TASK2:VISUAL ANALYSIS& IDEATION

 TASK2: VISUAL ANALYSIS & IDEATION 

17.2.25-3.3.25 (week3-5)

FANN WONG JING EN｜0382237

Design Principles | Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media

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MODULE INFORMATION BRIEF (MIB)

TASK2 BRIEF

· Write a 300-to 350-word visual analysis of the artwork you selected from the art gallery.

·Using your design principles knowledge, sketch 3 ideas on how the selected design can be improved. 

·Describe each idea and support it with a rationale in about 30-50 words.

VISUAL ANALYSIS 

  fig1.1 The night cafe

TITLE OF ARTWORK: The Night Cafe

ARTISTS NAME: Vincent Willem van Gogh

DATE: September 1888

SIZE: 72.4 cm × 92.1 cm (28.5 in × 36.3 in)

MEDIUM:Oil on Canvas 

SOURCE:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Caf%C3%A9

OBSERVATIONS 

        The night cafe by Vincent Willem van Gogh gives people a sense of warmth but reveals a contradictory feeling of loneliness. Although the overall color scheme is red and yellow, the color tone is biased towards green, creating a vivid color contrast. The lonely patient behind the pool table and the figures scattered in the corner who seem to be sleeping after drinking bring a sense of loneliness to the painting. Whether it is the vertical sense of the picture or the brushstrokes surrounding the light bulb, it seems to pull people closer to this psychedelic cafe.

ANALYSIS 

fig1.2 color

Contrast

        Vincent Willem van Gogh used strong color contrast to increase the tension of the picture. The colors red, green and yellow were used in the picture to stimulate visual conflict, and the contrast of these colors strengthened the emotional expression of the work. Especially in the cafe, the red of the wall and the yellow of the floor form a sharp contrast with the green of the table and ceiling. In addition, most of the background and the characters have a strong contrast between cold and warm colors. Such a contrast makes the picture full of movement and tension. The overall green is added on the basis of warm colors to make the color tone lower in the warm colors, making the picture look more depressing.

fig1.3 extends 

Continuity

        Vincent Willem van Gogh used leading line techniques in his composition, especially in the layout of the ground, using oblique lines and perspective rules to guide the audience's line of sight to the center of the picture or the depth of the cafe. These lines help to establish the sense of space in the picture, and also guide people to look deeper into the picture, as if they are spying on something, making the picture more story-telling rather than confined to a small cafe.

Emphasis

        No matter what kind of story there is in this painting, you will first notice the three large light bulbs. The light scattered around them is closer to the center, making it more focal and using a brighter yellow, which is more conspicuous in this greenish tone.

fig1.4 asymmetrical balance 

Asymmetrical balance

        The distribution of characters in the picture adopts the principle of asymmetrical balance. The unbalanced distribution of characters leads to a sense of blankness in the picture. However, the author uses a whole moving line to integrate the characters into the painting, so it is not abrupt. On the contrary, the characters allow the audience to study more deeply, and the focus of the light makes the picture present an asymmetrical balance.

fig 1.5 Contrast between people and scenes

Contrast between people and scenes

        If we look closely, we will find that the people in the painting are made smaller, while the scenes and other objects are painted relatively large, which strengthens the loneliness and oppression in the painting.

        There are four groups of people here. The first group is the boss in white clothes. He looks so lonely and powerless facing us. The second and third groups are drunken customers, which strengthen the sense of oppression and chaos in this place. The fourth group may be lovers or men and women who have some transactions. 

INTERPRETATION 

        This is a work created by Vincent Willem van Gogh in a secret cafe in 1888. He wrote a letter saying “I have tried to express the idea that the café is a place where one can ruin oneself, go mad or commit a crime. So I have tried to express, as it were, the powers of darkness in a low." letter 534 It can be seen that Vincent Willem van Gogh was actually dark, lonely and desperate inside, and wanted to sink into this secret corner, but he tried to cover up his dark side with bright colors, resulting in the picture showing an uneasy mood, like a hallucination after being drunk, happy but painful.

fig1.6 Night Cafe by Paul Gauguin

       While studying this painting, I discovered that his friend Paul Gauguin also painted a cafe at night. Paul Gauguin's painting focuses on the characters, the heroine, the people playing in the background, and the kitten under the corner of the table. The overall color tone reveals the liveliness of the painting. Compared with the characters in Van Gogh's painting, the person standing blankly by the pool table, the people behind him who all fell down due to alcohol, and the fallen chairs all reveal his helplessness. The color of the cafe may have been bright and warm, but because of Van Gogh's inner haze, it covered his work. The different styles of the two paintings show Van Gogh's inner struggle, torture and loneliness.

SKETCHES

fig1.7 sketches 1

        The first sketch uses the billiard table in the original image to convey a lonely, quiet and slightly mysterious mood. The addition of the black cat element reminds people of a mysterious and unknown atmosphere. There is only a black cat and a billiard ball in the sketch , and the space seems empty, giving people a sense of loneliness. The cat's posture is still, staring at the billiard ball, suggesting a certain mood of contemplation or waiting. In addition, there is only one ball left on the table, but the overall lighting is obviously dim, which does not feel like there is anyone there. The black cat is the visual center, and the direction of the shadow guides the audience's sight, focusing their eyes on the connection between the cat and the billiard ball. It gives people a sense of silence and plenty of room for thinking.

fig1.8 sketches 2

     The second sketch is mainly based on the emotions in the letter written by Van Gogh after he completed Night Cafe: loneliness, hopeless and confusion. The figure standing on the boat looks up at the sky, seemingly gazing at the bright full moon or sun, giving people a feeling of thinking or confusion. His body is still, and his arms are drooping, looking a little weak or heavy, which enhances the atmosphere of loneliness and contemplation. The boat floats on the water, symbolizing the journey, the drifting of fate, or a feeling of helplessness expressing his life.

The circle in the center of the picture, surrounded by lines that spread outward, creates a halo effect, giving the picture a mysterious or dreamy feeling, symbolizing hope, guidance, or an unattainable goal.

(The reason for the hand-drawing is that I forgot to bring my iPad when I went back home, so I could only use pencils and paper.)

fig1.9 sketches 3

       The third sketch was created based on the spatial sense and the ‘cafe’ in the original picture. The piano is a big item in the cafe, and the piano gives people a sense of elegance, so I replaced the main pool table with a piano to weaken the feeling of the frustrated people in the original picture. There is no one in the sketch , only a cat sitting quietly on the piano, making the whole space appear empty and silent. And through the large area of ​​white space, the sense of space and emptiness is enhanced, making people feel a kind of lonely atmosphere. A cat sits quietly on the piano, as if waiting or watching something, leaving room for imagination. The door in the distance is open, suggesting that someone may have come or is about to come, adding a sense of mystery to the picture.

References：

fig2.0 references pictures (sketch 2&3)

        When I saw this picture, I thought of the loneliness and quietness that fit Van Gogh's mood. The lonely piano in the middle of the moonlight is as at a loss as the man behind the pool table, as if he is in a place where he shouldn't be. So I split it into two parts, one is an emotional painting that emphasizes the characters, and the other is to move the piano to the cafe to fit the original picture.

FEEDBACK

For Sketch 3:

• Now the main elements are the three boats, the sea, and the moon. If the moon is mentioned, then the moon can be hinted at by the moonlight reflected on the water at night, and it is not necessary to show the moon. 

• What is the important element to depict here? Do you want to depict the board in the center of the ocean? Is there a horizon? 

• Now you need to layout, where do you want to place the boat, how far away, the boat is a shadow, how to do it best