Hey! It's Thanksgiving time! Let’s look at a figure!
Here is our next figure, an ink on paper portrait from the Tang Dynasty.
As always, let's start out by pointing to important observations and building safe inferences.
Please be sure to review the comments that others have written before you post your own.
Feel free to invite a friend or family member to make observations and inferences as well! Just be sure they identify themselves.
-- click on the image to enlarge it --
55 comments:
. HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ok, so a bunch of observations/questions.....
He seems to be looking up, ahead of him. Looking/gazing or maybe even posing at/for what???
His hair, pulled all the way back, tightly tied up in a knot with one of those sticks/hair stick things.
Notice how he is a bit bald in front (hair all the way in back) and the odd shape of the head/forehead. It very feminine almost, females have a steeper skull line (forehead) than males do (mostly all the time). Why is his head this weird shape???
His mustache and goatee are very unique and noticeable. Mustache: straight jagged lines an upper lip below weird triangular nose. Goatee: thicker and curved below the chin...mustache and goatee are black
His clothing....VERY interesting...is a like a draped toga cape, covering his wholebody...his arms are very muted and strange dragging on the floor, this could just be the sleeves of the clothing that he is wearing be elongate and something. The whole thing is one piece and is white, with black shodowing (maybe??) on the neck and back.........the in fashion sense, the clothing says a lot about this man a culture....i LOVE it!!!!
what is the symbol at the top and very bottom of the picture??? The Tang dynasty symbol....the artists symbol???? SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO INTERESTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have a great turkey day!!!!!!!
I'm going to start off with some concrete observations, focusing on the body:
- The body is ovoid; little deliniation of arms or legs. Beneath the head, there is a grey line, a white line and then a large section of black, resembling a collar. A dark line continues down his back, getting thinner, and lighter, stopping a little more than half-way down his body. There is another line, lighter and gray, that also curves, and meets the other darker line at the same point. These lines outline the curve of the body, and on front of the body, the curve is irregular, coming to a bit of a point at the mid-body. To the left of the middle of the figure's torso, there is a slight line that shoots off diagonally, and continues down, with two breaks to the bottom of the figure's robe. There is a dark line, with evident brush stroke that slants up diagonally at the end of the garment, and about half way up its slight slope, there is a gray line that outlines the bottom of the garment, and curves up to about one-quarter up the figure. Below these lines are various other lines, that are fairly ambiguous. To the right, there is a round (pointed slightly at the end) blue shape, which curves in, and then out, forming a point that is outlined by a line, rather than filled with color. Slightly above it there is a gray stroke, that is a fairly abstract shape, and below it is a narrow line that crosses from the right side of the figure's body to the left, getting thicker and then slanting up to the end of the clothing. The body is separated from the light-gray background by a slight line.
Most of the image is fairly blank; vast gray area, with a contrasting red square in the corner, with maze-like white pattern.
Kudos to Jake on his glorious vocabulary and great observations.
Anyway some observations pertaining mostly to the head.
The figure of the man covers about half of the width of the piece at largest, and his height reaches to about two thirds of the height of the paper.The majority of the paper is uncovered especially in the top third of the paper which has a red design with many lines that form a kind of maze with a red outline and a line of space in the maze running through the middle to the outline. His whole body (not including head) is drawn of marks that are faint and often so pale that they are appear to be nearly sketched on lightly with ink. the head however has an outline that is faint but the hair is rendered by a dark shape that consists of line coming off of it towards the back of the neck at a diagonal angle heading down and the top of it with lines that go up onto the top of the figure's head without ever reaching the mark that is halfway to the front of his head. The shape of the top of his head is a line that goes up at about a 20-30 degree andgle but then shoots down into a 45 degree angle that reaches to a little before his eyebrow at which point the line is unapparent. This eyesbrow is shown by a whispy wide line, and there is no outline of the head until his eyes, which are a dot at the top of the shape that is his nose and a line that is parrallel to his eyebrow and that proceeds the length of the eyebrow by a diminutive bit. His nose is portrayed by a line that comes off of his face and then turns back to the head until is reaches the mustache. The mustache is two lines that go up from the bottom side toward the nose, the line closer to the edge about double the thickness of the other. The lips are two dots one a little more into the head than the other, that are attached by a thin line, creating the illusion that they are schrunched into a cirlce. The shape of his chin continues with the outward movement of the overall line on the edge of the front of his face, and turns into his neck. On the chin is a beard that bends outward from the initial movement of the line which is down. The beard has an end of two thin lines on the outside of a thicker one which are all attached. The figure's neck is short and covered by a collor shone by a thin gray line about a wider blue triangular shaped line that curves. From the collar the body has an elliptical shape and is drawn by whispy lines.
Anyway... I need a break...
Thanks!
-Rocco
the head is large for the mans body. it is about 1/5 of the height of the mans body, on most people's body, their height is about nine heads. his face is shown in profile and the top of his head is flat. his nose is not defined, it is just a triangle. the eye that we see is line that forms a 90 degree angle with his cheek bone. his iris is a black circle. his eyebrows are light gray and parallel to his eye.
WOW ROCCO!!!!!!!!!!!!! LONGEST BLOG POST EVER!!!!!!!!!!....better REALY good!!!!!!! i totally agree
Love the word that Rocco used: "wispy." I think that's a great description of a lot of this figure's features.
More observations of the head/face:
His head is rather square, and the top of his forehead is delineated by a sharp angle. A beard grows off the tip of his chin, and becomes more narrow as it comes out farther. It ends with a blurred brush stoke. As Turner described very well, his mustache is quite angular, and branches off into two visible sections. There is a very light gray line, resembling an eyebrow, and below it there is a small round bead of an eye, a black line coming straight from it. His very straight nose begins at the corner of his eye, and it comes to a sharp point. The hair starts far back on his head, and is the darkest colored part of the ink portrait. It ends by his collar, and above his ear. Hair strands are drawn in individual lines, each one very singular, and not blurred by brush stroke. Protruding from this hair, is a shape resembling a bun, with a shape resembling a stick, stuck through this bun. An ear is evident, lines separating each section. The face has the sharpest detail of this ink portrait.
- Both the head and the body are quite fluid, and seem like a single shape.
Hey, we're off to a good start everyone! I wonder if anyone can give us some thoughts about these lines? Are all the lines of the same quality? Thickness? If we try to count the number of strokes used, do we notice any interesting groupings or patterns?
i think these lines indicate the outline of the person standing there...both the background of the image and the clothing and skin of the man are white so we need to have lines (black ones) to distinguish between the man's outline and firgure and the white background
why is the background picture white????? why not a natural setting like nature or a inside a house??? Why white???? WHy not black, purple, red, grey, green, blue, etc.........why red as the signature if the Dynsasty or artisit....which one is it?????
The colors are interesting and why the artists chose the colors he or she did.........are there more colors we havent seen that are in more of this picture (didn't Mr. Gregg say that this was oly a bit of the picture??????)?????
Turner: No he did not. This is the whole thing.
About the head and face:
In general, the lines here are of a finer quality: in thickness and detail especially.
The general outline of the whole head is somewhat squareish. This is the way it looks from the side. I might venture that if we saw the shape in 3D it would resemble a barrel or coke can. Most importantly, this "barrel" is tilted slightly up on the left side; this is the direction in which the face points,
The line that outlines the face is a misty grey, and we can see it is at points so light, the brush may have left the paper completely.
The line that shapes his nose is darker and more delineated from the rest of the face and meets to form the point of the nose at a sharp acute angle.
There is a single linear stroke above the nose with a dot at the right, showing the man's eye, a much lighter line above that to show his eyebrow. This brow appears angled slightly upward, though one might consider it flat as the whole of the face is tilted upward to begin with. Beneath the nose is a very short line, maybe even dot-like, representing his mouth.
Li Bai's facial hair-minus his brow-is all formed with similar stroke and color:
His thin, wispy (thanks Roccy!) beard curls off of the right angle of his chin and ends inexactly: it has no definite end, although the color lightens and the strands appear to thin to just a few. The beard is a dark, but slightly translucent grey.
the hair the grows from the upper left corner of his "barrel-head" is raked up into a tight bun. This bun us long, in that it protrudes from his scalp farther than a normal bun might. Hairs seem to grow over the scalp a little irregularly; they are all pulled together into the bun, so the hairs get more densely packed towards the the top. The color, then, then becomes more opaque as you travel to the bun's tip. Some long thick strands, or possibly sticks, stick out from the bun near its base.
The last facial I'd like to mention? His ear.
Li Bai's ear is, to me at least, the most deliberately detailed element on his face. While the other elements seem to have been captured in a few brushy strokes, or perhaps one simple, angular line, the ear is drawn with precision in the curves of its lines and positioning of its very element (lobe, etc.). With all its detail, it seems rather large in proportion to the height of the face. It also appears to me to be the lightest element in the face, perhaps on the canvas.
If I were to remark on his expression, thereby drawing some sort of inference from my dense observations, I might use the word contemplation. The flat (slightly upturned?) brow, the small, dot-like mouth (possibly eluding to pursed lips?) and general upward gaze of the facial elements show me a man in deep thought. Some other bodily elements give me this sense to, but I'll talk about those another time.
I'd like to delve into the land of Inferences, where juxtapositions grow like trees. . . wait, what? Maybe that land will lead me to the land of Claims.
I think the face and the body are a key juxtaposition in this figure, and I'd like to process it. The quality of lines in the face/head and body are very different, the artist using blurred and amorphous lines in the body, while the artist's lines are sharp and exact in the face and head. The colors also strike an interesting juxtaposition; the colors in the face and head, full and sharp, while the colors in the body are blurred and muted. The body is de-emphasized, while the face is emphasized. What could this mean? I agree with Mr. Woodard's thoughts about the face, and that "thinking" is emphasized and perhaps virtuized (not a real word - but spread it okay?), an inference supported by this juxtaposition. But there's another aspect to the juxtaposition, I think. Through this technique of emphasis and de-emphasis, this ink portrait represents very Taoist principles, including the strength of softness, emptiness, and wu wei (natural action, or knowing when to act and when not to). I'm interested in what other inferences people will make, and if this will lead to other claims.
Wow.....
All the people who have posted until now have very long comments but I think mine will be very short.
I realized that Mr.Gregg mentioned this as well but I realized that every single one of you who have posted has used the word "line/lines" at least once and I realized how simple but in depth this painting was by reading all you comments. I think I would like to isolate the small symbol on the top right hand.
First of all, it is square shaped and it contains of the colors white and red. This might be bringing out side knowledge in since I have seen many signs/marks like this before, but it looks like it consists of four different parts. It is clearly shown that even though the four parts look very alike, there is always a part that is different. It can be the way in which the squigles or lines are shaped and it can also be the different types of lines that the artist uses. Obviously it had a bold but vague border around it which has the color red.
From looking at the whole picture, I realized that this drawing isn't that bold. There are some bold parts but even in those parts, you are able to see a little bit of the texture and color underneath.
This is Nami. And I WILL come back.
I think to begin with, the most obvious feature of the Li Bai is its minimalism. Some parts of the body are either not visible or ambiguous, such as the arms, hands, legs, and feet. But these concealed limbs are just that: concealed, so from that we still have observations pertaining to what the Li Bai is wearing. What's most interesting about the Li Bai I might add is not just the minimalism, but how the minimalism is in the strokes of the paint. Each stroke represents part of the Li Bai's body, but in that distracts from the whole due to the individual stroke that it is. It is similar in some way to text versus an image, because yes this is a painting, but the structure of the painting seems almost to similar to strokes seen in literature and calligraphy. This makes you read the picture in sequence and pay attention to certain parts in an almost consecutive manner more than a holistic point of view that would be seen in something like the Assyrian Hero, or the Venus of Willendorf. But maybe through, this sequential form of drawing we can find the main point such as the main point that we find in readings.
I'll be commenting on the head and body later on.
This is Sofia...
-face and body shown in profile view, almost completely turned away
-mouth set, not smiling
-hair pulled into bun in back of head
-short black goatee, wispy at end and mustache
-red square in top right corner of painting filled with intricate lines also in red (I will infer that the intricate lines are a kind of name-stamp, as we did talk about this a bit in class on Friday. Also, I really like how Jake called this "maze-like")
-arms and legs not shown (I'll infer that his arms and legs are covered by the long garment he's wearing and that his arms are in front of him)
-At the bottom of the figure's garment, the artist drew a thick black line that went a bit to the right and got thinner and more ink lines/slashes at the bottom of the painting.
-I will infer that the look on the figure's face is one of passiveness and seriousness.
Also, to add on to what Turner was saying and to sort of answer his question, I think Mr. Gregg did say this was not exactly the entire painting, there was just a lot of white space left over. I'm not sure about this though.
I'm doing this in my iPod touch when I can get to a computer I'll blog but I acually had a long blog post but it hot deleted so I'll try
Turner, the paper isn't white, but the reason it is that color is because that is the paper color. Think about space, not white. If that. I think it may serve us a purpose, but... For your extension fo tht question:
Why is it not black, purple, red, grey, green, blue ect. ?
Maybe it's just the paper. Maybe they didn't think about it.
Anyway... Turner just sit and think for us. I've spent enough time on you...
I'm going to sleep.
Thanks!
-Rocco
Now, some observations as to the body:
I'd like to start by saying: trying to capture the essence of Li Bai's cloak-swathed figure through extensive, and frankly, nitpicky observation is impossible. There are some extremely impressive attempts on this blog, but when I read them, I am able to sense only random lines that seem to relate in words, yet exist individually no matter how hard I try to relate them in my head. Really, the task of "wordifying" Li Bai's portrait is impossible because there is no way to express the exact placement of each line comprising him like we can sense visually. How, then, to turn visual in to written? I shall attempt.
Please excuse me if the above is really only a result of my own inabilities, rather than that of language.
Covering his neck is a collar that widens from front to back. It is comprised of one black, but translucent stroke.
Above the collar is a faint grey line that appears to outline the width of Li Bai's neck. It remains inside the width of the collar.
From both sides of the collar, a line falls away, then pushes out slightly to form an oblong circle, or ovocular shape. These lines have a hard edge to their inside (facing eachother) and a more vague edge on the outer side.
Falling from the left (back) of the width of the collar is another line, drawn just inside the first, and thus between the two lines that form the oval. A fourth of the way down this oval, another line sprouts, this one again to the right (inside) the oval. This new, lower line, and the first insde the oval together form a sleeve to Li Bai's robe. (One might venture, from the pposition of this sleeve, Li Bai holds his hands behind his back). The lines comprising this sleeve are of a mist-like grey and slig htly thicker than the others of the robe.
At the base of this sleeve, there is a thick, black line with a hairy edge on top and a blury one on the bottom. It's a short line, overextending the width of the base of the sleeve a short ways.
At this point, too, the line of the oval delineating the robe's front comes around and joins up with the black, smudgy line.
Beneath this black smudge-line, it would seem, is the very base of the robe, splayed out like a very short train in the back. This line is vague in exact finish, but there are slight, brushy indicatations of black shoes just beneath it.
So, the Robe has wide collar-possibly a smaller one within-and a long sleeve. The base of the robe touches the ground, just below the base of the sleeve. There appear to be some shoes (bare feet?).
In general, very simple. Simple in form and simple in design. The only gesture inherent in his figure is that of the arms, which seem to be resting comfortably behind the back. This gesture might well be associated with the "considering" idea of yesterday. There is, in some ways, a deliberate lack of distinguishable detail. Instead, there is INdistinguishable detail... I mean to say, the detail is there as the result of purposely undetailed brush strokes that happened to leave extra, vague markings. Sense I a juxtaposition!
Yeah!
This is Hunter!
I totally agree with Matt on that juxtaposition. I really think that the artist did undetailed brush work so that it turns out more detailed. I'd also like to point out that the most detailed part of him is his head, and it gets less detailed as you move down the body. I think the face is a specific thing we should pay attention to. I think it tells a lot about the whole figure and the culture. I'm jumping into a bit of infering here, but I think he looks like he's thinking deeply. He's looking up, as if optimistically. He looks like he either has a lot of power, and is very wise. I say this because of the fact that he's looking up. I also say this because his face appears to be relaxed and in deep thought.
im getting the ipression that both Rocco and Matt hate me and my very annoying qustion of WHY?????????!!!!!!!!!!????????
anywayssssssss.................
everyone else's comments are great and i agree with Nami and Jake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
checking in!!!!! (do we ave to, Mr. Gregg??)
This is Sofia...
-I think it's interesting that the artist used different types of strokes while painting. That is, he used both thick and thin strokes, darker and lighter, different amounts of ink on the brush, etc.
-The different strokes the artist used on the figure's body are, I think, what basically makes the body. If he had left out those different strokes, the body might look more like just a long white oval. The strokes and the types of strokes (thick and thin, etc.) play an important role in the body.
-I love how Jake noted the fluidity of the head and body, making them look like a single shape. What separates them, I think, is the thick strokes made by the artist to create a collar on the figure's garment.
-I think Evan made an interesting point when he said that, because of the posture of the figure (turned a bit away from us) we can't really observe what is in the front of the garment because it's not visible to us.
QUESTION FOR ALL + MR. GREGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In all of the figures that we haev studied and ave done firgure protocolls/analysis on, all of them either have no face (Venus Willendorf) or really no faial epression (expressionless, nuetral)
.........
.............
.................
WHY!!!!!!!!!!??????????!!!!!!!!
Venus of Willendorf
Assyrian Hero
Menk Triad
Discobobulus
Roman Patrician
(i think im foregetting one??)
....even Augustus (friday's class)
alll of these figures really dont have FACES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A face is ment to comunicate adn to sense things.....aren't they???????
..WHY, in all of the figures, we dont see that in the faces......
or ARE they expressing emotion/senses/communicating and we (well...I) dont see it?????????
is there something in common about ALL of the cultures and civilizations that we are studying/have studied in forms of visual art????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Turner you don't have to check in unless you're saying about the figure (and you have to do this 3 times) in case that was unclear.
Some observations/safe inferences:
1.There are many different lines/different thicknesses of lines on the figure's face.
2.There is not much variety in line thickness/kind of line around figure's body.
3.The figure's body is covered with some kind of loose garment.
4.What looks like it might be the forming of an arm sleeve at the shoulder carries all the way down to the bottom of the figure, where his feet would be if they were not covered.
I think these are interesting things to compare and contrast. What meaning might there be from the fact that the figure's face is so detailed and the rest of him so not? Or the fact that his entire body is covered up and any movement which might be found in his limbs is hidden? What about the fact that his hair is tied up out of his face?
-Rosamund
observations about the lines:
Exept for a few areas of black (hair, eyes, shoes) the lines are gray. This seems to be because there is not very much ink. On the shades of gray you can see the texture of the paper coming through.
also:is this the whole picture?
Dearest Grete: It in fact is.
More on juxtapositions in the figure:
So, there is this juxtaposition between detail and abstraction. I talked of earlier that maybe some of the figures detail is a result of its abstraction of reality's detail. The true shapes and lines of Li Bai have been rendered through an artistic lens. This artistic lens tries to simplify Li Bai into a small number of freely shaped lines. But doing this has added a detail that doesn't necessarily exist in reality. This detail is created by the inadvertent misstrokes of the artist, maybe a broken brush hair accidentally rubbing the canvas... Artistic "details" like these add an interesting dimension to the painting, but most importantly are juxtaposed with the other areas of the painting that attempt to capture true, realistic detail (the face, for instance). Maybe, then, there is an even bigger juxtaposition between the emphasis of reality-in specific places-and the emphasis of artistic liberty-in other places.
Woah!!! Now I have to let this marinate...
Happy Thanksgiving!
Now for some strict observations of the face...
The forehead of the figure is made up of two lines of a thin gray shade. Each line is connected by an apex which is pointing upward and slightly to the right. The angle created by the two lines is obtuse although the angle is only missing a right angle by a dozen or so degrees. The apex of the forehead isn't exactly pointed and almost resembles a flat line more than it does a conjoining of two lines. Because the two lines are so close to a right angle they give the illusion of a sharp point, thus giving the impression of a pointed forehead, but nevertheless it isn't. The meeting of the two lines is gradual giving it a curve while in between both lines there is a darker pot, no more in diameter than the lines are in width. The line that points to the left, (representing the top of the figures head) gradually tapers into the shade of the paper but not enough to resemble the actual paper shade. The top of the head continues with a consistent darker shade of gray, and ends at the beginning of the hairline of the figure (meaning there's a space in between the beginning of the hairline and the line representing the top of the figures head).
The hair line is shown as jagged, pointy, and tapered, with very thin strokes mainly brushed in a direction to the right. Numbering around 23 brush strokes at least 20 of the brush strokes are cast in the rightward direction, all tapered, yet still thin at that creating the "sharp" definition. Each brush stroke that's part of the hairline is unique although some of the more needle like strands of hair come in pairs that are almost identical. Each point of hair as is gradually goes down the head points incrementally further down, less and less to the right. The two brush strokes in the back of the head are aligned with two bottom point strokes, such that the upper parts are facing the upper left. All of the individual or paired sets of strokes are connected to and outline the body of hair of the figure which is completely pure black.
A bundle of hair is attached to the upper left corner of the figures head which is oblong and organic, having no defined shape. A thin line extrudes from the top of the part of the bundle that is closer to the actual head which is thick and short. This extrusion contrasts the inferred bottom of the extrusion due the the bottom part being although clearly aligned, thinner and longer. These to extrusions can be safely inferred to be some sort of hair pin that is either a decoration, something to hold the bun in place, both, or neither.
The ear of the figure is formed by four thin organic and undefined lines that when randomly put together make no sort of image, but when put in order create the illusion of an ear. The main line is the longest, which to the right of the other three lines, barely touching them. No line is touching each other, creating the atmosphere of space for the ear. Two of the lines are within the width of the longest line. The upper of the two resembles the shape of a "U" but tilted to the right slightly, in the same direction as the apex of the forehead. The lower line resembles closest to a "V" pointing to the same direction as the direction of the bun. The lowest line is no connected to any of the others and is pointing to the upper left corner of the figure's head.
The nose of the figure is quite simply a two sided triangle. Although it is almost connected to a very translucent gray curved line (representing the cheek of the face) it is standing alone on the figure's face. The bottom of the nose tapers into the top of the figures beard, while the bridge gets thicker into a more oval shape right below the figure's eye. The figure's eye, which is set behind the nose is basically a thick black circle connected to a long slightly curved line which is also black. Above the eye is a relatively light gray line which is almost the width of the eye, although much thicker. And above the eye brow is the space between the forehead and the eyebrow, which is also close to the length of the eyebrow. The mustache of the figure resides directly below the nose and cheek and consists of three black tapered line all pointing downward, aligned and leaning slightly to the right. The lips of the figure are represented by two small ovals, one on top of the other, and offset slightly. Because the top lip is over the bottom and both are significantly smaller than the rest of the other features of the face relatively speaking, I would presume to call the figure's lips pursed hoping that as a safe enough inference. The chin is a another curved light gray line that is very thin, curved, and gradually curves more into a 90 degree angle exponentially. The beard attached to the bottom of the chin reaches up just above where the continued contour of the chin would be. As the beard continues down it first curves to the right as a whole stroke (almost as thick as all three of the mustache stokes' width) but end with two different outlining strokes that are thin and tapered as the start to go in a downward direction again (which creates the image of an incomplete "S" shape). The value in between the outlines gradients into the shade of the paper. next to the beard stroke is an individual stroke almost pointing directly downward. This stroke is connected to the beard by a small equally thick line.
I may have gone a little too far in depth for only the head but I figured I would make up for my previous post which was exclusively analytical.
My goodness people! What vigorous blogging!
A lot of folks have used the word "stroke" to describe these lines. What's a "stroke"? What's the difference between "drawing a line" and "making a stroke?" Anything here worth consideration?
Also, some folks have noted that this figure contains contour lines. What are those? Anything about the idea of a contour worthy of note?
So maybe I'll start with a claim that people can chew on... How about "The Li Bai portrait is about power."
Mr. Gregg!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you trying to kill us with that claim about......the word you should NEVER use??????
POWER!!!!!!????????!!!!!!!!!! YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!
What kind of power????????????!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????
i think.....
the power of PEACE
Happy turkey day everyone!!!!!!!!!
The body
the overall body is very small compared to a normal human. The height seems much shorter
Head
The top of the head is falt and goes almost dead straight dow. A normal huiman the head is round wehn the top connects witrh the forhead. The nose comes out very far and has no angle or curviness to it. It has a perfect straightness to it which is nota common thing for humans.
The eyes are juists dots on his face that are located exzcty at the top of the nose this is actually somthing that interests me because the fact the the eyers usally mean a lot to a painting?figure
Overall the figure in not detailed at all, it has basically no extreamly human aspects to it. which i feel; it very interesting compared to the figured we did an analise on because usally 1. it;s a statue
2. its usally deatailed excluding the venus of Willendorf
My next post will be about isolation of the eyes and HUman"NESS
Hi im Austin's older sister doing a blog post
his head if flat at the top. it looks like he's looking at something very important. it looks like he's praying to something. It looks like he's not from this time. It reminds me the look of buddah because of the look of his hair.
This is Sofia...
To answer Mr. Gregg's question, I think that a stroke is less precise than a line in that it is a light gesture of the brush which results in a type of mark like a line only tapered. A stroke is often thicker at the beginning and thinner and sort of imprecise as to where it is. A good analogy would be a musical phrase which starts out forte and decrescendos to a pianissimo. A stroke , therefore, has a sense of movement to it.
And for some even more observations. Huzzah
The bottom of the collar is resting on the figure's shoulder such that it is aligned with the curve of the top of it. The collar is inconsistent in that is is dark gray then a lighter shade of gray up top of that and then even more above that (inside there's still light gray, meaning there is an outline above the block) there is a thick strip of white. The inconsistencies lie within the fact that the gray and lighter grays do not correspond with one another, but are rather randomly varied. From the bottom right corner of the collar there are two brush strokes that cascade down in an elegant manner as they change there shade and width in a gradient like fashion but both ending in a point, connected. to the right of these strokes there are three more lines that parallel, in a disconnected manor. And despite the parallel, the two lines gradually become closer to each other as you go farther down the figure. Now, protruding from the right side of the collar is a stoke that would outline the torso/upper body of the figure, but instead merely gives the idea that it is there but is not defined to strong definition. The stroke slants outward slightly until it reaches the pelvic/navel area of the body. At that point it continues inward slightly thickening in width and value slightly then get very thin, following straight down. The line abruptly cut off by a thicker line that smoothly comes down into an inward and gradual curve that stretches across the width of the body. This line blends into a line that is below the previous two lines and is thick, dark gray, and slanted upward towards the right. The bottom of this slant continues into a jagged and thin sweep that stretches out the same length as the distance the slant goes. A similar line below this imitates it but with a thin slant and thick then thin stroke. Each lower stroke is horizontal. At the end of the lowest stroke of the figure, there is a blotch of ink that is black and oddly shaped. It is not connected to any of the other strokes and stands out due to the not only sudden black ink, but that it is a mix between an oval connected to a rectangle half-way, with two lines connected at the end but separated at the beginning of the shape causing an impression of an incomplete triangle. This blotch is relatively ambiguous and could be seen as a foot, but is easily arguable as not.
I love Sofia's observations
I would like to draw more attention to all the empty white space on the page. I think it brings simplicity to the painting. I am going to connect something...I want to point out the contrast between this paiting (with al the blank space) and the other paintings we've looked at. We havent really done paintings in History, but if you look at all the blog posts from in Eglish, you can see we've observed many. I find it interesting how all the ones we have looked at really tell a story. Whereas this one doesnt show a clear action or sequence of actions that can build a story. Its very plain in comparision. Also, the lack of colors, is so different from what we have seen before. It begs the question, (Turner's famous question:) why?? Is there a reason that the artist chose not to fill in a concrete background or sense of setting or a reason why he only uses shades of black and white (with the exception of the red signature in the corner)? I find this image full of possibilities!
Hope you are having a great break!
i agree with all of renees observations...the painting is very simple, and just shows the man outlined in black and white. There is not a complex background or signs of movement. Just the man looking upward, almost towards the red signature. The signature in red is interesting, because it draws attention to it. Is it in some fancy form of calligraphy?
and fyi its Alex M. ;)
Hope yall are having a great break!
I agree with Alex....the it is pretty much just the man in the picture. Its just him and he seems to be walking along. The only other thing in the picture is the red square at the top which Grete pointed out to us is the signature. There is no color to him...he is in all black and white.
This is DANNY!!!!!
Something that is interesting is that none of his limbs are visible and even further his head and neck are his only body parts not covered with his garment. I can not quite tell what is at the bottom of his clothing, there is all sorts of shadows and stuff but it is hard to make out what is being portrayed.
He is looking up but his gaze is diagonal rather than straight up, looks as though is looking not at something but possibly "gazing off into space" or thinking.
The unusual thing is the box at the top right corner of the painting. It has red designs that look like a maze from a puzzle book. The outline of the box is also red. His gaze is not at this so it seems to be a symbol rather than something that is actually in the scene.
I also want to comment on what Turner said about him possibly posing. I do not think he is posing but seems to be in a train of thought. I think this because in the painting the figure is not looking at anything that is shown in the picture. His mouth is slightly open which is something that can happen when one is concentrating. Overall it does not seem like a pose to me.
Wow. I really like Alex Pott's observation about none of limbs being visable. That is very interesting. Usually in a piece of clothing that is drapped over your body, you can still see the outlines of your frame beneith it, why is it that this robe (?) hides his form completely? And also with the neck. Does that begin to hint toward the climate, too? The fact that he is so heaviliy clothed and covered? I dont know...
Oh my goodness gracious! You people write such long blogs that i dont know were to go from here?...
I know LOTS of people have commented on the gaze of the man. It seems to be in an upward gaze because of the chin tilted up. Also the line that continues the eye is in an slight diagonal in a positive slope line. (sorry i am using math to describe the line.) That line shows that the eyes are in fact, looking up.
I would also like to point out that the painting has the man in a profile view which is obviously for a reason. This way you can see the full shape of the head and the entire width of the man. The gaze, as i mentioned in the previous paragraph, is important, and in a profile view of it you can see the gaze in a more drastic sense than if you had a front view of the body and head.
The hair is interesting were the artist uses the strokes to show the hair in its individual routes. This is very interesting and it makes me ask; why would this be such an intense part of the painting? Is this part important in there culture?
This is Alison
I really hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving and hope for safe travel back home! :D
Hey it's Hunter again!
I am playing off what Mr. Gregg said about the "power" inference. I think he has the power of wisdom. I say this because of his gaze....I'm still trying to think deeply about what Alex Potts said about none of his limbs being seen...interesting...
Since I know that I do not want to go to the claim before I make some inferences, I want to show some more isolated observations....
I saw that Mr.Gregg asked the question of the difference between a line and a stroke... I completely agree with Sofia. A stroke is usually thicker than a line and does not have a complete stop to it so as Sofia said, "It has a movement." There are both lines and strokes in this painting and the painting is very simple. I think this shows the simple yet complicated part of this painting. First I looked at the hair line and compared it to the bottom of his gown. Near his hair line, I would call these lines because evern though they are very thin, it comes to a complete stop and it still shows the space imbetween the lines and not in the actual line. Compared to the hair line, at the bottom of the dress there are many differences. Obviously there is a change in the brush that the painter used because the thickness of the line is different. I do know that it is possible to draw thick lines using a thin brush but I think if we come to this point it is impossible because there is a very big and visible difference. Also I would call this part a stroke because as some people called the background "space," the space is visible in the stroke if you are able to understand what I mean.. (Sorry I am a very bad explainer...) Also you are able to see the flow in the stroke.
I think I will stop here for now. Are we allowed to us 2nd and 1st person for this? Because if it is supposed to be like a discussion, I kind of failed..
This is Nami again :)
Nami mentioned that this ink on paper portrait is very simple. I'd like to note that the construction of the portrait is simple, but that a few parts of it are quite detailed. This brings more attention to those parts of the portrait.His facial features and his hair are much more detailed than the rest of his body. The strokes are smaller there. If you look very carefully at his hair, the hair that is pulled back (but not in the bun) appears to be constructed of several tiny black strokes. This gives his hair almost a look of "fuzziness". It makes it seem more realistic to me. Also his nose- although quite small has very dark lines around it, and it is sticking up a bit. This draws our attention to his nose. What could this mean? hmmmm...To conclude with this- my point is that there is a contrast in this picture to be found. The contrast is between the detailed features of the face, and the broader, less detailed features of his body/clothing (also the large amount of white space...). Are we supposed to make inferences/interpretations yet? Because I have one....but it is quite bold so I might wait until people make some safer inferences/interpretations.
Hello, I am Alison's brother, Jonathan. I notice in this painting that the brush strokes are very conservative, leaving most of the detail in the face. The use of negative space is impressive, as the artist creates the impression of a head and gown without actually inscribing it. An illusion can be noticed when looking upon the upper half of the torso. It looks as though the artist has clearly painted a shoulder and arm, but if one's eyes follow that same line all the way down the figure, it becomes another fold in the gown. The sandals have a very watery texture to them, making them look as though they are flowing. This may allude to the importance of water in the society in which this was created. This may be the case, or it may stand as a metaphor for ideal movement being as smooth as flowing water. Just some things to think about, I suppose... Have a great time for the rest of your break, everybody!
I agree with Nami that the paper is simple which allows for more highlighting on the figure...I feel like that is the authors intension...to have all the highlightation on the figure. I agree with Alisons brother that all the detail is ment to be in the face. I think that the face says a lot about him. His face really pops out and the rest of his body really blends in with the paper. I feel like his feet are also highlighted a little bit.
This is DANNY again!!!
Have a great rest of the break! I cant wait to see you all you guys on monday! :D
I am confused about the contour lines thing. I thought that was when a drawing was just one continuous line so i looked it up. It was mostly about maps and showing elevation, but i don't get how this figure could have contour lines.
the writing by his foot has very similar brush strokes/line quality. they are big then get smaller, or they are small and get bigger but the effect is that it looks like its flowing.
and from a really long time ago thanks matt for the whole picture answer.
I agree with what Hunter said about him having the power of wisdom. He is not displaying any sort of physical strength and does not seem to have a pompous attitude like the...I forget what it's called but it's the patrician guy...and therefore does not seem to have some sort of high status necessarily. But what he does display is is a manner of thinking and being "lost in space." Also the lack of objects around him gives the impression that he is putting out worldly things from his mind. Putting all of this together makes me think that he has the power of wisdom.
This symbol represents power... Hmm...
No signs of movement: No appendages separeated from overall shape of body. All arms, hands, feet, legs, do not come out from under this apparel. His chin is facing upwards, His eyes are squinted and his lips stuck out as if he is observing. He is not holding anything that we can see. He also is wearing clothing I would consider nice, it covers his whole body, exceoxt for his head and wrinkles at the bottom because there is too much fabric... which leads to wealthy.
I disagree with both power and wealth. Are his clothes decorated? Is there anything in this picture that would obviously cost money? ...No...
His eyes are shut, his hair is tied out of his face (which shows tha the is practical and concentrating). His hands are not in use (and look like they might be behind his back). I think he is meditating in some way.
hey theatre majors!!!!!!!!!!!! mayve its actors nuetral thing we do in acting class..................except not cause he is looking a bit upward in front of him instead of a soft creative gaze directly in front of you!!!!!!!!!!..........................................maybe not!!
I dont agree with the statement that Rocco said that it shows no movement.... I feel like it does show movement through the way that the gown is painted. There seems to be a movement of the gown is farther back then his head. The gown could be moving like that for two reasons, one that he is moving forward which would make it flow back, and two, there could be a wind that makes the gown flow backwards.
This is Alison! :)
I feel like there isnt enough evidence of movement in this. At least with a background we could have possibly infered there was movement. Bt there isnt really anything that we can base that off of...
so humann"ness usaly is very detailed with lots of aspects of the human body
every muscle every hair to every scar
The man in this painting is what i would call almost cartoon"ness
there is the aspects of eyes, hair, nose, mouth. which are not very detailed and specific.
What im trying to say ios that it only shows humaness to a certain extent which puzzls me because a lot of the body parts are notr even seen like
legs, arms, feet.
So i satrted to think up a semi claim as to the fact this is not about human'ness or parts of the body.
But its more of a claim about a how its not weather than is if you get what im saying
Forgot to say this before, it's Rosamund.
I think that Austin is right-the character's human-ness is not brought out in this picture.There is a possible exception to this in his face, which is the most detailed part of him. Since the face is the most common way of identifying a human, the character is easily identifiable as human. Still, the rest of his body is not necessarily identifiable as human. Of corse the inference that it is is very safe due to the fact that his face is human, but it's worth pointing out that the body is deemphasized.
i think what austin is trying to say is that the painting is a great example of realism. It obviously depicts the image of a man...but it isnt realistic with detailed lines and shadowing. It is just simple strokes of black paint. Its simple black and white, with much blank space.
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