Activity #05 Themes or Functions

Jacob Lawrence, Daybreak - A Time to Rest is one in a series of works that tell the story of Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman was a slave who formed the Underground Railroad, an escape path for African American slaves to escape from the captivity of slavery in the South to free states in the North and Canada. Although, this art work is about a time of struggle and sadness in the history of African Americans in the United States, Lawrence use of intense primary and secondary colors removes the sadness from the art work and provides a optimism. Without the background information on this piece of art work, it is difficult for the viewer of this piece to decipher the content. The intense color and the peacefulness of the human body lying asleep on the beach have no connection to the darkness of slavery.

I found that all of Lawrence works focus on African American life. Common to Lawrence works are faceless characters and the use of intense primary and secondary colors. This can be seen in Lawrence’s Barber Shop, 1946; Library, 1969 as well as Daybreak, 1967. Also common to Lawrence work is the use of geometric shapes. In the painting Barber Shop, the triangle is a dominant, as illustrated by the capes of the customer. In the Library the use of square and rectangular shapes overwhelms. In Daybreak, Lawrence uses the two parallel lines receding into the distance, the vanishing point creates an implied triangle.

Jacob Lawrence, Barber Shop


Jacob Lawrence, Library


In Perilous Nights, Jasper Johns brings human experience and fantasy to his art work. Johns art pieces for the most part are abstract pieces. John utilizes geometric and organic shapes in his art work. Unlike Lawrence, John palette selections vary from portrait to portrait. John does not use a high saturation of color. In Perilous Nights, John has tertiary colors as he does in the works, 0 through 9. The Ventriloquist-Mona, John’s inserts a splash green to bring focus to a painting within the painting. In John’s work 0 through 9, the primary colors of blue, red, and yellow are employed, however there is a dullness to the hues. Because of the fantasy to Johns’ work the content is somewhat difficult to decipher. In Perilous Nights and the Ventriloquist, a viewer can interpret two subjects. For example in Perilous Night the vertical line that splits the painting into a right and left panel, two interpretations can be achieved. In Ventriloquist, the insertion of the painting of the green flags gives an illusion of a portrait within a portrait.

Jasper Johns, Ventriloquist-MOMA


Jasper Johns, 0 through 9

Color Game

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Activity #04 Design Principles

The design principles of the selected art works of Jacob Lawrence and John Jasper are in direct opposition. In Jacob Lawrence, Daybreak there is symmetrical balance. The visual weight of the piece is equally dispersed within the photo. If a vertical line is drawn in the middle of the piece the focal point as well as the geometric shape that is in the foreground will split evenly on both sides of the print. In addition the value of the hues of primary and secondary colors are dispersed equally on both sides of the piece.

There is asymmetrical balance in the Jasper John’s piece, Perilous Night. The visual weight is on the right of the piece. There is more color and movement on the right, which attract the eyes and give the right side its visual weight (125). Also, John uses a combination of tertiary colors to the right of the piece as oppose to monochromatic tertiary color on the left.

The colors and shapes that Lawrence makes use of gives a visual unity to his work (123). There is a rhythm created by the repeated geometric shape of triangle (141). There are three triangular shapes, two implied and one in the geometric shape in the foreground. The first implied triangle is the slant of the foliage, and the second implied triangle is the vanishing point of the parallel lines of the shore. The manner in which the primary and secondary colors are employed also brings oneness to the piece. For example the orange-yellow hue of the shore is repeated in lesser value in the outline of the focal point of the piece, the feet that appear in the foreground, and the insects that are on the foliage. Red and purple is repeated in the emphasis and subordinate object in the piece. Lawrence place emphasis on the body with the use of diagonal slant of the body which creates a liveliness to the body (134). The subordinate object, which is the geometric shape with the feet which are proportionally larger than the focal point or emphasis is ”visually less interesting”(135) because the incompleteness of the object. There are these huge feet but no body. It takes further scrutiny to see where the feet are going, and then there is the arm that appears to the right of the feet that further complicates the intent of the object, whereas, the human body immediately draws attention.

In the Perilous Night, Jasper John applies variety to his piece by employing multiple vertical and horizontal lines. Both artists utilizes geometric shapes to place emphasis. John uses a square shape with a lighter color to draw focus to the objects used in this piece, by framing the middle object.

Getlein, Mark. Living With Art 8th. Ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2008.

Activity #03 Balance

See Creative Blog for photos

The two types of balance discussed in Chapter 5, the Principles of Design is symmetrical and asymmetrical balance. Symmetrical balance is achieved when the implied center of gravity is the vertical axis. And, asymmetrical balance where there are two sides that do not match, the visual weight is either to the right or left of the art work.

Activity #02: On-line Museum Visit Essay

The two art pieces I selected from the online museum visit are both from American artist. The style and purpose of the two pieces are totally independent of each other. The first artist, Jacob Lawrence created the tempera painting on hardboard entitled Daybreak in 1967. Lawrence used geometric shapes and diagonal lines to draw attention to the focal point of his piece, which is a human body that appears to be sleeping. “Diagonal lines, which implies action and are the most dramatic”, as noted by Getlein (85) was used by Lawrence to show the un-stillness of the night which is reflected in the slant of the foliage. In addition the slant of the body implies a restless sleep. For “the ground, which provides additional visual information for the figure of the piece (89), Lawrence places a two-dimensional geometric shape, a triangle that is actually larger than the positive figure. Although the human body is smaller than the geometric shape, the diagonal lines of the body draws interest to the body and makes it the positive shape or the focal point (89). In addition the slant of the foliage also forms an implied geometric shape of a triangle that surrounds the body, also directing interest to the focal point. Lawrence utilized primary and secondary colors in an analogous harmony. Red to create the lines of the geometric shape next to an intense yellow-orange color to represent the sand of the shore. The foliage also contains lines of yellow that is adjacent to the yellow-orange on the color wheel, thereby creating the analogous harmony (97).

The second art piece I selected was Jasper Johns’ Perilous Night which was created in 1982 and is an encaustic on canvas with objects. Horizontal and vertical lines was used in Perilous Night to almost separate the art piece into sections. Diagonal lines are absent from this piece, implying the calmness of the piece. To the left of the piece Johns for the most part have a monochromatic color scheme comprised of tertiary colors, a blue-violet mixture (94). Johns’ incorporate specs of white in vertical lines through out this side of the portrait for affect. Interesting, the vertical specs of white are in a downward thrust. The downward motion is achieved by the specs of white increasing in size as they go from top to bottom. The right half of the piece uses vertical and horizontal lines to separate the piece into sections. It difficult to identify the focal point of the piece, because the use of horizontal and vertical lines, that directs the attention to multiple places within the piece. While Lawrence uses lines to illustrate the focal point of his art, Johns utilizes lines to create endless possibilities with his art.

Getlein, Mark. Living With Art 8th. Ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2008.

Activity #01 On-Line Museum Visit

Activity 01

Selection One:
Jacob Lawrence - Daybreak, A Time to Rest, 1967



Selection Two:
Jasper Johns - Perilous Night, 1982

CREATIVE BLOG

Jacob Lawrence Gallery











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ACTIVITY #03 - BALANCE

Elegance, by Elizabeth Craig shows symmetrical balance. The same shapes, patterns, and hatching are shown on both the right and left sides of the print.



The mobile art, by Alexander Calder on display at the Walker Art Center is asymmetrically balanced. The weight of the shape on the right side is balanced by the smaller object to the left.


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Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

The contrasting colors of the yellow house with the different hues of green from the surronding trees make this a beautiful shot. The beauty of the house was exemplified with the stillness of the photo. In real-time, the intense yellow hue of the house captivates the senses and the beauty of the house is lost.



This photo sort provides an optical illusion because of the slanting of the trees to the right and the clouds that are going to the left. It looks as though there might have been a storm approaching. I took this photo on a perfectly beautiful clear day, however I was in a moving speed boat, hence the illusion.



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Las Vegas, Nevada

I spent my Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although Vegas is known to be a party town, commonly referred to as Sin City, Vegas has some of the most beautiful architect. The detail and design of some of hotels and casinos are just breathtaking, both interior and exterior design.

The photo below is a picture taken at night of the Eiffel Tower which is a replica of the original Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. However, I don’t think it is as tall as the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Appropriately so, the Eiffel Tower in Vegas is in the Casino and Hotel Paris.



From the top of the Eiffel Tower, I was able to get this amazing aerial shot of Vegas. Take note of the desert and mountains in the back. Simply beautiful!