and in the past, leading to action very close to the
viewer in the present. The rich textures of the kings'
garments, the golden haloes and ornaments, the shin-
ing coats of tlie sleek horses, and the costly blue of
Mary’s gown create the impression of a very special
event. The artist also uses eye-catching reds to lead our
attention along a diagonal to and from the Holy
lamily. Thus Gentile has carefully employed form,
space, color, texture, and time in creating this beauti-
ful painting.
The elements of design with which artists work are
the observable properties of matter: line, shape and
form, space, texture, value (lights and darks) and light-
ing, color, and time. Although these elements are uni-
fied in effective works of art, in this chapter we will iso-
late them and deal with one at a time to train our eye
to see them and to understand how artists use them.
LINE
A mark or area that is significantly longer than it is wide may be perceived as a line. In the world around
us, we can see trees and grass, legs and telephone posts as lines if we learn to apply the mental abstraction
“line" to the world of real things. A tree bare of its leaves can be perceived as a medley of lines if we move
beyond mentally labeling it as a “tree." The sections that follow will develop the ability to discern lines in artworks and to understand the aesthetic functions they serve.
2.2 Sami Efendi, Levha in Celt Stilus, 1872. Private collection, London.
"May Allah help you in all matters."
SEEING LINE
It is easiest to see lines in works that are primarily linear and two-dimensional, such as the lovely piece of
calligraphy shown in Figure 2.2. Calligraphy is the art
of fine writing, so highly developed in Arabic cultures,
Japan, and China that some pieces are meant first as
art and only secondarily as figures to be read. Many
pieces of Arabic calligraphy were designed to be hung
or used on tilework, to be seen at a distance, so that
great attention was paid to the effects of lines and their
composition. Arabic characters are usually set down in
straight lines, but the master calligrapher Sami Efendi
worked the strokes into a flowing circular pattern to
enhance their beauty and the unity of the design.
When lines are made with a flat-pointed instrument,
such as the reed pen used here, their thickness grows
and diminishes as the lines swing through curves.
