Course Description
Traditional, modern and contemporary images use spatial cues to indicate spatial depth, even with abstract or non-objective work. This course introduces students to guidelines and spatial concepts of painting. Many types of space have been used throughout the history of art –Gothic (geometry), Renaissance (perspective), Impressionist (combination) and early modern (flat). Students will experience the application of various spatial methods and refine personal affinities and style. We will explore the techniques through demonstrations, structured exercises and practical assignments. Art history, painting analysis, group and individual work, in class critique and other methods will be applied to guide students through concepts and application of space in painting.

Resources

GOUACHE PAINTING TIPS Adobe PDF

Session 01 ANCIENT ART
Among the earliest works of art in Western Civilization are the cave paintings discovered at Altamira in Spain, at Lascaux in the Dordogne region of France, and at other sites along the Northern Mediterranean, all dating from the last stage of the Paleolithic Period ( 12,000-10,000 B.C.). The Ancient period begins with these paintings and includes all the art produced before the Greeks began their quest
for naturalistic representations. Schäfer ( 1919/ 1974, p. 84) called this art "pre-Greek" and included in this designation the art of the great pre-Greek cultures, such as Paleolithic, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian art. In her incisive epilogue to Schäfer's book on Egyptian art, Brunner-Traut ( 1974) argues for the use of the term "aspective" (or "pre-perspective") to describe the art of this period. The earliest forms of Paleolithic art are simple hand prints and "meanders" created by fingers drawn through soft clay ( Breuil, 1952; Sieveking, 1979). Although the dating of this prehistoric art is ambiguous and controversial, it is believed that these productions predate the representation of animal forms. The hand prints and meanders emerged as an extension of the artist's action that led directly to the construction of a rudimentary symbol. The artistic symbol directly expresses the artist's action.

Session 02 "DARK AGES"

Byzantine aesthetics exemplify a culture based on the unchanging laws ot a Christian universe, but always with an attention to detail and ornamental finery. The greatest monument of Byzantine architecture is the Hagia Sophia, or church of Divine Wisdom in Constantinople. Built between ad532-537 under the rule of Justinian, it replaced a more modest church that was destroyed by fire. The sixth century was seen as the first "Golden Age" of Byzantine art. At this time, mathematics was regarded as the highest of the sciences, and one of the architects of the Hagia Sophia, Anthemius of Tralles. described architecture as the "application of geometry to solid matter". The interior of the church shows a rejection of homogeneity and. in its place, exists a luxurious, exotic diversity. The individual elements are suggested by shapes that are almost hieroglyphic; scenes are usually shown without perspective, there is a code of repetitive poses and gestures (figures and forms are often stylistic or ritualistic), and the emphasis on outlines echoes the "barbarian" taste for linear definition. Areas of empty space are often represented in gold. Abstract decoration of the surface is an important factor in every work of Islamic art and architecture, whether large or small. Curving and often interlaced lines, of which the arabesque is a typical example, and the use of brilliant colors characterize almost all of the finest productions, which are of greatly varied styles. Islamic art eschews the realistic representation of human beings and animals, and its floral designs are extremely distant from their original models. While the prohibition against depicting living forms is not contained in the Qur'an, it is widely thought that the non-representational character of Islamic ornament has its source in the traditional theological prohibition against imitating God's works.

Session 03 THE RENAISSANCE
Beginning in 15th century Florence a revolutionary change in art occurred with the discovery of linear perspective. The Renaissance was the dawn of a new era in the representation of space that would maintain preeminence for at least the next 500 years. Panofsky ( 1924/ 25), based partly on concepts from Cassirer ( 1910/ 1923) and Riegl (1901/ 1927), contrasted the "aggregate" concepts of space of Antiquity with the "mathematical" and systematic concepts of the Renaissance. The basic emphasis in Antiquity was on the substance and definition of objects in isolation; the emphasis in the Renaissance was on the relations among objects in space. Space for the ancients had been finite, non homogeneous, and discontinuous whereas in the Renaissance, space was infinite, homogeneous, and isotropic. These emerging fundamental differences in world view resulted in a profound and fundamental change in the modes of representation in art (Edgerton, 1975; Veltman, 1979a). The ability to represent a setting realistically and to arrange figures
in a balanced and harmonious order within that setting was a major change in artistic style. This change coincided with important parallel developments in science, philosophy, and social order.

Session 04 BAROQUE
The monumental discovery of linear perspective in the Renaissance continued to dominate art for almost 500 years. The discovery of perspective was based on an appreciation of the importance of defining a specified point of view and a central vanishing point. It introduced into art the importance of recognizing the role of the individual observer and subjective experience. Linear perspective was the mathematical codification of procedures for the representation, on a two-dimensional plane, of reality as it appeared to the viewer. Artists during Mannerism, and especially the Baroque period, con solidated the representation of depth and enriched the representation of subjective dimensions by discovering modes for effectively expressing action and emotion. In addition to depicting
figures and scenes as they appeared to the viewer, paintings were now filled with tension and affect. Through the use of diagonal composition, chiaroscuro, and subtle variations in color, Baroque artists were able to represent inner psychological states and stimulate these experiences in the beholder.

Session 05 IMPRESSIONISM
Short, thick strokes of paint in a sketchy way, allowing the painter to capture and emphasize the essence of the subject rather than its details.
They left brush strokes on the canvas, adding a new dimension of familiarity with the personality of the artist for the viewer to enjoy.
Colours with as little pigment mixing as possible, allowing the eye of the viewer to optically mix the colors as they looked at the canvas, and providing a vibrant experience for the viewer.
Impressionist artists did not tint (mix with black) their colours in order to obtain darker pigments. Instead, when the artists needed darker shades, they mixed with complementary colours. (Black was used, but only as a colour in its own right.)
They painted wet paint into the wet paint instead of waiting for successive applications to dry, producing softer edges and intermingling of color.
Impressionist artists avoided the use of thin paints to create glazes which earlier artists built up carefully to produce effects. Rather, the impressionists artists put paint down thickly and did not rely upon layering.
Impressionists discovered or emphasized aspects of the play of natural light, including an acute awareness of how colours reflect from object to object.
In outdoor paintings, they boldly painted shadows with the blue of the sky as it reflected onto surfaces, giving a sense of freshness and openness that was not captured in painting previously. (Blue shadows on snow inspired the technique.)

Session 06 MODERN TIMES

The revolution within culture and technology as well as their interaction provided a new understanding of the world and the structure of thought. Before the First World War the “culture of time and space” permeated every part of life. (8) How much the advent of photography helped liberate this generation of artists from traditional ways of viewing the world remains a question for history. If the invention of photography was a crystallization of the Renaissance model in inception, its seemingly uncompromising mode of ocular rendering and spatial translucence also appeared to preclude further options.
After the turn of the century, through the advent of Cubism in art, the Pictorialist movement, and early modern photography, a liberating break from conventional notions of space took place. In Cubism multiple viewpoints, positive and negative forms, and the use of memory by the painter influenced another means of developing the picture’s structure. The artists of Pictorialism acknowledged the surface of the photographic print as an active part of the final form of expression.

Text on Space in Modern Architecture here

The Principles of spatial organization

Balance is created in a work of art when textures, colors, forms, or shapes are combined harmoniously.
Contrast is the use of several elements of design to hold the viewer's attention and to guide the viewer's eye through the artwork.

Movement can be directed by lines, contrasting shapes, or colors within the artwork.
Emphasis is created in a work of art when the artist contrasts colors, textures, or shapes to direct your viewing towards a particular part of the image.
Pattern is the repetition of a shape, form, or texture across a work of art.
Proportion is created when the sizes of elements in a work of art are combined harmoniously.
Unity is created when the principles of analysis are present in a composition and in harmony. Some images have a complete sense of unity, while some artists deliberately avoid formal unity to create feelings of tension and anxiety.

Schedule of Instructional Delivery
QUICK TOUR ( SLIDES + TEXT )

Week One ancient space

History of spatial representations: Ancient world. Prehistory, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome; An overview of significant examples;sacred geometry; materials and tools description and demonstration; preparation of the various painting surfaces.

Materials: (in class demo of basic painting materials for the course) gesso primer, pigments, binders and surfaces

Elements of the pictorial space: rhythm, balance, shape, volume as means of determining space in ancient times

Alan Feltus article on composition here

Composition elements illustrated here

Web book on geometry here
Time/space here
Visual analysis (step by step) here
Composition elements here

Symbol form number in Egypt here

Assignment 01

Prepare various surfaces for painting: prime panels, cardboard and canvases. Draw three composition studies using pre-renaissance (pre-perspective) resources as inspiration. The sketch for every assignment could be developed in different ways:
You may draw the composition using geometry- lines and dots (like mapping), or you may go further and define a colour scheme, light & shade, even details, if necessary. Anyhow, you should be able to use the sketch/composition to comfortably start painting in the next class. SKETCH is a quick solution and a basic guideline. CARTOON is a coloured sketch. CONCEPT is a sketch containing all the elements of the future work (light, colour, composition)

Week Two 2D pictorial space

Class schedule: review of the sketch, demo (gouache), in class painting (underpainting, grisaille)

Materials : gouache, watercolours; primed wooden panel; rulers, various drawing tools, various brushes, water containers

Grisaille Painting
a monochrome painting and drawing technique executed in tones of gray. Such works were often produced in the Renaissance to simulate sculpture

NEXT WEEK Topics: Gothic and Byzantine compositional methods using numerical proportions (golden mean); under painting process; tonal painting, grisaille. Methods of transferring compositional drawings; introduce and test basic paint application techniques

Iconography today here

Natural pigments PDF file

The Golden mean site & resources here

Fibonacci sequence in arts etc... here

You-tube video on PHI here

Islamic geometry here

Constructing format for painting here

Assignment 02

Create a sketch for a painting composition using the golden ratio or similar geometric method. Continue painting the class composition at home.Use limited palette of grisaille technique, up to three colours. Use gouache (tempera paints), preferably on board.

Week Three 2D to 3D pictorial space

Class schedule: in class review of the painting assignment 01, review of the sketch for Byzantine painting, demo (egg tempera), in class painting (modeling the form)

Aerial perspective: tonal painting (monochromatic, duotone),

Materials: gouache, watercolour, (egg emulsion) various brushes, primed board

NEXT WEEK Topics: a room with the view; Renaissance perspective; tone, form and light; Introduction and use of different paint application techniques and methods- sfumato.

Renaissance perspective PDF

Perspective 1 & 2 points PDF

Renaissance portal with lessons here

Perspective explained step by step here

Art history portal (with images) here

Fresco techniques step by step here

Assignment 03

Sketch a study using perspective rules (or copy the work of your favorite renaissance master). Continue and finish the Byzantine style painting at home. Use gouache with egg emulsion

Week Four tone, color and space

Class schedule: in class review of the painting assignment 02, review of the 3D sketch, demo (oils), in class painting (sfumato)

Materials: preferably oil paints, odorless oil thinner, primed canvas;

NEXT WEEK Topics: Aerial perspective; high renaissance and baroque; tone, atmosphere and color in painting; Theatrical space: using the camera obscura and artificial light.

Chiaroscuro definition on studiochalkboard here

Rembrandt lighting here

Caravaggio's life here

Oil painting tehniques here

Baroque art resources & artists here

Assignment 04

Make a study for Baroque painting using techniques of three-dimensional representation: colour, perspective geometry and atmosphere. Eventually use photo based source. Continue working on renaissance painting at home. Please use oil paints (if possible)

Week Five beyond reality

Class schedule: in class review of the painting assignment 03, review of the Baroque sketch, demo (tempera & oil), in class painting (underpainting, glazing techniques)

Materials: gouache (with egg) and oil paints, odorless oil thinner, primed canvas;

NEXT WEEK Topics: impressionism as a hybrid space; Invention of the colour theory; colour applications: texture and surface treatments;

Color theory and modern art; colour mixing, colour circle

Impressionism timeline here

Text and images on impressionism here

Art history survey and links here

Colour in art here

Assignment 05

Using impressionists’ notion of space, make a pastel study (preferably of the landscape) in the style of impressionist masters; use pastels in combination with drawing and painting materials.Continue working on Baroque painting at home, use tempera and oil paints

Week Six modern times

Class schedule: in class review of the painting assignment 04, review of the Impressionists sketch, demo (acrylic), in class painting (colour mixing),

Materials: acrylic or oil paints (odorless oil thinner), primed canvas;

NEXT WEEK Topics: post impressionists’ legacy; technology and industrial revolution; introduction to new styles of pictorial space; cubists’ perspective and futurists’ speed, composition based on stylization and transformation of the form

texture and surface treatment; generate a composition based on stylization and transformation of the form

Humanities & art links (images + text) here

Major XX c. movements links here

Vision, colour in art here

Assignment 06

Stylization and geometry: make a composition using modern notion of space (stylization). Continue working on impressionists painting, Please use oil or acrylic paints, collage and mixed techniques- your choice

Week Seven multidimensional space

Class schedule: in class review of the painting assignment 05, review of the Modern sketch, demo (mixed media), in class painting (textures)

Materials:

Topics: abstract and dream; Dada and surrealism; the shift of size, hierarchy and meaning; Geometric abstraction as an escape into the void; Non- objective versus abstract space; inner-space

Links to styles of XX c. art here

World history of arts here

A century of painting at Guggenheim here

Painting and visualization PDF

COncept of space in 20 c painting here

Assignment 07

Make a sketch for a painting applying your preferred method of XX century spatial concept. Continue working on Modern painting, Please use mixed painting techniques

Week Eight virtual space

Class schedule: review of the last 06 painting, demo (using other sources, photo, print, etc), in class painting (new methods and techniques)

Materials: mixed media, various paints, collage, adhesives, texturers, images, prints, etc

Topics: photo based and digital space; testing the new possibilities and methods of using pictorial space as personal artistic expressions; painting and other media (photography, graphic design, typography)

From abstract to data visualization PDF

End of the course