The first time I ventured into the art world, I fell in love with movements and pieces that connected to Aesthetics and a sense of style.
The saying “How To Use Historical Art Movements To Guide Your Sketches” makes one reminisce and as a result, serves a greater purpose than a simple statement.
Once you are at a viewing at a museum and are in a particular room, there is a plethora of available shapes and colors that will enthrall you for eons on a single visit.
And still each movement is essentially a particular nail with a high dose of philosophy that seems to fit in cubism’s forward looking geometry and a sprinkling of ‘scooting across the canvas’ strokes in impressionism – each stroke telling a different story.
And, it’s not only about wanting someone to see them, but understanding and feeling them too.
These movements might compliment your practice and this guide is meant to help you with that.
I will go ahead and give you a few more specific strategies to work into your art so you find the initial insights easier to build off on.
Discussing modern art while ignoring its roots in history would be a disservice as once you think about past eras, it is not hard to connect with passionate artists that existed many eras ago.
Let’s study the framework of art movements that took place in history and talk about how you could incorporate some of these into your modern-day art practice.
Start of the Modern Era: How It All Began
Renaissance
The word makes me stop in my track no matter what it is that I am currently doing because every time I think about this time frame, it evokes a feeling of respect and greatness.
A revolution occurred in the world of art. The last of the great artists emerged in Florence in the fifteen hundreds, names like Michael Angelo and Da Vinci.
Emergence of renaissance brought with it progressivism, such as the realist school, the humanistic movement and paradigm shifts.
The religious dogmas that hampered the growth of art into flat surfaces habve been shifted from stagnation to motion allowing greater form to appear to a subject.
As already stated, we can say that the linear perspective had reached high popularity during this period within the artist genre as it was easy and assisted the artist in making an illusion of depth on the composed 2D artworks.
Envision a piece of art that you view where a number of clear shapes emerge and point towards one single focus point hence forming a ‘center’ within the piece. This was made possible by linear perspective.
Being able to create pieces that made the audience step into another world due to sufficient disbelief.
Chiaroscuro is close to what I describe but it is only an impression of what I describe as it is concerned more with the light and the dark shades of the image as opposed to the dark and patched areas of the image.
Take Leonardo’s “Mona Lisa” for instance, where the supple movement of shadows and lights into the piece of art broadens its scope and causes the painting’s audience to actively engage with it.
Whether it is about understanding how to learn from this activity or how these methods are applied in the process of making your artworks, try to integrate those ideas.
Recall how linear perspective can be of assistance while composing your pictures, or which of the subjects you are dealing with can benefit from the help of a chiaroscuro.
It is still fresh in my mind the precise moment I step into the working space and are introduced to these techniques.
I was on an expedition trying to figure out which angle would best suit the vast landscape that I was trying to capture. And after a bit of sketching the landscape I noticed that the two dimensional plane I was trying to paint appeared to be morphing into something far more three -dimensional while being warmer as well. Such epiphany allows the artist to ignore all the motivational struggles that may have been concerning them previously. Baroque: Dynamic Drama and Emotion is also suffering from a
I think modern virus: don’t bother to look from whence the shining screen, beyond the universe is barrelim that makes a whisper in your ear. Then we leap forward to the Baroque period where there was a lot of emotion and drama present. This was a period in history where there were in light and in the narrative great differences Tiis era had stereotypical unrestrained shifts in lighting and narrative. Whenever anyone mentions the term Baroque along with its images of art , I am for some reason, very quick to think of the term “narrative” which best describes the realistic close up scenes to the might of the cinematic feel that these scenes producers envelops you entirely. A. Theatrical lighting was another significant element in these works of art, serving the purpose of creating a strong
impression of excitement and a sense of intense feeling. Caravaggio Let’s take a classic example Chiaroscuro is one of those phrases that has been bandied about a lot in recent times.
He captures bursts of activity and action through his artwork, and gives the viewer a glimpse of the adrenaline rush that was present during that event.
I cannot forget the exhibition where I first saw his works, which managed to capture the raw essence of human emotions so effectively.
The same made me think about how I might be able to infuse such intricacy into my artistic pieces.
A Baroque-inspired portrait can be created with striking contrasts, dramatic hairdos and theatrical poses.
How can the position of characters enable the audience to comprehend the narrative you are presenting?
What is the emotion you want the audience to take home after the work is complete?
As an instance, consider working with a combat scene that has been set against a character in contention, in which I intend to create a captivating ambience for the action.
I would usually light up the character while keeping the rest in darkness so that I can emphasize the character’s facial expressions.
What would always be the center of my attention would be the emotions and the light, which I would then respect and build upon. That said, more detail and depth can always be added to the painting.
Impressionism: Visual Narrative Colliding in Shots and Movement.
What can be more perfect than the gentle wind in your face moving like a butterfly in the broad daylight? That is what impressionism feels for me.
The genre is a revolutionary one in the history of art, it surpassed the limitations of the classical art period, and rather sought to grasp and possess light, color, and a portion of the ideal beauty contained in mundane objects and scenery of everyday life.
Claude Monet and Edgar Degas are among the prominent figures of the 19th century who succeeded in amalgamating their individual perspectives with this genre, thanks to the usage of delicate colors combined with fluid brush strokes.
Claude Monet’s ‘ Impression, Sunrise’ is one of his often shown pieces and this makes the argument that light serves the purpose of providing movement and life in a painting rather than enabling stillness.
However, the focus of impressionism in art does not revolve merely around paintings instead encapsulates the concept of existence which is one of the many reasons why I absolutely love it.
One of the other activities that I wanted to do was plein-air during a summer, quite a few years ago when it was scorching hot and I wanted to learn that skill.
Sitting in a sunny park with my easel made me far more conscious of the changes in the light throughout the day, especially the relocation and influence of the sun.
Seeing colors change simply as I was rendering a certain stage into canvas was amazing.
For this specific type of work, I suggest that you be out and about with all of your stuff and take the time to get inspired by the motion.
Allow the first beams of sunlight early in the morning or the transition of light in the evening to control your brush instead.
Use wide strokes and bright colors, while realizing the impact of lighting on your subject. You are most likely set out to find a different means of how you want to take in the world’s beauty around you. Cubism: A Different Way Of Looking At Things First we delve into Cubism, let me try and see what registers this particular movement did that shattered the conventional approach to making art Cubism was initiated through the artistry of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in relation to giving a new way to look on the world as composed of intermingled bodies and several angles.
To put it more bluntly, it is like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle where each piece portrays different perspectives of the same object. The first time I saw Cubism, I was baffled by its intricacies and my understanding of the order of space and the notion of form . “Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon”, one of the pieces of Picasso’s which I, for example, highly respect, this one shows women figures in a Room of Avignon done in cubism but in this case Portrayed from the said angle.
The icons are simplified into various geometric forms, provoking an animated response between the viewer and the sculpture. For Cubism which you wish to emulate, consider viewing objects about you as a practice in deconstruction. Therefore, take that and reconstruct objects into their basic forms. You may picture painting a Still life and instead of interpreting it through realism, you break its shapes and colors into an abstraction, what do you get?Think of it, how learning the art of painting in that manner will assist you as an artist – you will not recreate the same subject over and over again from the same angle, but rather the same picture, except from a different view. But why not try to take the same object, but this time from above, from below and sideways at the same time? You are entirely correct, how would that affect the painting’s end result? I must admit, it is indeed a great way to breach the usual boundaries of one’s creativity. I remember so well how once in to do a portrait painting I decided as well to use that very method, but this time I used the cutting method so as to present my subject in a different manner.If and when I take a step across boundaries of sceptical influences I am free.
To put it mildly, cubism invites you to take a leap of faith, and I encourage you to heed the warning. Surrealismo: La clave para adentrarse en los recessos de la cubismo we B In the second part of the essay Imagine we now step into the dream-like realm of surrealism. This movement deals with the essence of the word, the subconscious, the dreams, and the mad. Strange realms infused with thoughts that are vivid yet real to the observer were painted by Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte, along with vivid scenes. When Dali paints, remember the Persistence of memory, that this painting features melting clocks and dreams. It is for me a kind of painting which combines landscapes with a very surreal quality, because I think that for me time is not fixed. While in a dream state, this is a good visual metaphor for time’s potential elasticity. Surrealism encourages one to bring out suppressed and most strong feelings to the surface. When working in this direction of art, try to use such arbitrary ideas as symbolism and metaphor to broaden your imagination.
Consider what dreams inhabited your sleep, what metaphors, what situations, what emotions were most prominent?
I had a lucid dream that I will not forget, A winter’s night with no sleep, living with wild creatures accompanied by a Realm of Resonance.
So, the following day I took my painting supplies to create a captivating picture of the mix between reality and fantasy in my mind.
This technique helps create affective works of art in a way that the audience can relate more profoundly, and much more comforting.
So be receptive and while accepting the abnormalities do not hesitate to reach out for your mind.
FAQS
How do I choose an appropriate movement to orient my art around?
The search for an originality in the art world by seeking for something new is always random however it is the start the proves to be an arduous undertaking but drawing – inference from a movement is always easy!
Think of it as an exploration inside the art universe with the sole purpose of awakening all your senses.
For a few hours try grabbing random art history books and add to them a couple of hours spent in an art gallery.
Going to the art museum for the first time I remember looking through the rooms in a rather dazed state and bordered art pieces and wondering what it was about.
Some pieces I felt a relationship with while others ones I felt no connection at all. Which is completely okay! Rephrase the question: What kind of themes or emotions or techniques does one wish to portray? Is it the light and colour of Impressionism that enchants you or the blocks of form of Cubism? Trying to grab a movement that corresponds with your personality in art is like trying to find a piece of you that is missing in the painting. It may come to you that various styles inspire you on various types of work — don’t hold back to try to find out! Let your intuition guide you — and soon enough you will stumble upon a style that makes your brain tick. Can I do a fusion of ideas of different styles? For Sure!!! No, it is this blending of styles from which some advances in arts are produced. Remember people like Robert Raushenberg and many other artists who were the first to mix abstraction expressionism with pop-art? It is like taking different things and throwing them into a bowl and then waiting to see what new flavor it will make! For example one could take cubism and use its geometric fragmentation with the fantasy elements of surrealism.
In one of my performances, I endeavored to put together a geometric abstraction of a still life which had fruits floating amidst a surrealistic backdrop. The end result had a certain haunting quality to it as well as being strange in its own right.
Exploration, however, can result in remarkable transformations to your work and relevant aspects that had never crossed your mind would shine out. The idea encourages one to approach several vectors with the utmost effort they can. No one leaves out an artist more than they do themselves. Therefore, when the completion is near, one is very likely to go full throttle and begin exploring remote concepts
Do I require a teacher to learn about all the movements in the scope of art and the styles that belong to them? Certainly not!
Everything in the universe is free for anyone to see, including art. In contrast to other useful activities, you do not have to be part of a certain tradition or follow certain rules to start doing anything.
Everything is a work of art. That, I, on my part would agree is the best part. What it means is that even the smallest things can be considered works of art, including your imagination. There are endless possibilities if one lets their mind wander.
In the same way, reading, watching short informative videos, or simply surfing the internet can help you understand even the most complex and intricate strategies of the artwork in a simple and lucid manner. So, go with the flow Remember, it all comes down to creating a masterpiece more than the process of creating one. Taking the time to educate yourself about concepts also means picking up the paintbrush and trying new methods. To your surprise, there is something amazing waiting to be done even if you don’t intend to do it, you will do it! At the end, make sure to think of what I said before: you are only performing to the limits you conceptualized! In Conclusion A good place to maximize your imagination and creativity is to consult some of the best and historical movements of art It cannot just be birthed but should be enacted in so many different ways, so many different ways of thinking as all these movements propose. Some movements are more powerful than others. So an artist who focuses more on bringing a renaissance building style creates a more architectural structure while using an otherwise renaissance structure allows the story side to permeate the structure. There is purpose for every movement. But every movement has its purpose.
With these approaches of art history you seem to combine time-space theories with distinct art works leaving behind and creating contemporary art.
This leads to the creation of paintings that are both ageless and current.
Do not shy away from putting yourself in such movements, because what motivation do you think you will have for your art work if you do not get into the culture of painting.
Many of your ideas may be better examined in the context of the history of art and may assist in redefining your creative approach.
Why not use the past, the most recommended place, and seek new works of art worth your efforts to discover among its many remnants.
