2d paper 1

1. Kyle Guzik
Mr. John Lee: 2-D Foundations
September 3, 2012
Chaet Reading Written Response
1. A definition of drawing informed by Bernard Chaet’s writing is somewhat open-ended.
However, a few things are certain; drawing consists of marks upon the two-dimensional plane.
Chaet contends that the purpose of drawing is decided by the individual artist making the
drawing. This purpose can serve any number of unique ends. These ends can also be described
as concepts. Therefore all of the components of visual language implemented in a drawing are in
the service of a concept. Chaet supports this visually with a selection of images demonstrating a
diversity of visual vocabularies employed to create a drawing. This diversity refutes the
contention that the purpose or definition of drawing is the imitation of nature and reveals that the
properties of a drawing can be described in any number of ways. If a drawing can only be
abstractly defined as the intentional creation of an idea it may appear difficult to describe a
drawing with specificity. This is not the case. Chaet describes the means by which ideas are
expressed in drawing in terms of line, texture, form, and space. He also explains how a drawing
is composed in terms of figure-ground relationships, space, speed, pressure, scale, and distortions.
2. Interspace is another term for negative space, the empty space in between forms in the
drawing. Negative space can play an important role in expressing the concept of a drawing.
Chaet gives the example of Van Gough’s drawing Landscape: The Harvest in which the empty
regions in between the marks representing blades of grass participate in the depiction of motion
caused by wind. Art artist often considers negative space when defining the silhouette of a form.
3. The act of composition yields order (or chaos) by the arrangement of forms within a drawing.
Chaet describes a number of strategies by which an artist achieves composition in a drawing.
Figure-ground describes the illusion in which the foreground is placed in front of the background.
Some artists intentionally destroy this dichotomy. Interspace, or negative space, is the empty
region that occupies everywhere the form or mark is absent. Rhythm is a byproduct of the
movement of the eye across the image. The artist can direct the sense of movement a viewer
experiences when looking at an art work. I suggest that speed and pressure are aspects of rhythm
because they are attempts to control the viewer’s gaze. Placement is an interesting and important
aspect of a drawing. Placement describes how figures, objects, or marks are arranged in an
image. Perspective is a technique that creates the impression of three-dimensionality. Scale is a
byproduct of perspective. Distortions and the creation of a distinction between real space and
picture space are made possible by perspective and sometimes work to collapse perspective. By
using the above strategies an artist may create composition in the service of expressing an idea.

2. Nicolas Poussin, Tree Study, Musée Du Louvre, Paris, France
4. I chose this pen and ink drawing Tree Study by Nicolas Poussin both for its peaceful sense of
visual order and because it excellently models several of the aspects of formal language
discussed by Chaet in the reading. The components of our visual vocabulary most critical to
describing this image are line, value, and composition in terms of perspective and negative space.
Although line comprises only a small percentage of the marks in the drawing, it is important here
because of the sense of natural order it implies. Poussin creates this order through line in the
smooth procession of the tree trunks and branches from the lower quarter to the top quarter of the
page. The stability of the line implies a lack of motion and emphasizes a sense of directional
light that is conveyed by the range of values in the drawing. The progression from dark to
lightness as we go from the closest to the most distant tree interacts with the shadows to imply
that the sun is shining somewhere off to our right. Negative space is dominant in this image. It
is key to the creation of perspective. The dark horizontal passages of grey ink define the
shadows created by the trees and the land forms but the white space is the hill and the sky. The
interplay between the negative space composing the hill and the negative space implying the sky
creates a gradient from foreground to background, which in combination with the values of the
trees and shadows, demands that the image be understood as a study in three-dimensional
perspective. This robust, controlled implementation of perspective is what gives the drawing its
mood of order and harmony.