Abstracting the Figure

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Abstracting the Figure

• Analyzing Art

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Seeing Things Differently
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Portrait of Sally Taylor SmithAdalbert Wunder
ca. 1850-60
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Reflection

• Make a list of facts
• Make some inferences

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Self-Portrait in Green Gertrude
Abercrombie1938
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Reflection

• List of facts
• Compare with the portrait of Sally Taylor Smith
• Does Gertrude look as friendly as Sally?
• Why or why not?

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Figure by the Window Manierre Dawson1915
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Reflection

• What is different about this picture?
• Which picture seems to have movement?
• What might this picture represent?

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Young Woman with a Water Jug Jan
Vermeer1662
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Reflection

• What is similar to the Dawson painting, Figure
  by the Window?
• What is different?
• Do you think Dawson used the Vermeer to begin his
  composition? Why or why not?
• Is it okay for an artist to copy another artists
  work?
• Why or why not?

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Colour

• Abstract artists use a variety of strategies as
  they choose colour for their paintings.
• Local Colour
• Emotional Colour
• Arbitrary Colour

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Local Colour

• Artists might use some of the colour that is
  actually present in their subject matter as a
  beginning for their colour choice.
• Yellow blonde hair
• Pink Caucasian skin colour

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Emotional Colour

• Sometimes artists use colours as stand-in
  symbolism for emotion.
• Bright red anger
• Cool blue sadness

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Arbitrary Colour

• Arbitrary colour choices might be part of a
  program, eg variations on blue, or chosen by
  chance (close your eyes and choose a colour).
• May be whatever colours are available to the
  artist.