How different art forms convey ideas, particularly visual art.

As many of you probably already know, I love to paint, draw, etc. I also love music, and really anything with a creative aspect to it is something I can wholeheartedly enjoy. So I decided to blog about how ideas can be conveyed...[particularly painting/drawing]

There are many ways to spread ideas. The first and foremost, you can simply say it, and explain in. In other words, orally. However, in most situations, an idea is orally transmitted only to a small group of people. This is because you don't always have the opportunity to be listened by a large crowd, keep their attention, and effectively explain your idea to them. Another way to express an idea is to write it down. This is very similar to speech, as writing simply encodes things that can be said in little squiggles on paper. But there are many ways to do this as well. You can write a novel, a poem, a manual (although NOBODY reads the manual :] ), a poster, etc. The whole principle of writing is based on expressing ideas. The first writings were official documents, they expressed very practical ideas, that, namely, would be enormously dull to read for the sake of reading. As writing developed, more abstract ideas could be recorded.

Music is a very interesting way to present ideas. Instead of focusing on hard, straightforward words (disregarding lyrics, if any), the tone, instruments, rhythm, and other various aspects of music are used. The key thing is, however, that music does not present a finished idea. Music provides the listener with emotions, and it is up to the listener to interpret those emotions with the help of their imagination.

Finally, last but not least, visual art. Visual art is very much like music in the way that it does not present an idea in a straightforward fashion, thus making it open to interpretation. Because I do not have much, if any, valid experience with three dimensional art, I will focus more on the two-dimensional art forms, in particular drawing, painting, photography, pastels, charcoal, and computer art, although many of the same rules apply to three-dimensional art as two-dimensional art. No matter the medium however, the basic principles are the same. The aesthetic qualities of art determine how the particular work appears to you. There are the elements of art, which are line, color, shape, size, form, value, texture, movement, and space. Then there are the principles of design, which include rhythm, unity, balance, emphasis, variation, contrast, proportion, and harmony. None of these things actually convey the artist's idea in its entirety. Not alone, not all together. The final piece, is actually what is painted, or the subject matter. Unless it is an abstract work, the subject itself cannot be interpreted in many ways, as it simply put, is. For example, I am currently about halfway done with a painting. There is a wolf, standing on a barren plateau, over looking a very alien, (both literally and figuratively) mountain covered desert, howling at the two moons in the sky. There is nothing more. You can't pretend that the wolf is actually a potted plant, because it very obviously is not. There are many unanswered questions however. For example, how did the wolf get there? Where exactly is the wolf? Why is the wolf there? Is the wolf alone, or is are there other people/wolves/animals with it? All you know is that the wolf is there. The elements and principles of design, in essence, guide the viewer to what is important, and present the situation painted, in a manner that the artist wants it to be seen. I saw a poster somewhere recently. It said something like: Art Is Not How You See Your Idea, But How You Make Others See It. This is what I mean by the elements and principles of design guiding the viewer. In this way, the artist's idea itself is not only in what is painted, and not only in how its painted, or what medium was used (this is also very important, as different mediums have different limitations and benefits), but a combination of all. So next time you view a painting, or a drawing, pay attention to the color, the focal point, the subject, etc. and try to find the most involved interpretation of whats going on.

\m/[(^_^)]\m/