Sense Stimuli
Just by looking at a painting one can be able to feel like they are living in that specific moment even though they are not actually using their senses. According to the Reality Throught the Arts textbook, “We cannot hear pictures and we cannot smell them. Concluding that a picture affects our senses in a particular way means that we rspond in terms of visual stimuli that change into mental images of touch, taste, and sound"(Sporre, 62). Looking at a painting makes you feel that you are using your senses however, you are just mentally creating these feelings.
Contrasts
Contrast of colors in paintings serve to depict different aspects and set off our senses. One obvious way of putting it for example, would be the trees will have their own color and the skies another to separate the two. These contrasts of colors are also used for tones and different sorts of shading in the background to give the painting in depth meaning. Having this put into effect sets of our senses “mentally” and makes us take a part in the painting by reliving the scene. One great painting example to depict this would be Chu-jan, Buddhist Monastery by Stream and Mountains. Sporre mentions, “Tonaliy and color contrast also affect our senses. In Chu-jan’s landscape we find another nearly monochromatic work, but this one gives us a less stark sensation, with its soft tonal contrasts, warm color, and muted textures" (Sporre, 62). Having used these contrasts, a painter gets a message across in the painting.
Dynamics
When one draws a triangle, straight line, a curvy line, or even a broken line on a piece of notebook paper just because they were bored and sketching, one may find it simply plain, however artists use these types of lines or shapes to portray different situations. Sporre mentions, “If we place a triangle so that its base forms the bottom of a picture, we create a definite sense of solitdity and immovability"(Sporre, 64). Sporre also continues to mention how these different lines can portray movability if it is a straight line, violence if its a broken line, or relaxation if it is a curved line (Sporre, 64). One does not take these things into consideration when sketching, but an artist however, does and uses such techniques to create movement as mentioned before. If we take a look at another painting, for example, Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, you are able to pick out lines and see how they represent the different meanings behind them such as relaxation and movability as Sporre points out.
http://bytescout.com/products/developer/pdfsdk/bytescoutpdf_drawing_curves.html
Trompe L’Oeil
Trompe l’oeil according to Sporre, “Or Trick of the eye, gives the artist a varied set of stimuli by which to affect our sensory response" (Sporre, 64). One can come to think of this term as “3D” simply because of the fact that Sporre describes it as an artists attempt to portray an object as three dimensional in the painting. Just as we have movies that are three dimensional and attract a large audience to the movies, paintings can also be three dimensional and also attract a great audience which makes it an important piece of artwork.
http://akeiron.deviantart.com/art/Trompe-l-oeil-76114336
Juxtaposition
Juxtapositon in art represents instability when lines are placed together (Sporre, 65). This is also another technique used by artists in their artwork. Sporre mentions, “Careful use of this device can stimulate some very interesting and specific sense responses" (Sporre, 65). In the picture Juxtaposition of inharminous forms we see how close the lines and shapes are and this creates an interesting piece of artwork. Seeing this piece of artwork lets us know that art does not have to be traditional it is all about being different.
Focus
Trying to get someone to focus is hard enough and in art it can be complicated as well. In a painting there can be multiple things going on and there are many paths that an artist can take to make one object a central focus. One example of this would be the painting done by Anna Vallayer-Coster titled Still Life with Lobster. Sporre states, “French Painter Anna Vallayer-Coster focuses attention on the lobster in her still life by painting nearly everything else a shade of green"(Sporre, 65). This is one technique that an artist used to draw the attention of the audience to the main focus which in this case was the lobster (Sporre, 65). This painting is just one example of an artwork that uses this focus technique, if we look at other paintings even though they have a different concept or picture they also use different ways to incorporate a certain focus.
To Conclude
All these elements are very important for an artist to include in their artworks and even though the task may seem easy, it is not. They have to come up with ways to approach the artwork to get the message that they want to portray across. All of these elements in a painting such as contrast, dynamics, Trompe L’Oeil, juxtaposition, and focus do not necessarily have to be in one painting but they are what makes a piece of artwork noticed and visually attractive to the eyes of the audience. Art is art and no matter how different it may seem there is always a beauty to it.
References
Sporre, Dennis. Reality Through The Arts. 8. New Saddle, New Jersey: Pearson Education , 2007. Print.
