

find identical patterns and elements

displayed. These types of containers were

often used in ceremonies, often buried

with the deceased to accompany them into

the afterlife. As such, creating an object

that demonstrates symmetry, balance, and

harmony was an important part of its form

and its function.

In direct contrast to symmetrical balance,

asymmetrical balance is when artists

distribute the visual weight of the image

unequally, often placing more elements on

one side of the image than the other, or

perhaps adding more detail to one side

than the other.

For example, in this image, there are six

persimmons portrayed, but they are not

arranged in a symmetrical fashion. Instead

the asymmetrical balance of the image

allows us to focus on the persimmons more

individually, considering their subtle

differences and unique qualities.

Artists can also use scale to affect our

interpretation of images. Scale is not the

same as size, though they are closely

related. Size refers to the dimensions of

an element on its own, whereas scale

refers to the relationship between the

size of the viewer and the work of art.

There are three types of scale that you

will be expected to know and utilize.

Monumental scale describes works that are

or appear to be larger than they would

normally exist, or larger than the size

of the viewer. Human scale describes works

that appear to be the same size in the

artwork as they are in real life, or are

roughly the same size as the viewer. And

miniature scale describes works that

appear or are smaller than they would be

in real life, or are smaller than the

viewer.

Consider how artists Oldenburg and

van Bruggen have played with scale in

their work Mistos from 1992. This is a

large sculpture in a public, outdoor

space. Although this sculpture is clearly

larger, larger than the people around it,

and is thus representing monumental scale,

the subject matter is a packet of matches,

which normally easily fit in the palm of

one's hand. Artists use scale to surprise

viewers, often inviting them to rethink

their relationships to different objects

in their lives by viewing them in ways

they've never seen before.

Another important type of scale is called

hierarchical scale. This term describes

the utilization of scale to denote

importance by making the most important

element the largest-sized element in the

image.

In this carved relief scene from the great

temple at Amun, in Egypt, the figures are

created in a variety of sizes. Rather than

using size to communicate depth and

illusionistic space, here the sizes of the

figures show the importance of them in

relationship to each other. Through

hierarchical scale, the large figure on

the right is likely the most significant

figure in the scene, with the smaller

figures in the center and the left of the

image being less significant in comparison

Our last design element of the lecture is

proportion. Although related to size and

scale, proportion is the relationship

between the sizes of the individual parts

within an artwork or object, rather than

its size in relation to other objects or

the viewer.

Here we see three drawings of an object,

a vessel or container for liquids.

Although they all depict symmetrical

balance and share the same components,

such as a base at the bottom, handles at

the sides, and a lip at the top, they are

all exhibiting different relationships

between their height and width. These

different relationships and proportions

affect the dimensions and appearance

of these objects, making them different

from each other.

In addition to the relationship between

height and width, proportion can also

relate to the parts of the human body.

There are many examples throughout

history of societies producing art and

architecture based on measurements taken

from the human body, and it is generally

thought that using human proportions in

art and architecture makes the viewing

experience more pleasurable and relatable

for viewers.

In this graphic, we see how the human hand

has been used as a measurement. By

beginning with the smallest unit of the

hand—fingers—we then advance to a

collection of four fingers to create a

palm, a collection of six palms to create

a cubit, and finally four cubits to create

the average height of a human. By creating

art, objects, and structures based on

elements of the human body, viewers can

readily understand how the work relates to

them, making it easier to comprehend and

contemplate the visual elements and their

meanings. This concludes Part 2 of our

first lecture on the Principles of Design.

Feel free to return to this lecture video

to review information and terminology

on space, perspective, balance, scale, and

proportion.