Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Visual arts

Understanding Color: Rainbows, Light, and Pigments

A rainbow occurs when sunlight passes through raindrops, separating the light into seven colored lights.

Absorption conveys the feeling of color when light illuminates an object. The object's surface absorbs some of the light. This property is called the absorption of light.

Reflection is when light is not absorbed but rejected, changing direction and creating the sensation of color.

Color is the name for each color and describes the colors that comprise their mixture (e.g., yellow and green make yellow-green).

Value and Saturation

Value describes the degree of clarity or obscurity of a tone, i.e., the amount of white or black in the composition. For example, magenta can be light, dark, or very dark.... Continue reading "Understanding Color: Rainbows, Light, Pigments, and Saturation" »

Map Projection

A map projection is a system of ordered correspondence between points on the curved surface of the Earth and a flat surface. These points are located on a network of meridians and parallels, in the form of a mesh (creating a series of distortions). Good projections must have two characteristics: to retain the areas (equivalence) and retain angles (conformity). Depending on which point is considered the center of the map, it is distinguished between:

• Polar projection: The center is one of the poles.
• Equatorial projection: The center is the intersection between the Equator and a meridian.
• Oblique or slanted projection: The center is any other point.

Functions of the Projections

Conformal Projections

A map projection is conformal when... Continue reading "Map Projections: Types, Functions, and Uses in GIS with GPS" »

Communication and Its Functions

Communication: This process involves a transmitter, channel, benchmark, code, message, and receiver.

Functions:

• Insight: To transmit information, such as a green road traffic light.
• Free-expression: To vent our feelings, such as the Twin Towers or being a fan outdoors.
• Health: To express beauty and harmony, such as a landscape.
• Representative: To represent the reality created by humans, such as a street.

Signs, Symbols, and Branding

Signs and Symbols:

• Sign: A representation of a single image or idea that conveys information by which we understand its representation.
• Symbol: A sign that represents reality in an abstract way, providing ideas to be known to understand its meaning.

Types of Signs:

• Brand: A distinctive source

Understanding Space and Visual Perception

Space is the medium in which we move. It is unlimited and three-dimensional, meaning it has three dimensions: height, width, and depth. Through these, we can understand the form, saturation, and position of any solid body.

The way our eyes perceive space, the visual field, is divided into two general planes: the plane of the sky and the plane of the earth. These are separated by the horizon, seen at the eye level of the human observer. Each observer perceives their environment from a single point of view, which changes simply by altering the direction of their gaze or the position from which they observe.

Representing Three-Dimensional Space on a Plane

Drawing on a plane (which has height and width) is... Continue reading "Visualizing Space: Perception, Perspective, and Artistic Techniques" »

Egyptian Sculpture: Materials and Purpose

Drawing upon the geological resources of Egypt, sculptors utilized all kinds of rocks and stones, ranging from the hardest (basalt, granite) to the softer varieties (gypsum, limestone). They were also experts in carving wood (acacia, sycamore) and bronze.

Egyptian sculpture was primarily religious, courtly, and funerary. It involved carving images of gods, often taking animalistic forms. The representation of the pharaohs is frequently repeated; they were presented with their crowns and decorated with the insignia of royalty and other details. Family members and state officials (scribes, priests) were also sculpted.

As a funerary art, sculpture was represented in tombs by a series of images (statues or... Continue reading "Ancient Egyptian Sculpture: Characteristics and Techniques" »

Ancient Egyptian Artistic Expression

Egyptian Sculpture: Materials and Forms

Artistic expression was prominent in Egypt. The most used materials were hard stone and granite. Sculptures were also made in wood and bronze.

Types of Sculptural Representation

Egyptian sculpture is categorized into two main types:

• Relief: Appears in tombs and temples as an essential element of architecture. Its purpose was to proclaim the virtues and powers of the gods, and to depict the daily work of the Egyptians. The technique used was that of raised relief and sunk relief (recess, or cut into the stone).
• Statuary: Highlights freestanding (exempt) and monumental sculptures.

Features of Statuary

Its main feature is the inscrutable attitude, characterized by a certain rigidity... Continue reading "Egyptian Artistic Techniques and Classical Architectural Orders" »

Trajan's Column: Architecture and Historical Significance

Key Facts and Construction Details

• Architect: Apollodorus of Damascus (Architect of Trajan's Forum)
• Chronology: 107–113 CE
• Location: Forum of Trajan, Rome
• Size: Approximately 40 meters high (including the pedestal)
• Material: Marble

Purpose and Interpretation

The primary function of the column is serving as a memorial commemorating the conquest of Dacia (modern Romania).

The continuous spiral frieze depicts the Dacian Wars chronologically. The initial scenes show the Roman advance toward the Danube River, and the final scenes represent the imprisonment of Dacian warriors.

The column served two additional functions:

1. Columbarium: A secondary function was serving as a Columbarium (a niche for ashes)

Drawing: Activity Graph

A drawing activity graph allows the translation of ideas or feelings through graphic elements. This process involves creativity: "It's a reflection on the activity of observation and proposing something different from what is imagined or observed."

Design and Graphic Field

Design: "It's the most sensitive creativity to translate an idea into a graphic field (harmony, balance, aesthetic)."

Graphic Field Area

The graphic field, which draws upon, can be square, circular, or organically irregular, and can possess any texture.

Color: Visual Phenomena

Color: The quality of visual phenomena that occurs in the eyes due to lights of different wavelengths. Wave amplitude is perceived as the difference in brightness, and wavelength as... Continue reading "Graphic Design Elements: Color, Point, and Visual Translation" »

Classification of Triangles

Notable Lines and Points in a Triangle

• Altitude (Height): A segment drawn from a vertex perpendicular to the opposite side.
• Orthocenter: The point of intersection of the 3 altitudes of a triangle.
• Median: A line segment connecting a vertex to the midpoint of the opposite side.
• Centroid: The point of intersection of the 3 medians of a triangle.
• Angle Bisector: A line segment originating

Greek Architecture: Classical and Hellenistic Periods

Greek architecture is defined by the use of adobe, wood, marble, and stone. Key attributes include the use of lintels, human proportions, and a pursuit of visual harmony.

The Three Architectural Orders

• Doric Order: The building sits on a base divided into tiers. The column is baseless, with a fluted shaft that decreases in size upward. The capital consists of a collar and an abacus. The entablature includes the architrave, frieze, and cornice.
• Ionic Order: The shaft rests on a base with moldings. The trunk is more slender than the Doric and features vertical grooves. The capital is characterized by two scrolls resting on an abacus that supports the entablature.
• Corinthian Order: Similar to the