Design Principles / Task 2: Visual Analysis & Ideation

03/1/2025 - 23/3/2025/ Week 3 - Week 5

GUAN YAXIN / 0370687

Design Principles / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

LECTURES

All lectures are completed in Task 1 

INTRODUCTION

Task 2: Visual Analysis & Ideation

Visual Analysis：Agapanthus

Title: Agapanthus

Artist: Claude Monet

Year: Circa 1914–1926

Size: Approximately 200 × 180 cm (varies by version)

Medium: Oil on canvas

Source: Musée de l'Orangerie

A.Observation

The whole picture focuses on the plant agapanthus, some of which are clustered and some are scattered, swaying above the sparkling water, growing wantonly and full of vitality, showing a quiet, harmonious and vibrant beautiful scene. Rich in content, vertical composition, linear strokes, although numerous but smooth and soft, can show a certain degree of movement and complexity, such as the depiction of the water surface, from the picture, you can feel the fluidity of the water surface and show the ripples of the water surface; The reflection of the sky, plants and so on in the water also adds some complexity to the scene, which is a combination of dynamic and static, dense and well-connected. Monet skillfully captures the characteristics of plants and water surface, rationally uses light and shadow, creates a quiet atmosphere with delicate colors, and paints a quiet and beautiful picture, which is his perfect display of impressionist techniques.

B.Analysis

1.Harmony and balance

The visual center of the whole painting focuses on the agapanthus, and the author describes their swaying posture in the wind in detail. Through the rational use of color (analogy color), typesetting and density, the picture is naturally coordinated, the overall layout is harmonious, and a natural and stable atmosphere is created. Organic lines, consistent brushwork style and asymmetric design create a subtle visual balance, ensuring the unity of visual experience and fully embodying the characteristics of Impressionism.

2.Color and contrast

The color saturation of the main object, the agapanthus, is relatively high, while the color saturation of other parts is relatively low, which can show the relationship between the two, and to some extent, open the distance between different things depicted in the picture, enrich the sense of space of the picture, make it more natural and three-dimensional, and effectively maintain the overall clarity and quiet atmosphere. The alternate use of warm colors and cool colors forms a subtle contrast.

3.Emphasize

The colors used when depicting the agapanthus are brighter, while the colors of other parts are darker, which leads the audience's visual center to the agapanthus and focuses on depicting its swaying posture in the wind and showing its vitality.

The orderly and soft brushwork, the reasonable combination of light and shadow and color constitute the framework of the work, emphasizing the rich internal pictures and supplementing the composition.

4.Movement

The flowing linear strokes can guide the audience's line of sight and enhance the sense of fluidity of the picture. The reflection of curved flower stems and ripples depicts the swaying posture of the agapanthus in the wind, creating the effect of a breeze, showing a calm sense of movement.

C.Interpretation

1. Unique personal style

This work uses smooth and soft brushwork, reasonable color and composition, captures detailed light and shadow, focuses on depicting natural scenes, shows the vitality of plants, and shows Monet's unique painting style. It is one of the representative works of Impressionism.

2. Presentation of symbolic meaning

Monet's Agapanthus depicts the thriving, quiet and beautiful natural scenery, showing the vigorous vitality of plants. Although their survival time is short, they still grow wantonly. All this is fixed in the picture, eternal and quiet, symbolizing the author's love for nature and fleeting thoughts and sighs on time, and arousing emotional resonance.

D.Conclusion

Agapanthus is a masterpiece of impressionist art, with harmonious composition, symbolic meaning and decorative details, which has lasting influence. Monet uses the design principles of harmony, movement and balance, and through reasonable composition, rich colors and meticulous depiction, carries out soft transition treatment, skillfully shows the relationship between things, creates a quiet atmosphere, and depicts beautiful and quiet natural scenery. Everything is thriving and dreamlike. The meticulous capture and special treatment of light and shadow shows Monet's superb skills and unique perception of natural scenery, which makes the work not only have sufficient visual appeal but also strong personal style.

SKETCH

sketch 1

In this draft, I reduced the number of the agapanthus, focusing on depicting the first few plants of the agapanthus, but compared with the meticulous brushwork in the original picture, I will weaken the overall depiction, simplify the types and lightness of colors to some extent, make the overall picture gray, and add words as embellishment of the picture.

reference：

Lotus Painting by Chen Shizeng

This painting uses freehand brushwork and blank space, leaving a certain space. It is a unique artistic expression, which can skillfully and reasonably handle the layout of the picture.

sketch 2

In terms of composition, I have arranged many clumps of agapanthus, and they are strewn at random, showing an S-shape and extending to the last side of the picture. On the water surface, I will also depict some other plants and the reflection of the sky (the color is warmer), etc., and the overall picture will be fuller. In terms of color, the colors with high brightness and low brightness will be used, and the cold and warm colors will be reasonably reconciled to make the picture more harmonious.

reference：

Irises by Vincent van Gogh

This painting is the work of the famous painter Van Gogh, which depicts the vitality of iris through the rational use of bright colors and the orderly arrangement of elements. The layout of the whole picture is full, the color brightness is high, the foreground part is cool and the background part is warm, and the contrast is relatively bright, which reflects the subjectivity of iris, opens the distance between the foreground and the background, and makes the picture space more three-dimensional.

sketch 3

There is no clear focus in the original picture, and the audience's attention will focus on the whole picture. In this draft, I set a focus for the picture and made an emphatic depiction. I will carefully describe the dynamics and details of the agapanthus in front of me, and use contrasting colors to widen the distance between the foreground and the background, further increasing the sense of space in the picture and better displaying the picture.

reference：

Great Piece of Turf by Albrecht Dürer

The author of this painting is good at sketching plants, and portrays the details very deeply. His handling of the picture is worth learning and learning, and it is used to depict the prospect.

FEEDBACK

WEEK 4

General Feedback :The teacher told us that we should continue improving our blog.

Specific Feedback :Mr. Shamsul affirmed my analysis and reminded me to finish the draft as soon as possible.

WEEK 5

General Feedback :The teacher told us that we should continue Perfecting our sketches

Specific Feedback :Mr. Shamsul pointed out that my sketch was sloppy and I could not see my composition. At his suggestion, I uploaded new sketches.

REFLECTION

Experience

When appreciating a work, we should think deeply in many aspects, such as analyzing the design principles used by the author, the overall layout and so on. Only by continuous learning can we increase our skills and improve our aesthetics, thus creating better works. At the same time, we should make a reasonable evaluation of our existing ability and study and create within our own ability.

Observation

For a good work of art, its Excellence is diverse, not only in the layout and typesetting of lines in the picture, but also in the information or ideas conveyed by the author, which is a deeper thing and the external embodiment of the author's spiritual core. In artistic creation, the creator usually melts into the scenery and connects people's emotions together, so as to show better works and resonate with people.

Findings

When observing works of art, we can easily find that many works can show the author's thinking about a certain aspect, even his personality characteristics, acting style and so on, and we can get a glimpse of their attitude towards life, which can show that works of art are the external embodiment of the author's spiritual core. Different authors have different artistic styles, especially in depicting the same thing, and different authors have different ways to deal with it, which also shows the diversity of people. We need to keep thinking and learning, but we don't just imitate. We need to have our own understanding and innovation, so that we can have our own style.