Chapter 3: Overview of Shape
“Another word for creativity is courage”
– Henri Matisse
Element: Shape
“Face vs vase” by littleblackcamera CC BY 2.0.
SHAPE: an area that stands out from its surroundings because of a defined or implied boundary or because of differences of value, color, or texture.
Read the definitions below and decide which or if any images match words.
Amorphous shape: a shape without clear definition: formless, indistinct, and of uncertain dimension.
Actual shape: a positive area with clearly defined boundaries.
Abstract shape: a shape derived from a visual source but is so transformed that it bears little resemblance to the referent.
Biomorphic shape: an irregular shape that resembles the freely developed curves found in living organisms.
Geometric shape: a shape that appears related to geometry, usually simple, such as a triangle, rectangle, or circle.
Curvilinear shape: a shape whose boundaries consist of curved lines; the opposite of rectilinear.
Implied shape: a shape that does not physically exist but is suggested through the psychological connection of dots, lines, areas, or their edges.
Organic Shape: a shape commonly found in nature.
Tessellation: shapes or lines that fit together with the illusion of continuous design.
Negative shape: a clearly defined area around a positive shape; the receding shape or ground area in a figure-ground relationship. A shape created through the absence of an object rather than through its presence.
Positive shape: the shapes of actual objects or subject matter.
Rectilinear shape: a shape whose boundaries consist of straight lines; the opposite of curvilinear.
Planar shapes: shapes that focus on height and width yet lack thickness.
Graphic Shape: hard edged, shapes that have the appearance of being produced digitally or hand printed.
1.
Panel, after designs by Aubrey Vincent Beardsley, cotton block printed, reproductions 1901- 1925 (originals 1894 – 1895). CCO
2.
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Ka’ba Tile, Osman Ibn Mehmed, stone paste polychrome painted under transparent glaze, 1720 -1730. OA
3.
Poncho, Chuquibamba, Peru, 1300 -1550. CCO
4.
Ewer, Real Fabbrica della porcellana di Capodimonte, soft paste porcelain polychrome enamel and gilding, 1740 – 1750. CCO
5.
Mountains and the Sea, Helen Frankenthaler, oil paint and charcoal on canvas,1952. “Fair use” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Frankenthaler_Helen_Mountains_and_Sea_1952.jpg
Frankenthaler, Mountains and Sea
6.
Untitled, Lee Bontecou, welded steel, canvas, black fabric, and wire, 1959.
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10914376
7.
Right Hand, Giambattista Tiepolo, red and white chalk on blue paper, 1716 – 1770. CCO
8.
Le Femme en Bleu, Fernand Léger, oil on canvas, 1912.
9.
Bronze Horse, Greek, bronze, 8th Century BC.
10.
Study for a Composition, Piet Mondrian, collage of cut pasted paper, prepared with gouache and charcoal, on pieced cream wove newsprint in the three parts with charcoal on verso, 1940 – 1941. CCO
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/142570/study-for-a-composition
11.
Roses in a Vase, Georges Seurat, conté on ivory paper, 1881 – 1883. CCO
12.
Woman Lifting Skirt to Walk, Georges Alfred Bottini, pen and ink with red chalk on ivory paper, n.d. CCO
13.
Gothic Windows in the Ruins of the Monastery at Oybin, Carl Gustav Carus, 1828. OA
14.
Wireframe Drawing, Paolo Uccello, 15th century. “public domain”?
15.
The chapbook, Boston Public Library CC BY 2.0