Chapter Four: Artist Contrast 1

Chapter four goes over the different visual elements in art such as the use of lines, shape, color, etc, used to create a piece of art.

Two artists that use color in unique and creative ways are Georges Seurat who's painting "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" is featured in this section, and Chuck Close who's painting "Bill" is shown.

Both artists use very unique techniques to create their paintings. Georges Seurat in particular uses what is now known as "pointillism". As the book states, his paintings are created by using dots of pure, solid color rather than blending to create the different hues and shades. The result is remarkable. When viewing the painting from a distance, you can only see the image that looks only slightly texture, but up close is a whole other story. Each dot of color is viewed and the subject of the painting becomes fuzzy and difficult to make out.

Chuck Close has developed a technique similar but different. He starts off with a grid and pays absolutely no attention to the photograph as a whole. Similar to Georges Seurat's technique, his paintings that are done in this style, make little sense up close where you can see the patterns of pure color. However, when viewed from afar the mind puts together the colors and is able to perceive the subject of the painting (in this case a face.

Both Artists use similar techniques that involve applying pure color to their canvases and both paintings grow distorted when viewed up close. They are different though because George Seurat uses Pointillism whereas Chuck Close is a little more extreme by using his grid, varying in size, as opposed to just dots. Both, however, achieve a very unique and beautiful effect.