The Nature and Quality of Art Education is Changing
by Nicolette Harrington, MoNA Link Program Coordinator
The word “art” is derived from an ancient Indo-European word that means “to fit together” suggesting that art is about fitting words, images, objects, processes, and thoughts together. Arranging the order of things and the effect of optics and physiology in art have contributed to a better understanding of how we see and learn. The nature and quality of art education is changing. The next Outside In Gallery exhibition Aprendiendo el lenguaje del arte: Exhibición de arte de los estudiantes de MoNA Link / Learning the Language of Art: MoNA Link Student Art Exhibition (February 18th through May 14) will be a celebration of the learning and accomplishments of the K-12 students and teachers that participated in the MoNA Link program in 2022-23
Learning the language of art has been taught since the 1860s, when visual art was first introduced as a subject to study in public schools. Approaches that emphasized copying nature and examples of historic ornament, including a recognized set of lines and curves, were often practiced by the penmanship teacher. Drawing was like learning to write; the ability to draw would expand capacities of expression and communication. Just as great literature offered readers knowledge and moral inspiration, masterpieces of art were expected to teach and inspire. A small display of early art curriculum materials will be on display as a part of this exhibition.
Art education has always had a role in developing perception, skill and craftsmanship that build confidence and competence. Art education has been recognized for its ability to cultivate empathy, facilitate expression, and encourage reflection in ways that foster understanding and communication.
In this post, I will explain the 10 Principles of Visual Expression, defined by a children’s book illustrator, Molly Bang, in her book “Picture This - How Pictures Work”. She has illustrated how visual art shares something with every language because art has a grammar and a vital set of skills that can be taught and learned. Molly Bang explains how pictures work to affect emotions and help decode pictures so we can “read” the illustration.
Direction, curvature, brightness, spatial position, etc. deliver a message. We are led to understand the grammar of the elements of art and how they convey meaning by how they are used. These principles are very useful for the Social Emotional Learning taught in schools today.
Still, you must be asking:
● How does what we see speak to us?
● How do pictures make us feel specific ways?
● How does the structure of a picture or any visual art form affect our response?
Picture structure affects our emotions because there are things we already know about through associations with the “real” world outside the picture. Elements such as color or size call up emotions we have actually felt.
These principles are helpful tools for every artist- child or adult, amateur or professional; anyone and everyone can use these few clear principles to build powerful visual statements. These principles resonate because of the way we experience the world informed by our senses.
Each principle is simple, insightful, and illuminating in helping us understand how pictures work.
1. Smooth, flat, horizontal shapes give us a sense of stability and calm. A horizontal shape is associated with the surface of the earth or the horizon line. We are stable when we are horizontal because we can’t fall down. Horizontal lines suggest peace and serenity.
2. Vertical shapes are more exciting and more active. Vertical shapes rebel against the earth’s gravity. They imply energy and a reaching toward the heights or heavens. Think of things that grow or are built vertically reaching toward the sky as high as they can go. Vertical lines are active, exciting, and awake; resisting gravity suggesting dignity, stability, and strength.
3. Diagonal shapes are dynamic because they imply motion or tension. Diagonals give a sense of depth and change. A diagonal moves from one point to the next forming a path affected by gravity and forces of change, suggesting action. Broken diagonals suggest confusion.
4. The upper half of a picture is a place of freedom, happiness, and truth; objects placed in the top half also feel more “spiritual.” The bottom half of a picture feels more threatened, heavier, sadder, or constrained; objects in the bottom half also feel more grounded and reliable. Pictures have an invisible emotional horizon line, dividing it into “top” and “bottom”. The top feels lighter, able to float, fly, and escape. The lower portion feels more grounded in contrast to the top as if gravity exists inside the picture.
5. The center of the page is the most effective “center of attention.” It is the point of greatest attraction. The center of the framed world is the focal point of our attention as edges enclose and force our glance to the middle. If the picture is meant to be explored, it’s better to keep the emphasis away from the center where our gaze can be trapped. Placing things high or low encourages our eyes to look up, down, and across, affecting our emotional response to what is going on. The exact center does not move and is often used for meditation and “centering” the mind.
6. White or light backgrounds feel safer to us than dark backgrounds because we can see well during the day and only poorly at night. As a result of our inability to see in the dark, black can convey fears associated with the unknown while white can signify brightness and hope. Is a dark color scary - ask why? Scary pictures are easier to make.
7. We feel more scared looking at pointed shapes; we feel more secure or comforted looking at rounded shapes or curves. We know sharp points can easily injure us so they suggest pain or danger. Curved forms are associated with feelings of security and comfort. Flowing lines can suggest elegance and grace.
8. The larger an object is in a picture, the stronger it feels. The very easiest way to create a threatening image or make something appear strong is to make it very large. The same figure appears vulnerable if it is made very small. We associate size with strength.
9. We associate the same or similar colors much more strongly than we associate the same or similar shapes. Color has a strong effect on us. Our reaction is based on the association of colors with natural objects. Yellow with the sun. Blue with the ocean. The symbolism and temperature of color is based on association. Perceptual qualities help determine the degree to which things belong together. We group things by color before we group them together for any other reason.
10. We notice contrast, or, put another way, contrast enables us to see.
Some helpful suggestions:
Apply these principles by drawing our own illustration. To create an effective picture, think about how to accentuate the feelings you want to evoke. Decide on the emotion in a picture before you begin - make that feeling very clear. Elicit emotions that tell a story - one picture can lead to the next to explain a story. There is a sense of flow when a picture works, you and others will know. The story will work when it comes full circle, but with changed feelings as the story ends.
Some common “mistakes” include:
● Elements that are the same size
● Use of the center of the picture and avoiding the sides
● Going for realism instead of essence
● Sacrificing emotional impact for “prettiness”
Ask:
● What does this element add to the picture?
● Does it help the picture feel stronger or does it dilute the emotional message?
● Does it clarify what the picture is trying to say?
Conclusion: The need for visual literacy in the age of the internet and social media is changing art education. Now students must develop knowledge skills and habits of mind that build recognition, perception, sensitivity, imagination, and the integration abilities that help make sense of the world. Art education has a wider mission making visual acuity a skill set as important as reading words and math proficiency. We want children to have basic skills in reading, writing, and math but they also need sophisticated cognitive skills including observing, envisioning, and reflecting which are now a part of skilled art instruction.
Use the 10 Principles of Visual Expression when you visit MoNA and study the art on display. Practice by deconstructing this picture and figure out how the principles are used and work to affect your own feelings and comprehension. Jacob Lawrence was a master at using selected shapes and colors to conjure up a recollection of complex things.
No. 58 from The Migration Series, 1940-41 by Jacob Lawrence
I’ll end with quotes from Rudolf Arnheim, known throughout the world for his psychological studies of art:
Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye, University of California Press, 1954 “The human mind receives, shapes, and interprets its image of the outer world with all its conscious and unconscious powers, and the realm of the unconscious could never enter our experience without the reflection of perceivable things.”
Visual Thinking,University of California Press 1969
“The arts are neglected because they are based on perception, and perception is distained because it is not assumed to involve thought. In fact, educators and administrators cannot justify giving the arts an important position in the curriculum unless they understand that the arts are the most powerful means of strengthening the perceptual component without which productive thinking is impossible in any field of endeavor.”