In the two parts of this series to date, I have proposed initial steps to begin to analyse and interpret a piece of artwork, looking at the effect of a piece on the viewer, then applying this to an example painting created by my fellow EBSQer John Borrero, and finally beginning to think about the techniques an artist may employ to draw emotion from the viewer.

Looking now in more detail at the available techniques, (again concentrating on painting for this moment in time), we can see there are many available to the artist, and it is these we can analyse further to put substance to the effect we may feel on looking at a work. For a simple example, rather than say, “I hate that painting, it’s so dark, so sad”, we could say, “the dark tones employed by the artist throughout the painting make me feel sad”. Okay, I did say it was a simple example ! But, crucially, the second sentence demonstrates clearly the link between technique and effect which the first does not, and immediately we begin to see how an effect may intentionally be created by use of an artistic technique.

Combining to varying degrees techniques such as colour, type of medium, and the composition arrangement, the artist creates an effect on us. Let us briefly look at the first of these three areas, colour.

The example I gave above relates to an aspect of colour technique, namely value (or tone). A colour’s value will be increased (lightened) or decreased (darkened) as the artist requires. They can, for example, add some white, or perhaps a lighter tone colour, to increase the value. Similarly, they may add black or a darker tone to decrease the value. You may also have come across the term ‘tints’, which generally means lightened colour, and ‘shading’, which means darker tone/lower value.

Further aspects of colour techniques include using a narrow or wide palette of hues (colours), using contrasting hues up against each other, employing cool or warm hues, bright or dull, and using colour associations. These can be applied and combined to various extents to create effect.

The second general technique I mentioned was medium (by this, I simply mean the material used to make the work). The choice of medium may open or close doors to the artist in creating effects. For example, if a painter chose to use luminous paint, the scope for shading in the resultant work would be limited. This may sound an unusual medium of choice, and this leads to another consideration. Unconventional media are deliberately employed all over the art world today as you know doubt have came across at some point : furniture, dead animals, dung, metal road signs … I could go on. And on…

Whatever you feel about such art, indeed many would vociferously say it simply is not art, essentially there are few (if any) limits of media being employed in art. If the feeling you have about such work is that it is not art, then that’s perfectly fine. But could substantiating this view be the next step ? If you want to, analyzing the work in detail will hopefully allow you get closer to doing so. However, similarly, you may wish to make a case it is art. If so, then you can analyse in a similar way, and perhaps reach a reasoned and opposite argument. Which would be the ‘true’ answer ? Is there a true answer ? Phew, this is too big a question for this topic, and would take me far too far off on a tangent, which I am already in danger of !

So, to get back to the point in question … we have many choices of medium. There appear to be no limits, whether or not you feel there should be. They will influence to various degrees the expression of the art. In addition, the medium can affect the atmosphere of a painting (for example, compare a gentle light watercolour with a heavy layered oil painting). Indeed, medium can even influence how a viewer reads a work.

The final technique we will look at is composition, considering aspects such as depth and line. However, I will call a halt there as I think we have sufficient to reflect on for now.

To summarise, in this part we have introduced more information on the techniques we will look at. What I will do in the next part of this series (1st March issue of the Zine), is show how some of these can be recognized and studied, and illustrate this with reference to one or two examples.

That’s all for now folks…

Martin