design principles

Balance is one of essential principles of design and it can be divided into two types that are symmetrical and asymmetrical.   Symmetrical balance is usually required that the left and right sides are the same on the structure; however, the asymmetrical is not.  Van Gogh’s artwork Starry Night is a good example here.  It perfectly shows what asymmetrical balance looks like.  In this painting, the artist amplifies the bush on the left side and then it naturally becomes a focal point on the composition because of its large size.   To avoid the bush being too “heavy” visually and to keep balance of the whole painting, the artist depicts many other things.  Now, the large bush is balanced by the town, mountains, and the moon on the right side. Moreover, we can see that the artist uses the blue and purple as the colors of background to bring out the brightness of the moon; also, those colors become a strong contrast to the brown of the bush on the left side.   

It is also important to have unity and variety in a work of art.  Unity makes everything belong together and shows a vivid and strong connection between figures and objects. This is the artwork by the Italian contemporary artist Angelo Musco  that titles Hadal.  Musco expresses the unity of the painting in a stunning way. The composition of the artwork is built by uncountable naked human bodies. The bodies are moving in the same direction with the same prostrate look and gradually form a huge black hole.  The painting clearly shows the unified sense of purpose and the repetition of bodies also unified the whole visual perspective.

Scale is the first element artists have to consider before starting their works of art. More and more artists use the distortion of scale to show the relationship between the figures and objects or send a message to viewers. Dave Limpfish’s  digital painting  Vader with Parasol, the Dark Lord conveys a sense of unclear crisis.  The artist depicts a huge-sized dark lord with holding a small umbrella standing next to a little boy. The boy looks innocent and does not feel nervous. It seems that the boy has known the devil and is not afraid of him.  They might be friends and enjoying the nice weather together. The blue sky, the clouds and yellow flowers in the foreground are harmonious; at the same time, they bring out the difference between the lovely human and the evil dark lord.  The artist makes the relationship of the two figures very interesting but a little confusing.  

Two different art styles

                  Statuses in Egypt always have their certain standard forms.  They are standing in the frontal position and facing the viewer; at the same time, their faces are basically serious.  The first artwork is a group statue of three males and  its culture background is in New Kingdom, Amarna period in Egypt. The whole statue is made of a kind of stone which uses calcite as its main component and some paint.  The three people are different in their hairstyles and clothing, but you can see they are showing the same expressions on their faces.  On the whole, the man standing on the left side is more prominent and clearer than the other two. It indicates that the differences of their status. The hand movements of the man in the middle also let their relationship become much more distinct.  He puts his arm around the kid’s shoulder and is showing a strong love to him. Instead, he acts more respect to the man who is standing on his another side with holding his hand.  Overall, they are more like a family. It also reveals that the characteristics of the ancient Egyptian culture and art are always hierarchical. In addition, the figures the artists designed are alike in shape and line and they are less body language.  In this artwork, people are standing upright with left foot forward and grave looks. They are more likely to wait for their King’s command in the ceremony.  

                                            

                In contrast to Egypt changeless art style, Geek and Roman art are full of freedom and completely show the “beauty”.  This is a group statue as well but they are carved into three females without heads and hands.  This artwork is created in Roman imperial period in second century B.C. It made of a hard crystalline stone that called marble.  The three ladies have beautiful and attractive bodies. It seems that they are listening to the song and dancing.  You can feel that they are in a carefree, relaxed and cheerful state.  The artist uses exaggerated way to show the beauty of deformity of human beings. Meanwhile, the work expresses the Romans pursuit to their freedom and lives, and the exposed bodies reflect the Romans brave and powerful characteristics. Greek and Roman art do not have any certain forms and they tend to design more different body poses for figures in their arts. They dare to break the rules and explore the new things.