Elements, Principals

Elements of Design

Line

Created when a point moves continuously on surface. Can be considered the building blocks for many other elements such as shape and letter form.

colour 

The way lights reflects off a surface. There can by many types of colour such as Primary, secondary.

texture

Either physical or can be seen, such as the feel of a 3d object, or the appearance of a 2d one. 

shape

Such as squares or circles, created by joining or curving lines to create a closed area.

form.

either physical or visual. If visual it is the appearance of 3 dimensions, physical is having 3 dimensions.

Principals of Design

Stability

When a design appears stable; balanced; harmonious.

dynamics

A design which appears to have movement and leafs your eyes around the design. Can drastically change the feel of a design.

rhythm

Repetition or alteration of elements in a design created rhythm. Rhythm is often used to create patterns and shape.  

scale

An effect created when having elements bigger than others; a sence of size is created. Can be used to create importance in a design.

Art Vocal List

Stroke

An effect were by an object has a line around its bounds. Can be dotted, continuous, thick or thin.

Symmetry

Created when a design is equal in terms of elements on both sides.

Hierarchy

An order to design. Important to consider when you need your viewer to see a design in a certain way.

Proportion

How big/ small an element looks in proportion to another.

Pattern

Created when repeating elements multiple times.

Adjective List

Calligraphic

A style of line used to create by variation in thick and thin line, often used in text

Monochromatic

When a design used only shades of black

Organic

A very natural - curved and plant like design

Geometric

Very square, angled and mathematic

Smooth

A texture void of many bumps.

Style Time Line

Anti-realism

Source

Anti-Realist art, in a literal sence, is the opposite of realist art. The basis of this art is that the artist denies the true nature of what he is depicting, and presents it differently. It has been around for many many years, however it is said to have started in the 1920's with surrealism. This form of art was very much realistic looking, focusing on surreal subject matter. 


Max Ernest was a famous artist in the trend, creating very wonderful works dealing with many surreal themes.


Andre Masson was another famous French artist who thrived in the era.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-realism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-realism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Ernst

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealism

Les Automatistes

Source

Les Automatistes are a group of artists from Quebec, who were inspired by Automatism. Automatism is a style of automatic art; or art were you let your hand draw with no aim or goal. It is credited as existing since 1942, when an artist famous in the field, Paul-Émile Borduas, had an art show. Roger Fauteux was also a member of the group. The group of artists split up soon after 1948.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Automatistes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealist_automatism

Colour Field

source

Colour field is a style of art that emerged from new york during the 1940's. It was characterised by the use of big circles of colour, ofter overlapping each other. It is said to have evolved from a form of impressionism art, which focused on the intense emotional impact that art can have. More or less colour field work is about the subjective emotion that people feel from the work. 


Kennith Noland was a very famous artist, who is credited as taking colour field very much to the main stream.


Many artists created art in the field in the 20 year boom that it was prominent in. A famous artist, Frank Stella's work, is visible to the left. He explored a lot of line and shape in his work, in a very abstract sense. 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_Field

Hyperrealism Impressionism

Source

This form of art is characterised by the emphasis on making the paintings or sculptures as photorealistic as possible. Accurate light, texture and colour all help to make this possible. It is more or less the same as impressionism, if not more detailed. It has been growing as a movement since the early 2000's. Many famous artists exist in the field, with one of the more recognisable being Ron Mueck. He has focused on creating accurate sculptural representations of people, which play with scale. This has a profound effect on the viewer, as you can feel amplified emotion.  


Robert Neffson is another famous artist in this field, who is more focused on taking the reality of a landscape and extrapolating it to try and create a more emotional response from the viewer. 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperrealism_(painting)

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/21-mindblowing-hyperreal

International Typographic Style

Source

International Typographic style emerged from sweden around the 20's, after world war II. It was started by Armin Hoffman and Emil Ruder. The aim of this movement was to remove a personal bias or emotion from design, and have a more unified, clean, objective style. With this in mind, ITS designs used mathematical grids, sans serif fonts, and black and white photos (in place of illustrations) to form a very clean basic guideline.  


Many designers thrived working to this style. Paul Rand is a notable designer for his corporate identities for US companies such as IBM, ABC and Enron. 

Sources:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1032864/graphic-design/242772/Graphic-design-1945-75?anchor=ref845121

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/17/lessons-from-swiss-style-graphic-design/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Typographic_Style

Magic Realism

source

A form of art that has existed and evolved since the 1900's, Magic Realism involves taking a real or realistic setting for a piece of aft and mixing it with magic themed or crazy elements. By putting them in a realistic setting, we are more easily able to perceive them as somewhat realistic. 


It was formed out of a style of art called New Objectivity, which was in a way changing the what the realistic world was to something of the imagination. 

Source

Lucus Cranach was seen as a catalyst for many artists breaking off on an art tangent that is magic realism. He was a famous artist in his time, and often painted in a realistic manner, dealing with rather crazy subject matter. 


A modern day Magic Realist artist, Kevin Sloan's work can be seen to the right. His work is very much inspired by his traveling.

Sources:

http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/C20th/newobjectivity.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_realism

Orphism

Source

A short lived trend in the arts sphere, Orphism focused on bright colours and pure abstraction. It was mainly launched to get colour back into the mainstream of art at the time. 


The movement was started by famous artist Robert Delaunay and his wife. Their art was very absrtact yet also represented recognisable shapes, just in no real context.

Sonia Delaunay, Roberts wife also created very fabulous art, more so gemoetric it was however 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphism_(art)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonia_Delaunay-Terk

Qajar art

Source

Originally a small village in the Perjian empire, Qajar expierienced an artistic boom around 1720 - 1900's. This was due in part to the peace in the region. The art produced around the era was very much realism styled, in that it depicted the world in which they lived rather accurately. However it was very idealistic in its representation of people, mainly royalty. Calligraphic work also featured prodominantly in the scene.


Kamalolmolk was a famous painter in the later times of the empire. Known for his realistic paintings by him and his peers, such as Semnan. His work is on display in galleries around the world today. 

Sources:

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=214080
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qajar_art

Realism

Source

Beginning in the 1800's, Realism is a form of art in which real life scenarios are painted, without any attempt to interpreter manipulate the subject matter. It is more or less a factual take on art, with all the aim on very accurate technique to create a technically beautiful image. 


With that said it was at times very controversial, being such an open genre. Gustave Courbet, famous for creating art around the beginnings of the movement, was one such artist who painted scenes of areas that the upper class chose to turn a blind eye to. The fact that this form of art would be so controversial may have been its attraction for many people.


Oswold Achenbach was another famous artist at the time, who captured some very fantastic sunsets and environments.






Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism_(arts)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Achenbach
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Courbet

Space Art

A Don Davis image. Source

Space art is art created by the ideas and possibilities and objects that exist in space. A lot of space art is painted from the perspective of another planet, or universe. It can also include ideas taken from science, such as magnetic fields, gravity, molecular structures and other areas of science as a form or inspiration of the art, 


Space art is predominantly painting and illustration, however it can also include sculpture.  


It has existed for over 100 years, with many artists painting space settings in the 1800's.


Chelsey Bonestell is one such artist, who was born in 1888. He is known as the father of modern space art as he very much started the movement. 


Don Davis is another famous artist, who has created a lot of famous space art, much of which was for big clients such as NASA. 


Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Davis_(artist)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesley_Bonestell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_art

http://www.google.com.au/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=space+art&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1277&bih=755

Clash of the Titans

1) Who are the Titans?

 Gods

2) Are the any interesting motifs you see frequently appearing (Eg. Lightning bolts)? How do you interpret their meaning? Can you name a modern version, of this motif, used today?

Wings, Horses, shields, swords

3) Is your Greek character in the movie? If so, does the film's interpretation match your research?

She is mentioned in the movie – and it does, her temple was mentioned which is factually true.

5) Are any of the characters, in the movie, related (Eg. a mother or father, wife or husband, brother or sister) to your Greek myth? If so, how?

Yes, Zeus is the father of Athena

6) Is their a constellation of stars named after your Greek character?

There is not.

7) How is Medusa killed? Does your Greek character have a weakness?

Her head is cut off

Athena - A short history

Athena has a long and varied history in the stories of the gods. She appears many times in fights, as she is the goddess of warfare and wisdom. 


She was also known as the goddess of handcrafts. One such story describes a girl, Arachne. She too could make fantastic knitting work, and boasted that it could better Athena's. This angered Athena, who came down in disguise. After words were discussed, Athena showed her true form, and the two had a weave off. The two works were equal, which angered Athena. She then beat the poor girl out of anger. The girl tried to kill herself, but Athena would not let her. She instead made her into a spider, allowing her talent to live on forever.


Athena also had a famous tif with Poseidon. He and Athena both wanted the city of Attica. So the city wanted to see who could give the best gift. Athena planted an olive tree. The remaining gods were asked to vote. There was a tie, so the leader of the city was asked to also vote. He chose Athena, and the city was known as Athens.


It was also because of this tif that Medusa became so ugly. Poseidon seduced her in Athena's temple, and in turn Athena cursed her to turn any living man she looked at to stone.      


She, however, had no sexual relationships or lovers, as she was famously a virgin her whole life. This is as she was cursed.  


A motif is a symbol or pattern with a meaning. Many motifs and company logos today derive their symbol and interpretation from greek mythology, including the myth of athena.


The use of the image of Athena has constantly evolved and changed, as different cultures interpreted her and her story in different ways to derive different themes and meanings.

The Seal of Athens
Source: Click

The City of Athens

One of the earlier interpretations of her was her name being used as the inspirations for the city of Athens, in Greece. They believed her to be a strong protector and goddess of the town. It was named Athens over 3,400 years ago.


The story goes that she defeated Poseidon, and gained control of the city.  

Statue for the city
of Athens. Image
from Wikipedia.

During this time period, she represented strength and protection. She was recreated to appear strong and brave, often tall with long spears and big shields, in many statues and paintings around the period. One of the more famous produced was a statue for the city of athens.


In Roman History

A statue from the Roman city from the
1700's.
Sourced from Wikipedia.

In Roman history Athena is also represented, however she is known as Minerva. This is because they had their own set of mythology. However it borrowed heavily from greek culture. The story in roman history is similar to that in greek. 


To the Romans she was equally important, and was the god of medicine, poetry, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts and magic. They also say she invented music.


She was still seen as a fierce war god, however the image commonly painted of her showed a lot less armour and more cloth. Weapons still remained, however she was seen a lot more as a symbol of knowledge.


She was often represented with an owl, which was a sacred creature for wisdom.


The Middle ages / Renaissance


During the middle ages, polytheism was in decline as the romans were overthrown, and christianity replaced it. This removed a lot of the greek mythology references from cultures. Athena, however did remain as a symbol of wisdom and good judgement. 

"Athena and Hermes" 1578
Source: click

This was the first time a lot of the qualities that had run along her image through cultures were diminished. Her heroism and strength still remained however. 

During the renaissance, her image took on a greater amount of meaning, as she was seen as a god of art and human endeavour; the renaissance in a nut shell. 

The painting to the right depicts her;  a shield and a spear still remain, as they have through every reiteration of her image for different periods respective meanings.

Current day reiterations / Pop culture.

"Athena"
Source

As for her current day meaning of Athena, she remains a symbol of strength and knowledge. She has been represented in a number of pop culture films and series. Famously in Japanese manga cartoons, she is the protagonist in a series.


Last year a movie about her appeared in Korean popular culture, called Athena: God of war. It was a modern film, focusing around firepower and fighting. The plot is unknown ( I could not find it) 


Her image as a fierce was god, however, still remains her fixture in pop culture.








Sources:
http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/AthenaMyths.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena
http://www.medeaslair.net/athena.html
http://Google.com (for definitions, image search)
(Links for images appear below links)
http://www.kpoplive.com/2010/08/30/athena-goddess-of-war-unleashes-trailer/