Emphasis and Subordination - Some basics

[MikeN]

Hi Everyone,

I promised to elaborate on the topic of Emphasis and Subordination, in a previous post. So here goes!

Emphasis is commonly lumped into a group of concepts called the Principles of art. The principles of art pertain to human visual perception. They are strickly perceptual, that is, they are events that happen in the mind of the viewer. This is unlike the elements of art which are physical characteristics in the object such as its shape or color. Most of the texts that I have read oragnize the principles into 5-7 groups. They include:

1)Unity and Variety (harmony
2)Emphasis and Subordination
3)Rhythm
4)Proportion and Scale
5)Balance

6)The Illusion of Space
7)The Illusion of Motion

Keep in mind this is just an organizational system used to understand how we perceive visually. As with all intellectual systems you will find variations and alternatives according to what makes sense to others. Without further ado, I would like to discuss and share some of the common characteristics of Emphasis and its counterpart Subordination.

As i mentioned in an earlier thread, Emphasis is an extremely powerful tool that can be used to manipulate viewers for a variety of purposes. Areas of emphasis are commonly called "Focal Points" because viewers tend to focus on those areas of the work. Knowing why people tend to focus on some things, can allow us to control what they see, or in the case of military camouflage, control what they DO NOT see.

There are three common ways to create emphasis. These include Isolation, Contrast, and Placement. Reversing any of the three subordinates or takes away from an object's ability to stand out.


1) Emphasis though Isolation:

Pulling something away from a group can create an area that viewers focus on. Things are literally standing out from the rest. Here are a few examples of this effect.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/isolate.gif

In this next example, Jackson Pollock becomes a point of focus (emphasis) because he has been painted soo far from the group of abstract expressionists inside the boat.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/mythofdepthhead.jpg

This Eakins painting shows the good doctor as the most isolated figure. He is the primary focal point, while the slightly less powerful group of doctors on the right becomes the secondary focal point.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/Surgery_Eakins.jpg

On a side note, "Isolation" is the opposite of a unifying concept called "Proximity". Things that are placed near to each other, such as the doctors on the right, are lumped together and seen as a singular group.

2) Emphasis though Contrast:

Without contrast we could not see. Contrast is the visual differences between things. This includes, value contrast, color contrast, textural contrast, shape contrast, conceptual contrast and more! A good rule of thumb: Things that are different from the majority tend to stick out. For example, a small white circle on a black background will become a point of focus.

Here are few examples of Emphasis through contrast.

Contrasting value to create emphasis (dark on light)
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/em_contr.jpg


Light on dark; This example toggles between light and dark focal points. We may first see the window and sitter in contrast to the dark room. At some point we see the dark flower pot in contrast to the light window value.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/Looking_Out_to_Sea.jpg

vertical vs horizontal; The chocolate sundies are vertical and seem to draw our attention compared to the majority of horiontal goodies :)
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/SaladsSD_full.jpg

Contrasting color to create emphasis (blue dress stands out on a warm background)
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/The_Initials.jpg

Here is the same image desaturated. Notice the loss of emphasis that is created.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/The_InitialsDESATURATED.jpg

Unfortunatly I cant find perfect, isolated examples of these concepts but can still comment on some of the more subtle devices. This image by Norman Rockwell creates emphasis in a few ways. One of them is a conceptual contrast. everyone is sitting, while the focal point is standing.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/rockwell_speech.jpg


3)Emphasis through placement

This can be as simple as putting something in the center of the canvas, or more sublte and sophisticated. a clever designer can place objects in places where they would gain visual dominance from nieghboring directional devices. Here are some examples.

All of these lines are equal in lenght, and varied in position. The only major difference is how there placement draws emphasis to one primary line.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/PlacementEMPHASIScopy.jpg

This is a standard center placement which is an obvious place for a viewer to look. I enjoy how da Vinci's use of a the triangle helps to convey calm and stabilty in the bustling frenzy of the apostles.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/3Leonardo-Da-Vinci-The-Last-Supper.jpg

Again, not a perfect, isolated example but the concept is active on a more subtle level. One of the main focal points are the two children. This is partly due to our natural attraction to faces, but also the use of Rockwell's directional devices. Notice how the mother and father's gaze shoots the viewer down to them. This is further supported by the slanting wall as well as many other directional devices. (guess its obvious that Im a fan of Norman Rockwells "Four Freedoms" rendition :)
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/rockwell_fear.jpg

*Degree of Emphasis

Often times an artist can establish a hierarchy of focal points for various reasons. Images can be ordered to be seen according to their level of importance. However, artists are not bound to the obvious usage of these devices. Focal points may also ordered according to more creative, artist concerns. For example, Peter Brueghel's fall of Icarus controls what the viewer sees first and last. First we may see the briht red shirt of the plowman, or the flapping sail of the ship at sea. One of the last discoveries we come across are the splashing legs near the boat. His creative use of focal points helps to communicate a sad human truth. Death is lonely and often time unoticed. Life goes on.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/brueghel_icarus.jpg

Here is a link to a thread I started that discusses the notion of "breaking rules"
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=431064






.

[MikeN]

Subordination

This is the reversal of the 3 devices mentioned earlier. Controlling what a veiwer doesnt see is an equally powerful tool. An old high shool art teaher of mine, who served in WWII, was in charge of camouflaging airstrips. Essentially he was controlling what the enemy planes would NOT SEE.

Here are a few examples.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/camouflage9.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/nicholsmike/db_CamouflageD1.jpg

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask a question or post your own experiences and teachings!

Mike

Subordination of an image can be achieved by reversing any of the 3 devices I stated earlier in this post.

[nit-wit]

Mike,

Very interesting. Perhaps you would expand Upon the camouflage of the bird (is it a hazelhen?). In Francis Crick's 'Astonishing Hypothesis', he describes how seeing is split into tone, movement, colour, outline, texture (maybe I missed something?), and that all these separate elements are combined by the brain to form vision. Interestingly this means we can still see if some of these elements are missing. So we can read drawings that are composed entirley of lines, or just tones etc.

General Montgomery defeated Rommel in North Africa partially due to visual tricks and camouflage. So it does work.

I'm still trying to articulate what is happening with the bird? I know it's called cryptic camouflage and that it's camouflage is effectively diminishing it's outline and form. If we look at most wildlife artists, they are attempting the opposite and make the bird or animal stand out from the background. Think Audabon. If the bird moves we see it more readily.

How much of what you say is intuitive, do you think, in artists work?

Why do you think that you are attracted to Rockwell's work? I'm not that familiar with it and I'm now off to ebay to see if I can find a book about him. I did notice however that his work has the appearance of a tinted photograph (very elaborately tinted!), and perhaps he used some sort of projection technique? This reminds me of a podcast that I was listening to about the History of Optics, where an early scientist (can't remember his name) scraped off the back of an ox's eye and peered through. Maybe you've done this yourself? This makes me think of Rockwell, Vermeer, Chuck Close. Good podcast - tells of how people thought that light was emitted from the eye - the 'gaze' I suppose? See link if you like: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/

Thanks,

nw

[zcdz]

N-W

Do you have a title for the optics BBC podcast?

There are a lot of studies on how the brain interprets symbols differently than everything else (simply put reading is a relatively new skill in evolutionary terms). Wearing goggles which switch right and left- or up and down- we adjust fairly quickly. We reach for the glass on the right even though we see it on the left. The exception is symbols, letters or numbers. Our comprehension doesn't "flip" the way our motor muscle response "flips".

http://cbcl.mit.edu/people/geiger/geiger-new.html

Thanks

Ziska

[cinderb]

Mike,

Very interesting. Perhaps you would expand Upon the camouflage of the bird (is it a hazelhen?). In Francis Crick's 'Astonishing Hypothesis', he describes how seeing is split into tone, movement, colour, outline, texture (maybe I missed something?), and that all these separate elements are combined by the brain to form vision. Interestingly this means we can still see if some of these elements are missing. So we can read drawings that are composed entirley of lines, or just tones etc.

General Montgomery defeated Rommel in North Africa partially due to visual tricks and camouflage. So it does work.

I'm still trying to articulate what is happening with the bird? I know it's called cryptic camouflage and that it's camouflage is effectively diminishing it's outline and form. If we look at most wildlife artists, they are attempting the opposite and make the bird or animal stand out from the background. Think Audabon. If the bird moves we see it more readily.

How much of what you say is intuitive, do you think, in artists work?

Why do you think that you are attracted to Rockwell's work? I'm not that familiar with it and I'm now off to ebay to see if I can find a book about him. I did notice however that his work has the appearance of a tinted photograph (very elaborately tinted!), and perhaps he used some sort of projection technique? This reminds me of a podcast that I was listening to about the History of Optics, where an early scientist (can't remember his name) scraped off the back of an ox's eye and peered through. Maybe you've done this yourself? This makes me think of Rockwell, Vermeer, Chuck Close. Good podcast - tells of how people thought that light was emitted from the eye - the 'gaze' I suppose? See link if you like: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/

Thanks,

nw
Good explanation, but I'll never really understand. Too difficult.

PS ebay is not a trustworthy site.

[MikeN]

Hi everyone,

thanks for the questions NW. At the moment I am out of town, and dont have the time to reply in depth. I wil say in short that the bird seems visually subordinate because its colors and patterns are soo similiar to the enviornment it is in. The same bird on a lush green lawn will stick out considerably. However, sight is a complex issue that is inextricably connected to context. Additional visual triggers, such as alignment of some shapes or lines, could certainly cue the viewer to see a percieved edge.

Ill write more when I get the chance,

Mike

[LarrySeiler]

nice bit of teaching work here, Mike!!! Much appreciated!! :thumbsup:

[GeoBen]

yes indeed,

very much appreciated.

and thanks to both for the links.

geo.

[Sonni]

Hi Mike,

RE: There are three common ways to create emphasis. These include Isolation, Contrast, and Placement. Reversing any of the three subordinates or takes away from an object's ability to stand out...

Thanks very much for the review and examples--and the effort you put into posting them. I had hoped to find this type of dialog when I joined Wet Canvas.