#arh2000

Definition: Balance is the way visual weight is spread throughout an artwork so it feels stable instead of lopsided.

Example: A car parked perfectly in the middle of a driveway

2. Contrast

Definition: Contrast is the use of differences, such as light and dark or rough and smooth, to make parts of an artwork stand out.

Example: headlights shining in the dark.

3. Emphasis

Definition: Emphasis is making one area the main focus so it grabs the viewer's attention first.

Example: Bright red brake lights on a gray car

4. Movement

Definition: Movement guides the viewer's eyes through an artwork using lines, shapes, or repeated objects.

Example: Curved road markings that lead your eyes into the distance

5. Pattern/Repetition

Definition: Pattern is created by repeating shapes, colors, or objects to make a design.

Example: Brick walls

6. Unity

Definition: Unity is when all the parts of an artwork work together to create one complete idea.

Example: A car with matching wheels, paint, and body kit.

WRITING AND LOOKING

(Choose an artwork from your textbook. Replace the artwork title, figure number, and page number if your textbook is different.)

Artwork: The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh Figure: 3 Page: 3.8: Texture

Recipe for the Composition

Ingredients

Swirling implied lines

Curved shapes

Thick brushstrokes

High contrast between the dark village and bright sky

Cool blue hues with warm yellow highlights

Rhythm created by repeating swirls and stars

Emphasis on the glowing moon and stars

Asymmetrical balance between the large cypress tree and the village

Texture created through heavy paint application

Unity through repeated colors and flowing movement

Directions

Combine swirling lines with repeated circular shapes to create movement. Add cool blue hues across most of the painting and mix in bright yellow stars to create contrast and emphasis. Balance the large tree on one side with the village on the other. Finish with thick textured brushstrokes to unite the composition into a peaceful yet energetic nighttime scene.

CONNECTING ART TO YOUR WORLD

Color has always affected my mood, especially when it comes to blue. Blue is my favorite hue because it helps me feel calm and focused. Darker values, like navy blue, make me think of confidence and strength, while lighter blues remind me of a clear sky or the ocean. I also like colors with high saturation because they appear more vibrant and energetic, although colors with lower intensity can create a more relaxed feeling. If I had to choose a color scheme to represent my life, it would be an analogous color scheme using different shades of blue, teal, and purple because those colors match my personality and interests while creating a calm and balanced appearance.

ART PROJECT – ARTIST’S CHOICE

Painting

Went a little different with this one, a digital creation in photoshop

About half way through, this was a uncompleted project from high school so I figured since it fit theme I finished the project.

Complete. Used a image of a sunset road for background, simplified car

PHOTO/DESIGN 

Good Layout Design and Bad Layout Design

A good layout design is organized, visually appealing, and easy for the viewer to understand. It uses clear headings, readable text, and a logical arrangement of images and information so the message can be communicated quickly. The intent of a good layout is to attract attention and effectively deliver information to its audience. The good design example fulfills its purpose because the viewer can easily identify the main message and navigate the content without confusion.

1.1 WRITING & RESEARCH — Introduction and First Artwork

[First Artwork: The Great Wave off Kanagawa]

Five Facts I Learned • The piece is part of a larger series titled Thirty‑Six Views of Mount Fuji. • The wave depicted is a rogue wave, not a tsunami. • Hokusai used the ukiyo‑e woodblock printing method, a major Japanese art tradition. • Mount Fuji appears in the background as a symbol of stability and spirituality. • The print became internationally influential after reaching Europe in the 19th century.

Reflection Paragraph Before researching this artwork, I mainly viewed it as a dramatic ocean scene. Learning about the symbolism and the woodblock printing process helped me appreciate the craftsmanship behind it. The contrast between the powerful wave and the calm Mount Fuji adds depth to the meaning. Now I see it as a blend of natural force, cultural identity, and artistic precision.

1.2 ART AND WRITING — Personal Artwork Reflection

[AI‑Generated Mustang Canvas Art]

The artwork I selected is a canvas print of an AI‑generated S550 Mustang GT. Although it is digitally created, it holds personal meaning because it blends technology with physical media. It serves as a daily reminder of my dream car and the goals I’m working toward after college. I find it beautiful because it represents motivation, ambition, and something I look at every day that inspires me.

1.3 WRITING A SELF‑PORTRAIT — Perceptual Profile

I am DJ, a 19‑year‑old male from Bradenton, Florida. I am white, with family roots in Germany and Ireland. My interests influence how I view art, especially my fascination with cars, technology, and understanding how things function. For fun, I run a car page on TikTok and Instagram (@jd.rift) and recently started a separate car‑photography page (@biery.photography). I am not currently part of any organized groups. What makes me uniquely myself is my curiosity, my drive to build toward long‑term goals, and the way I combine hands‑on problem‑solving with creativity. These traits shape the perspective I bring when I look at visual art.

1.4 ART PROJECT — Self‑Portrait (Romare Bearden Inspired)

[Digital Collage Self‑Portrait]

(Pictured: ARE YOU A BABY PUNK? GROW UP!!, 2025. Mixed Media; Cut out cardboard and Plastic Package Wrapping, Photos of Past DIY Projects printed and glued on, and Sharpie for additional emphasis. 8.5" x 11".)

For my final exam, I wanted to show a love for the punk and alternative culture I have grown very fond of in my young adult years. That said, the message that is loudly exclaimed here is moreso a lesson to myself to engage more with this community hands-on. Previously, I showed how I make art in the digital age, but instead I wanted to explore how we view different forms of typography in posters. I gathered up all of the packaging in my home and the trash and cut out the appropriate letters to create a ransom-styled art piece and arranged the metal and kandi bead hardware I dress myself with in black-and-white to make the colorful lettering pop. Furthermore, punk lifestyles are anti-capitalist and here I wish to modify staples of consumerism through co-opting it towards my ideology.

Below is my process documented:

This step was rather tedious, as I had to ensure the entire phrase was covered and made me realize how rare does "K" appear on branding (at least of what we consume in my household). Also taught me just how messy it would be to work with trash on an even larger scale, making me more appreciative of artists like Vik Muniz for using it for an entire series.

Featured are my past DIY projects. For example, I made a wallet chain for my pants entirely out of cutting up and connecting soda tab chains! I wanted to print them out as a border for the poster through my printer's scanner, but it crapped out on me several times so taking photos in bright lighting against a white background was the best bet.

Here is a test of how I wanted to go about the exclamation point and question mark through testing repetition and thickness.

(Pictured: Meeting My Partner, 2025. Procreate; 2048px x 2732px, 132 DPI.)

For this Visual Sketchbook section, I made the choice to draw a cartoon in the form of a four-panel comic. I grew up on black and white newspaper comic strips, but one that especially stood out to me was Calvin and Hobbes. However, I also read superhero stories that are often in a vertical format. Some of that influence may have rubbed off on my approaches.

As a bonus, here is a sped-up video of my process that Procreate documents:

On June 2nd, I had the luxury of visiting The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and basking in my student discount privilege in experiencing free-to-see artworks. Growing up in the area, I have already seen my fair share of Renaissance and Baroque art pieces and find myself more excited to check out the rotating featured exhibits of modern and postmodern artists. There, I found myself drawn to Getting Measured (1999) by Mernet Larsen and was awed by the unique feel of this subject matter. 

This artwork is mounted to the wall by the canvas frame, with a height of 52 9/16 inches, a length of 57 3/8 inches, and juts out at 1 ¾ inches (exact measurements provided by online archives). Such sizing allows the eye to scan every section with the proper close-ups of the finer details. Even the textured acrylic paint build-up is detectable, despite the clean illusion given when you step back. The background reveals a large grid, with intersecting lines that look like a tiled floor that was achieved through tracing paper and string to properly place the subjects in frame. Larsen features two people and a cat in a strictly geometric way (almost akin to cubism!) in which their physical attributes are stripped away from their organic, natural bodies and replaced with three-dimensional shapes and pointed edges. The color palette consists of muted blues and neutrals, such as white, grey, and brown, with a contrasting vivid orange dress on the figure getting tailored. It is framed as a slight overhead snapshot into a recognizable task, with the cat out of frame as it is an additional detail, but not the focus. Proportions are stretched and emphasized; the humans have elongated limbs and thin arms and bend down at an irregularly perfect 90-degree angle. Though much of the art uses hard shading bouncing off an unseen upper right light source, certain aspects, like the tailor’s hands and face, are rendered with blending of the wet medium. 

Upon witnessing this artwork, reading the plaque of information, and back to the art, I cocked my head questioning how I interpreted it so differently than what was intended. Personally, what I got out of this artwork was a tongue-in-cheek narrative on the societal expectations of unrealistic beauty standards. The two women portrayed are not so much tall as, but rather lengthened, at unnatural ratios. The one in the dress is made to stand on a literal pedestal, getting her waist and torso measured to fit into the appropriate measurements, whilst her peer is of the same boxy build. I believe the slim appearances and measuring tape evoked such a thought to linger for me, as I have seen other artistic commentary by the body positivity movements critiquing how clothing is not always friendly towards those outside of straight sizing. 

Larsen does not ascribe herself to one art movement; rather, she can trace her main inspirations to El Lissitzky —an infamous Constructivist artist—and the diverse continent of Asia. From Japan, China, and India, she evolved from a true-to-life academic style into the blocky abstractions of modern-day socializations. She plays with space, the angles, and “affectionate parodies” in her compositions that were born from the narratives of the Renaissance. Speaking of Venus of Urbino (1534) by Titian is cited as the source of imagery referencing sexuality through the cat, symbolically. This connection was admittedly unclear on my end, which is ironic as this 16th-century piece was my first assignment for this semester. However, with further research, I am confident that I would notice such allusions better. Overall, Larsen’s Getting Measured still succeeds in appealing to my interest in abstraction by toying with visual depiction and the realist approach to showcasing ordinary interactions in unconventional ways. 

(Pictured: Two Birds, One Stone, 2025. Multimedia Collage; Pens, Pencils, Highlighters, Markers, Sharpie, and Colored Pencil on Seven Index Cards.)

For my abstract non-representational project, I looked towards my latest cleaning frenzy I found myself incredibly hyperfocused on earlier this week. I wanted to turn my room upside down and organize everything from scratch—including my art supplies!—which had me categorize my belongings between trash vs purposeful.

In order to determine which pens, markers, and highlighters still had ink in them, I would scribble down on my spare index cards to see how vibrant the ink streaks left. During my process, I realized I was unintentionally fulfilling the requirement of this class assignment by creating expressionist gestures like an abstract artist would. There is variety in these chaotic streams, such as, three lines to test the color or loops or jagged energy. I listened to my subconscious on when it felt right to move on to the next keycard, filling both the fronts and backs as pictured above.

Below are some of my favorite chosen cards individually, before they were placed together for its final composition:

It would be a disservice to claim that the style Jackson Pollock cultivated in his decades as an artist was something that occurred “overnight.” Indeed, he was taught by American regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton, but later diverged onto his own path through abstract expressionism—though continued to have much admiration for his friend. Pollock came from the American southwest and found inspiration in a Mexican muralist workshop and the minds of local Indigenous communities (especially the Navajo), where he sought out art techniques that would influence his approaches to controlling free flow, artistic outputs. He did not resonate with jotting down a predetermined plan (sketch or cartoon) for his art pieces; instead, he would allow his whole body and his materials to do the “talking” and enter ritualistic-like movements in his art process. From the distance of the paint falling on the canvas, to the unconventional methods such as using a stick, nails, sand, and house paints that would make classically trained artists gawk at the audacity.  

Unity and Variety: Unity, in the art world, is a sense of ‘sameness’ throughout an art piece. It may display itself in a mundane way if the entire artwork maintains unity, such as a singular color or texture throughout, but it has merit.  

Meanwhile, variety presents itself as the exact opposite end of unity—it is all about the numerous, diverse elements. Collectively, variety can be cohesive, but still offer a busy composition for the artist’s audience to take in. 

Together, the juxtaposition of variety and the consistency of unity bring out harmony that was carefully crafted by the artist. See, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt, and how the color palette is overwhelmingly gold as it wraps around the subject. Yet the patterns of shapes offer various sizing and creating an illusion of differentiating texture.  

Balance: Such as life, balance represents finding stability in the layout of all the components of an artwork. Balance can be conformed through symmetry—when the composition feels and visualizes equal structure on a mirrored plane—or can be purposefully altered through asymmetry for an unconventional presentation.  

See, The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai, and how it executes successful asymmetrical balance with a large wave to the left while still showing proper and interesting visual weight. Some could argue that the golden ratio is also present here.  

Emphasis and Subordination: Artists often encounter an issue in how to make sure the main subject matter is brought to focus when there are several elements to consider. This is solved through emphasis, which is when a higher level of contrast is applied to the subject to draw the eye immediately whether that be through color values (light and dark intensity, etc.) or literal features that point to it. 

As with subordination, the rest of the composition is not deemed of the same importance, so these are muted and neutral, almost dull. But the same level of consideration is given to create the overall focal point.  

See, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich, and how the coat of the man is a darker, deeper value than the mountains ahead of him. The cast of clouds is lighter and stays in the background to emphasize the rocky cliff that the subject stands on.

Directional Forces: The directional forces in art are the guiding paths that are either blatant through methods like arrows and grids or imagined through the elements being placed deliberately that the eye is inclined to follow. It is often dealt with in the matter of a horizon line and a vertical line, with diagonals that create either a triangular shape at the extreme points or show which direction and action is occurring. 

See, Dance of the Lupine by John Burton, where a horizon line exists at the very top of the painting which shows how far out the path of flowers extends out to in the distance. A slanted line could be drawn from the upper left towards the bottom right showing that the field is three-dimensional. The zigzag line of the flowers adds visual intrigue.

Repetition and Rhythm: If something occurs multiple times in succession, then what is happening is repetition of the same thing over and over. When an artwork features repetition, the elements (whether that be colors, sound, size, etc.) work side by side to create a pattern that can be predicted due to what was shown previously. 

As a response, rhythm is when the repeated aspects work cohesively and a sense of connection. Oftentimes patterns can be found in fabric art or clothing. 

See, Golconda by René Magritte, it can present itself in surrealist paintings by repeating the same floating man across a shot of apartments. From silhouettes sharing the same pose, and the rectangular windows, there is an array of repetition. 

Scale and Proportion: Scale in art is not too dissimilar to a scale used to weigh objects, but rather, it measures a subject’s relations to its surrounding elements. The size of the canvas, or the pieces within the canvas, should be determined beforehand so that the artist knows what they are dealing with. The bigger something is, the more space it takes up, and the smaller something is the less focus will be shined upon it. 

That said, proportion is about the sizing of individual parts of a whole. For instance, determining if one exaggerates the size of a person’s eyes can create new meaning due to the enlargement or shrinkage of said body part.  

See, Migrant by Jeff Jordan, a giant frog sits atop of a coastal town. This is not indicative of anything in real life as a frog cannot grow this large in nature. Thus, it creates a surrealist narrative that is done by pushing scale past what was deemed plausible.