CHAPTER 7
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Other formal elements: texture,
pattern, and time & motion (part 1)
Other Formal Elements
• Texture: the surface quality of a two-dimensional shape or a
three-dimensional volume.
• Pattern: a repetitive motif or design.
• Time and Motion: these can be introduced into a work of art
in a variety of ways. A story can be suggested, the art can
actually move, or it can capture a frozen moment in time.
Texture
Types of Texture:
• Actual Texture: the surface of the material. This can be
smooth, like marble, thick paint, rough fabric, etc.
• Implied texture (visual texture): The surface appears to be one
way, but is not. For example, a marble statue can appear to be
soft, folded fabric but is actually smooth stone. It is an illusion.
• Invented Texture: texture that is made up on a surface and
does not relate to what is depicted in the work.
Michelangelo, Pietà, 1501.
Robert Ryman, Long, 2002.
The artist thickly applies
the paint, and each
brushstroke is not only
evident but seems to have
a “body” of its own. This
textural effect if referred to
as impasto. Ryman’s
subject matter is actually
the brushstroke itself, and
its relation to the canvas on
which he layers it.
Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night Over the Rhone, 1888.
Max Ernst, The Horde, 1927. The surface appears to have rough
texturized areas to it, while it actually feels rather smooth, as the
paint remains close to the surface of the canvas.
Pattern
• Any formal element that repeats itself in a composition – line,
shape, mass, color, or texture – creates a recognizable
pattern.
• In its repetitive and organized use of the same motif or
design, pattern is an important decorative tool.
• Pattern as decoration can be pleasing to the eye.
• Pattern often uses symbolism to create meaning, and is not
always purely decorative.
Still from the film Stray Dog, directed by Akira Kurosawa, 1949.
Shadows form a striped pattern that makes the shot more
visually complex and interesting. In this case, the pattern is an
important clue to the story: it suggests prison bars, and the
possibility that these men may end up there.
Kente prestige cloth (detail), Ghana; Ewe peoples, 19th century.
Patterned textiles are closely associated with social prestige and
wealth among the Ewe and Asante societies of Ghana.
Kehinde Wiley
• Juxtaposes pattern
with contemporary
figures in poses from
European paintings
• “quote historical
sources and position
young black men
within the field of
power.”
• Backgrounds are taken
from decorative
sources such as
wallpaper, and take
away the place or
location of the
painting.
Glenn Ligon
Repetition in Ligon’s text
pieces creates pattern, and
forms meaning.
Time and Motion
• Painting and sculpture are seen as spatial media, where we
experience the piece all at once; the work of art is before us in
totality at all times.
• It is often unclear how to determine a work of art’s beginning,
middle, and end with reference to time.
• Time still plays an active role in art. Even representational
works that strive to give us a “frozen moment” are often part
of a larger narrative, or story.
Gianlorenzo Bernini, David, 1623.
Marble, life size.
Although this moment is
captured forever in solid marble,
Bernini presents a piece that is
inevitably part of a larger story.
The action suggested through
David’s defensive stance, the
sling ready to shoot the rock, and
David’s intense stare, all leads us
to perceive the events that
preceded this event, as well as
the events to follow.
Isidro Escamilla, Virgin of
Guadalupe, 1824. Oil on canvas.
This painting tells the story of the
Virgin of Guadalupe. In the top-left
corner, we see Juan Diego first
encountering the Virgin. In the
bottom-left corner, we see him
picking the miraculous roses, as
instructed by the Virgin. In the
bottom-right corner, we see Juan
Diego opening the cloak, and the
miraculous image of the virgin on it.
In the top-right corner, we see a
group of saints (winged like angels)
accepting the Virgin as one of
them.
Claude Monet, Waterlilies
• Because of the size of
the painting, it’s
impossible to see all
at once- you have to
move around it and
view it over time.