Introduction
Visual art is one of the oldest forms of communication in the history of humankind, having traces of the life of humans as cavemen. It helps in creating a story, leave a mark, and prosper an identity of the community. In the past, people were drawing on walls about the animals they hunted, their movements, and emotions. This form of communication has continued to be priceless in cultures as it seeks to put across information to the more significant groups through having hidden meanings that need interpretations. These art include dance, art gallery exhibitions, and sculptures that are in museums or streets. In my community, it is expressed in many forms which include an art gallery which contains displays of the local people. For one to understand art correctly, he or she has to formally analyze the elements to get what the artist tried to communicate. This paper will examine one painting in the local community museum.
The painting is about a group of young boys carrying surfboards and playing on their way to the ocean while some other older people are seen in the background sitting on the beaches. This painting has some elements of art that describe the movement of the boys, the direction, and the in the process convey feelings to the viewer. First, the artist used a line, which is the most defining element of artwork. Horizontal lines are used to show that the ocean is in calmness with the earth as they meet at the horizon, and also the older men lying on the beach show that they are at rest (Taylor, 2014). For the coconut trees, horizontal line shows serenity and the direction of the ocean that the boys are moving. The artist also used a combination of vertical and diagonal lines on the young boys to express their poise, movement, action, and full of life. Another element used in this drawing is color, which defines the lines, forms, space, and shapes of the objects in the painting.
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Some critical aspects of the color are hue, intensity, value, and harmony (Taylor, 2014). The colors convey emotions and different meaning to different viewers based on what is intense. Also, the artist used shapes to combine the various lines to form a geometric presentation like a circle, triangle, squares, and so on. Even, some shapes were organic and natural as those of the ocean, trees, and land. Another element is the texture, that is, what the image feels like when seen. It can be smooth or rough, and in this case, the ocean was calm hence portraying a soft texture, while the land was rugged thus showing the uneven surface of the sand. Perspective is another element present in the painting, and it expresses the relativity of the sizes of objects and distances as portrayed in the sizes of the objects which makes it possible to present volume into two dimensions (Taylor, 2014). Other elements are form and amount, which take a similar presentation of the length, width, and height to give a three-dimensional object.
Overall, the painting conveys a positive or happy emotion due to the several objects and colors which combine perfectly. The smiling children moving around shows their faces lighting up and them jumping is a suggestion that they are excited to go surfing or swimming. The calmness of the sea makes one feel at peace with nature as opposed to negative thoughts that a rough water storm brings. The ambiance is completed with the blue sky which defines a quiet environment and hence positive feelings. The colors are bright, and the sun is out making it a perfect day. The serenity of the setting is a sign of joy and delight. Hence the painting made me have a sense of inspiration.
Art is an expression not only for a person but also for the entire community to the world. The works make it possible for someone to present their feelings without speech. With what I have experienced in the art, I would like to see it being part of the culture of my community. It is essential that this type of expression tells a story about my city to the rest of the world. I would, therefore, wish to see art in my neighborhood as a form of public participation and contribution. Public art is a way of solving a problem that is common and in the process mark the region as unique. It encourages visitors to explore the place, and those who travel can just stop by to have a look and admire. Hence, the visual arts in public domain can act as a form of business that can impact tourism both local and foreign, thus bringing financial upgrade. Apart from attracting visitors, art also improves the general outlook of the community through personalizing, which builds character and a unique feature or identity. In some instances, the previous eyesores of a neighborhood can serve as a single spot for art that brings upgrade, which in turn increases the pride of people living there and attract new residents.
In the overall, it acts as a positive exposure of a community by giving beautiful expressions of ideas, experiences, and stories. All the above makes it need to have visual arts in my neighborhood and me right now, I would help in planning a project that will see artists get recruited to tell our stories. I would work with a team to figure out how to incorporate the presentations into the identity of our neighborhood. In future, I shall look for sources of funding and teach the people the different ways in which first learning can present art from other prosperous communities. This will help in creating something that will not become an eyesore in future. I would also teach the people on the durability of arts and their needs for maintenance.
Reference
Taylor, J. C. (2014). Learning to look: A handbook for the visual arts. University of Chicago Press.
