ART 7 REVIEW
Name______________________________________________
Impressionist Painting
Impressionist painters are known for capturing light and landscapes. Their
paint is applied by dabbing the paint creating texture. They visually mix
color by letting the eye of the viewer blend the colors. For example, on a
green tree the Impressionist painter may put dabs of yellow and blue. The
viewer’s eye will see this as an effervescent green. We studied French
Impressionist Claude Monet as well as Post Impressionists Vincent Van
Gogh, Paul Cézanne, as well as contemporary artists who use the
Impressionist techniques.
Color Theory
We reviewed color families and how artists use this knowledge to their
advantage.
Primary colors: magenta (red), yellow, cyan (blue)
Secondary colors: orange, green, purple
Intermediate colors: blue-green, blue-violet, yellow-green, yellow-orange,
red-orange, red-violet
Analogous colors – colors next to each other on the color wheel, blend well
together
Complimentary colors – colors across from each other on the color wheel,
make neutrals (browns, greys) when mixed, in small ratios can tone down a
color
Color Scheme – the colors selected to use in an artwork
Oil, tempera and acrylic paint can be made lighter by adding white – this is a
tint.
Op Art
Op Art is short for optical art. We studied Op Artists Bridget Riley and
Victor Vasarely.
Op Art is known for visual tension. Visual tension is where contrasting
colors or patterns seem to vibrate or move. In Op Art, positive and negative
spaces are balanced. Positive space represents the main object; negative
space is the space around the object.
Op Art is almost always non-representational, meaning it is not an image of
something identifiable. Instead, it is about the experience of viewing the
visual tension and sometimes based on a feeling or experience of the artist.
For example, Bridget Riley’s Movement in Squares was based on her
experience of seeing mist from a storm sweep over an Italian plaza’s tiled
ground and then retreat. The uneasy feeling she had when she could not see
the ground is represented by the visual tension.
Bridget Riley, Movement in Squares
We learned that when creating a grid in a box, it is important to measure
twice for each direction of lines– once on each side of the box. This makes
the lines parallel. When enlarging a grid, we extended the lines from the
original grid to the new, larger measurement marks.
John James Audubon
John James Audubon was known for his illustrations of animals and birds.
He was best known for his book, Birds of America. He was a naturalist,
whose passion and work is honored by the Audubon Society. His work is
scientifically correct. He expressed his dismay at the dwindling population
of the passenger pigeon (now extinct) by perching them on decaying
branches in his illustration of them in Birds of America.
We learned about washing watercolor layers on top of each other to make
the color richer. Water color paint can be made lighter simply my adding
water.
Elements of Art
The Elements of art are what makes up a piece of art. The elements are
hanging on the ceiling in our classroom and include:
Space
Texture
Form
Value
Color
Line
Shape
Each of these elements can be used alone or together to describe how an
artist creates a mood, movement, or composition.