Art Principle: Variety
In art variety is about using a range of art elements. Variety can be created by varying:
Using elements that are different from each other creates contrast.
- Line
- Colour
- Shape
- Form
- Value
- Texture
Using elements that are different from each other creates contrast.
To understand why artists do what they do and to help you make decisions when creating an artwork, you need to know how to analyse an artwork.
Analysis is where you look at an artwork and you break it down to see underlying structures.
We will ask questions such as how? and why?
Look at these artworks and discuss
Analysis is where you look at an artwork and you break it down to see underlying structures.
We will ask questions such as how? and why?
Look at these artworks and discuss
- Do you like the artwork? (Can you justify why/why not?)
- How has the artist used variety?
- What does that bring to the meaning of the artwork?
Zac Smith
A contemporary artist using a lot of variety. Consider driving along in a big city and all the information you see at once. It can be overwhelming seeing all the cars, signs, buildings, maps, people, etc.
How does this artwork make you feel?
A contemporary artist using a lot of variety. Consider driving along in a big city and all the information you see at once. It can be overwhelming seeing all the cars, signs, buildings, maps, people, etc.
How does this artwork make you feel?
Jean Michel-Basquiat
Pioneer of street art, Basquiat uses a lot of variety in his work. His style is raw, rough and energetic, he makes comment of dualities, eg. wealthy and poor or inner versus outer experience.
Pioneer of street art, Basquiat uses a lot of variety in his work. His style is raw, rough and energetic, he makes comment of dualities, eg. wealthy and poor or inner versus outer experience.
Jackson Pollock.
Pollock creates art using a process called 'action painting.' His artwork is placed on the floor and he stands over it using sudden actions to flick and splatter paint across the canvas. He lets go of control and the process of creating the artwork is as important as the artwork itself.
Pollock creates art using a process called 'action painting.' His artwork is placed on the floor and he stands over it using sudden actions to flick and splatter paint across the canvas. He lets go of control and the process of creating the artwork is as important as the artwork itself.
Hannah Hoch
A multi-media artist of the World War II era in a movement called 'Dada.' This art came about to break the rules and create nonsensical artworks. After seeing all the horrors that war can bring, what made sense anymore?
These artworks are often random, silly, satirical and embraced imperfection.
A multi-media artist of the World War II era in a movement called 'Dada.' This art came about to break the rules and create nonsensical artworks. After seeing all the horrors that war can bring, what made sense anymore?
These artworks are often random, silly, satirical and embraced imperfection.
Artworks that use a lot of variety are often:
Chaotic
Overwhelming
Unstructured
Energetic
Chaotic
Overwhelming
Unstructured
Energetic
Your Task:
To help you create variety you are asked to let go of control and allow chance to happen, just like the Dadaist artists.
You will create a process based artwork, choose items from the list randomly, don't overthink!
The rules below are there to guide you in letting go, be random, use eeny, meeny, miny, moe, close you eyes and point!
This is a multi-media exercise, that means you can use paper, pens, pencils, print outs, etc.
Use an A4 piece of paper as your base, your artwork can go beyond the edges of the page.
1. If you work fast, you will need to have 2 A4 pages that if you finish a step early, start working on the second page. That way you are creating two compositions and you can try different ways of interpreting the same step.
2. You will be given 8-10mins for each step, I will roll the dice and then you make the action described.
3. After 8-10mins I will roll the dice again and you will need to complete the second action and so forth.
Virtual dice: flipsimu.com/dice-roller/roll-d8/
Must do at least 3 of the following:
It could look something like this artwork by Kandinsky
To help you create variety you are asked to let go of control and allow chance to happen, just like the Dadaist artists.
You will create a process based artwork, choose items from the list randomly, don't overthink!
The rules below are there to guide you in letting go, be random, use eeny, meeny, miny, moe, close you eyes and point!
This is a multi-media exercise, that means you can use paper, pens, pencils, print outs, etc.
Use an A4 piece of paper as your base, your artwork can go beyond the edges of the page.
1. If you work fast, you will need to have 2 A4 pages that if you finish a step early, start working on the second page. That way you are creating two compositions and you can try different ways of interpreting the same step.
2. You will be given 8-10mins for each step, I will roll the dice and then you make the action described.
3. After 8-10mins I will roll the dice again and you will need to complete the second action and so forth.
Virtual dice: flipsimu.com/dice-roller/roll-d8/
Must do at least 3 of the following:
- Cut out coloured paper shapes, drop these on the page and glue down
- Scribble in large curving shapes across your page
- Cut out sections of a photo, drop and glue down
- Colour in gaps and shapes randomly, must do 8
- Add textures randomly, must do 5
- Shade around a shape
- Use a ruler and add diagonal lines across your page
- Free choice draw something on the paper
It could look something like this artwork by Kandinsky
Here is an example of what this process can look like:
Evaluate
The next step is to evaluate your artwork.
To evaluate you look at what you have created and state what effect it has. This does not have to be something that you planned while making the artwork! This is about reflecting on what happened and what you managed to create in the end.
In your Design Principles Folio answer the following questions:
(Refer to the Art Element PowerPoint to help you describe the elements in your artwork)
1. How has variety been used?
2. How have you used the art elements?
•Line
•Texture
•Value
•Colour
•Shape
•Space
•Form
3. What effect has been created?
4. Can you see a meaning in your artwork?
Exemplar
How has variety been used? I have used variety as there are multiple colours, textures, shading and brown shapes across the page. How have you used the art elements? Line – I have used a variety of lines from thick and thin, to sharp diagonal lines and short, blending lines to create value. Texture – I have used texture by drawing repeated diagonal dashed lines Value – I have used value by shading in a sphere, making this a form Colour – I have used orange and blue, these are complimentary colours Shape – I have used lots of shapes, these can be seen with the brown paper shapes as well as the random shapes created when I doodled across the page. Space - The brown paper shapes create areas of positive and negative space. Form – the sphere What effect has been created? I find it to be a very busy artwork, there is a lot going on. The dashed lines create a sense of movement and energy, the orange colour helps with this. Overall, it is a chaotic artwork. What would you do differently next time? I would try to control the process less. I felt that I thought about the steps too much which was not the point of the task. For example, when I cut out the paper shapes, I placed them carefully onto the page rather than letting them fall randomly. |