RAMOS, ALYSSA ROSE B.

JUNE 19, 2020 

M-F / 8:00-10:00 AM 
 
Title of Artwork  GUERNICA 
Name of Artist  PABLO PICASSO 
 

(non-representational) 

PART 3: FORM 

This is part 3 of your worksheet on Picasso’s Guernica. Here, you are going to discuss the
elements of arts and principles of design used in this particular artwork. Make sure that your
explanation will talk about how these are used in this particular artwork.

ART ELEMENTS
Describe how the following art elements are used in the artwork (2-3 sentences only).

1. Line

The lines in the art are mostly straight (vertical and diagonal) and curved lines that used to
be the foundation of the objects. Those lines help create the outline and paint the image
vividly. The horse, the bull, and other characters are composed of lines straight, curved
and some wavy lines in order to portray and illustrate a very detailed shape and character.

2. Shape​ (​an enclosed area that is made when lines meet)

Shapes are created by means of lines and the artwork is basically composed of basic
different types of shapes like square, triangles, oval etc. The artist also utilized irregular
shapes or 2D shapes wherein the size and interior angles are not identical. These shapes
can be obviously seen in the characters such as the horse, bull, screaming woman, the man
and the child.

3. Texture (​look and feel of a surface)

The texture of the painting shows a visual and smooth sense of touch. The objects are
mainly in smooth texture while some small details and the background are painted in
rough texture. As we view the painting as a whole, it is a combination of smooth and some
rough texture.

4. Color (hue)

Picasso used primarily the shades and tints of color black, white, and gray. Since the
concept of the art is all about war and suffering, it is appropriate to use darker ones.
Moreover, according to the psychology of colors, black is associated with unhappiness,
grieve, and depression; white means innocence, goodness, and faith; while gray symbolizes
loss and depression and a shade that is associated with black and white.

5. Tone (​how light or dark a paint is when you strip away the color​)

The tone of the art is in the shade of balck and white. It increases lightness (white) but
never loses the darkness (black). The luminance and shadow of the painting is correlated
because black is darkness and on the other hand, white is associated with lightness.
Technically speaking, in art, black and white is the standard of all colors.

6. Space ​(​balance between positive and negative space. Positive space – the subject;
negative space – area of a painting around it)

The painting Guernica manifested a positive space for the reason that the main characters
are painted in white. Meaning to say, those are the areas or parts that the subject mainly
occupies. On the other hand, the negative space included the background and other details
behind the main point of interest.

PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
Describe how the following principles are observed in the artwork (2-3 sentences only).

1. Unity and Variety

The unity of the artwork can be seen as something that describes war and agony which
emphasize the emotion being addressed. The artist utilized a variety of components to
recognize diverse or different characters involved in the concept. Its variety takes the
initiative to the unity of the art.

2. Balance (Symmetry and Asymmetry)

The art manifests an asymmetrical balance for the reason that the two sides are not
identical but contradict from one another. But in spite of that, the artist made it with
balance wherein we can identify and recognize the abstraction, meaning, and
interpretation of the art. Also, Picasso used balanced colors such as black, gray and white
which has something to contribute to the approach of its intensity and balance.

3. Emphasis and Subordination

The artist emphasized the different persona involved in the war as he utilized characters
like horse, bull, women, a man, and a child in his artistic point of view. Picasso makes use
of dim contrast to represent darkness, high intensity colors, and large portraits of
characters to turn out emphasis. Also, he included some small-scale details with minor
importance for the viewers to have focus on the main subject of the art.

4. Scale and Proportion (weight, how objects or figures relate to each other and the setting)

The main characters in the art have a size relationship to one another as they can be
viewed in the same measurement from base to top. On the other hand, small and minor
details varied from each other. The subjects were painted divergently in size, but they look
proportional as a whole so that they would have the same rank or importance.
5. Rhythm

The art showed no repeated patterns, shapes, or objects but it created a rhythm by means
of its color: black, white, and gray. The colors of an art may also convey rhythm as the focal
view of the art is almost painted in white and the other objects as well as its background
were colored black and gray. The organization of its elements appeared because of rhythm.