Hector's Blog

The Assembly of Gods Around Jupiter’s Throne c. 1532-34 Giulio Romano                A centralized subject in a painting can be used to unify various components of the composition.  Unity is the appearance or condition of oneness, which can be utilized as a key principle in design to convey the feeling of togetherness between every aspect in a particular painting. When executed correctly the unification of subjects in a composition exhibit a coherent and harmonious image. Furthermore, the illusion of depth is achieved by using contrast of scale. This is also known as amplified perspective. Repetition is also a reoccurring theme in regards to unification. The painting shown above masterfully encompasses all of the aforementioned characteristics of unity. Jupiter’s throne at the center of this piece is representative of the focal point used to unify the surrounding illustrations. Romano also perfectly exhibited the illusion of depth by d...

Ansel Adams (1902-1984)        The early 20th century marked the dawning of a new era in artistic expression. Initially, the general consensus in the art community was that of rejection towards photography being considered an acceptable form of art. The idea of a camera being used to capture a moment in real time was deemed inadequate of properly conveying the true feelings and emotions of an artist. A sole image of a subject was simply not enough to encapsulate the vision of a traditional work of art, or so they thought. As time progressed, photography became more widely accepted in the artistic community as it developed into a medium used to symbolically communicate with the masses through the lens. There were no longer any claims of it not being able to fully capture the expression of the photographer’s vision behind his/her work. It also championed the pursuit of bringing awareness to certain political, ideological, economic, or societal issues. One ar...

"Warmed by Love" by Leonid Afremov          In 1874 a group of painters decided to oppose academic doctrines and romantic ideals to turn to a more contemporary life. They began quickly painting pictures under constantly shifting conditions  of landscapes and ordinary scenes. This particular style of painting became known as impressionism and focused on what the eye sees, as opposed to what the mind knows. The characteristics of impressionism are as follows. The artists used short, thick strokes of paint that quickly capture the essence of subject, rather than its details. By using pure unblended colors the optical mixing of colors occurs in the eye of the viewer by placing them side by side. Rather than neutral white, grays, and blacks, impressionists often rendered shadows and highlights in color. Pure impressionism avoids the use of black paint. The play of natural light is emphasized in close attention is paid to the reflection of colors from ob...

The Coronation of the Virgin Mary by Annibale Caracci (Italian, 1560-1609)      This particular picture was painted for Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini of Rome in 1595. Annibale brought together two characteristics of baroque painting: it is an oil on canvas piece with a Roman style sensitivity to the effects of natural light and color, and the spatial organization and idealized figures associated with the Renaissance. With the Virgin Mary being the centerpiece of this painting, one can see the Roman Catholic influence on artwork during this period. Raphael’s frescoes in the Vatican inspired this composition, while the figure of God the Father was based on an ancient Roman sculpture. The paintings dimensions are rather large at  46 3/8 x 55 5/8 in. (117.8 x 141.3 cm) Madonna And Child by  Duccio di Buoninsegna (Italian, 1278–1318) This piece, believed to have been painted between 1290-1300, is  Tempera and gold on wood a...