08/27/2015

Formal Elements:
Color
Compliments of Red and Orange and Compliments of Blue and
Green
o The red and orange contrast the blue and green
o There is a balance of colors
o Red fades into the background
o But this does not mean that the blues stand out, because
they are kept in sequence to the outline/border
o Orange does stand out like the way gold does when placed
behind a black background, but even that is balanced out by
the reds and blues
o Were the colors intended to be the way they are rn?
o PRIMARY COLORS, just in different tones
o ^create a harmonious color palette
o Colors within the plants contrast each other in a harmonious
manner
o Bleed into each other, not physically, but through the use of
contrast, your eyes easily move along the head > body >
flowers. This is subtle movement is due to line.
Line
Oranges are like a guide, starting with the eye
The eye demands to be to be looked at
o Almost when you make awkward eye contact with someone
across the room
That is where there is the deepest contrast
Very dark blue/black and all the colors used.
o And if we just happen to first wander our eyes at the
flowering trees, they direct us upward to the dragons head in
an instance!
o Almost like a cycle effect
Overlapping lines also help in that they make the dragon 3dimensional
o The head protrudes way out of the border

All other overlapping lines, however, are very subtle,

but still add a 3-d effect
Lines on the neck dash so swiftly and without detail to make your
eyes move forward and into the eye of the serpent
Mouth also leads to the eye, starting with the lower lip then eye
then upper lip,

Plants are bilateral

o Of each other and to each other
The lines are more concave and smooth, but the opposite happens
around the head where there are more hard geometric lines running
all over the place
In the plants: the lines are all curvy,
Patterns
o Dragon has a variety, but still carry a sense of patterns
through registers
o Plants who also have similar patterns,

Space & Mass

Sense of grace due to the earthly tones of color.
o The reds and oranges and blues are almost colors we see In
nature
o Lines themselves flow with only the border securing the
tightness of the painting
o ^ it makes the painting seem compact and easy to carry
around
o But, since the fragments were part of a larger work, the work
might demand you look at it. Although the work itself may
seem light, the border around the overall work, however, may
carry a different space & mass. It may appear heavier and
take up more space, yet the same tightness may secure the
idea of still looking compact, however, the painting might
appear heavier
Perhaps the texture
Scale
The fragment alone is small and can be appealing to the eye due to
the complexity of line and colors, which balance each other out
o (fix sentence)
The negative space the object can create will only help it even more
to be appealing
Or demand attention

You might not be able to walk around the object, but it surely takes
time to run your eyes around the entire piece and look at all the
details
o You may start with BLAH BLAH BLAH where I said, but even
that alone, you need to look at the head, then the body, then
flower 1, then flower 2, then after doing a double take and
realize the serpent has a neck
And with each section mentioned, there are subsections
of lines and patterns that make the piece interesting all
around
^ Go more in depth
the serpents head is pretty large and perhaps is the reason we also
first
Composition
Tight, so much going on in patterns to due the border, the detail in
patterns and lines, and closeness of those patterns and lines- also
lack of negative space within the piece
Proportion
Trees are small, serpent is big, and the head is HUGE,
Its small, but we can get lost in the painting, especially if we are so
close to it, looking at tall the details, we begin to picture the
serpent to be big
Texture
Looks smooth all around except for around the head.
o ^both in material and use of other elements. < go in detail
Head looks rough due to manipulation of color, and
heavy lines
o The paint is smoth even though there is a lot of patterning
and use of lines everywhere, there is still a smooth look to
them
Conclusion!
How do they work together?
More attention paid to the head
How did the artist convey this image or work?
What makes this work visually significant and distinct?
Is there anything that becomes apparent after looking at the object
over time that was not immediately apparent?