How has the
American Sublime Painting Movement Influenced Video Games Aesthetics?
Extended
Essay
William
Barrett
1301630
Games
Art and Design 2016
“Design is the method of putting form and content
together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single
definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple,
that's why it is so complicated.”
Paul Rand
Abstract
This report investigates the fundamentals of aesthetics and how they work on a psychological level. It explores the sublime painting movement of the 19th century and the techniques used by the pioneers of this movement and how the work of these masters has influenced contemporary masters. Using texts created by Edmund Burke’s ‘On The Sublime’ the report explores concept art, where it originated, what it was used for and how it has become popular in digital medias. How have contemporary concept artists been influenced by this important 19th century movement? Modern concept artists have taken influence from this movement, and developed new processes related to these fundamental principals.
Contents page
- Table of illustrations
- Introduction
- Chapter One: Aesthetics
- Chapter Two: American Sublime
- Chapter Three: Concept Art
- Chapter Four: Contemporary Art
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Bibliography
Table of illustrations
Figure 1: Stannereed, 2007
Figure 2: Leonardo Bonacci (Fibonacci),
Fibonacci Spiral, 1202
Figure 3: Richard Fonteneau, 2010
Figure 4: Frederic
Edwin Church, The Heart of the Andes, 1859
Figure 5: Sergio Sandoval, Hellboy 2 Concept Art, 2013
Figure 5: Sergio Sandoval, Hellboy 2 Concept Art, 2013
Figure 6: Kim Hyeong Seung, 2011
Figure 7: Kim Hyeong Seung, Tera Concept Art (Edited), 2015
Figure 8: Gotham Concept Art, 2011
Figure 9: Hugh Ferriss, 1930
Figure 10: Richard Schmidt, April Thaw
Jamaica, Vermont, 1999
Figure 11: John Martin, The Great Day
of His Wrath, 1851-53
Introduction
This report examines the work of
contemporary concept artists and illustrators comparing their techniques with
the masters of the sublime movement of the 1800's. It begins with an investigation
of aesthetics and what makes us as people find art appealing, this'll lead onto
the work of the sublime movement painters and how they carried out their work
and choosing their landscapes. Following onto the work of contemporary concept
artists and illustrators and how they have taken influence from these century
old techniques. Finally I'll be looking at current examples of concept art and
finding who the artists are, where they got their influence and what techniques
they may have used similar to those of the sublime movement artists. My
conclusion will bring together everything in the report to give a definite
answer to my initial question, how the sublime painting movement has influenced
contemporary artists, including myself.
Aesthetics
“Good design is obvious. Great design is
transparent.”
Joe Sparano
Aesthetics are as much to do with
psychology as they are to do with art. The aesthetic properties of something
are linked to value, form, experience and beauty.
“In order to decide whether anything is beautiful
or not, we refer the representation, not by the Understanding to the Object for
cognition but, by the Imagination (perhaps in conjunction with the
Understanding) to the subject, and its feeling of pleasure or pain.”
(Kant 1892)
(Kant 1892)
Figure
1: Stannered, 2007
Figure
2: Leonardo Bonacci (Fibonacci), Fibonacci Sprial, 1202
Immanuel Kant summarises aesthetics by writing
about it being a term of opinion, if a man says something is pleasing to
himself, he cannot be argued with, only when something is said to be pleasing
within itself. This means the subject is not beautiful until it is called
beautiful by society, having something that’s beautiful within itself relates
to the unwritten rules of form. Our brains like odd things; odd numbers, wavy
lines, organic shapes. These are things that’ll always be more pleasing to the
eye than anything else because they’re rooted.
The golden ratio is a key fundamental in
artistic practice. It is a simple idea, when applied, that can allow our brains
to make sense of something, this is when we’re most comfortable. Edward Burke,
states that when we’re comfortable that’s when we find something beautiful.
De Divina Proportione - (Luca Pacioli 1509). This book explores the
mathematical merit of the golden ratio. It is comprised of three separate
manuscripts. The compendio divina proportione, this
Key principals of aesthetics have been
followed by artists for generations; principals that have remained largely
unchanged since their original creation. With these principals and their
explanations, they give an artistic anchor to anyone observing the picture. It
is important to have reference points and these points have been followed by
artists from the renaissance and sublime movements through to today.
A coloured ground; prepping a canvas
before you begin. I find a lot of current concept artists do this, whether it’s
a gradient backdrop or a block colour, a plain white canvas is rarely seen when
a concept piece is begun. The setting of the canvas helps to define a base on
which to work on.
Contrast; making things stand out.
Contrast will define to the viewer what is and isn’t important. A well
contrasted piece will draw your eyes in and around the key features of the
painting before the eyesight bleeds into the rest of the painting taking in all
of the information.
Composition; keeping your work
coherent. As I’ve already mentioned, composition is a key fundamental that’s
traced all the way back to Leonardo da Vinci. Creating something that has
proper structure in leading the eyes around the piece is key to make a piece of
work successful.
Perspective; all about scale. In Edmund
Burke’s ‘On The Sublime’, he talks about ‘Magnitude in Building’. This is to do
with establishing scale, it takes low to no imagination to tell someone how big
something is, and it takes a true artist to show the scale of something. He
says you shouldn’t have to be told, you should be able to figure out the
grandeur yourself.
“To the sublime in building, greatness
of dimension seems requisite; for on a few parts, and those small, the
imagination cannot rise to any idea of infinity. No greatness in the manner can
effectually compensate for the want of proper dimensions.”
Negative Space; less is more. Knowing
where not to paint or where not to put too much detail into a piece of work can
be vital to it being read correctly. One of the more clever and effective ways
to use negative space is in logo design.
Figure 3: Richard Fonteneau, 2010
This particular example is extremely
well done, within its negative space, it creates a spartan helmet from a man
playing golf. This is an effective use of negative space.
American
Sublime
“Whatever is fitted in
any sort to excite the ideas of pain or danger, that is to say, whatever is in
any sort terrible, or is conversant with terrible objects, or operates in a
manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime.”
Edmund Burke
These principles demonstrate that paintings are more than just creating something that is pretty. They push the boundaries of purpose resulting in the communication of a deeper meaning. Contemporary concept artists and sublime painters share the quality of creating solutions to structure a finished piece of visually inspiring work. Contemporary concept art harnesses the qualities of elegant solutions to handling off a design to someone to transform a simple idea into a finalised product. The connection between concept art today and the paintings of the sublime movement is that both have an aesthetic sophistication and deeper meaning.
"The word sublime is part of the discourse of philosophical aesthetics and literary criticism and for many centuries its meanings have been debated and contested. In addition, beyond academic circles, generations of artists, writers, poets and musicians have sought to evoke or respond to the term." Christine Riding This suggests that when considering the 'sublime', it's not applied just to art. Sublime is something that musicians, writers, poets and artists alike strive towards. Something being sublime is also well described as being extraordinary, which is something any creative person would strive for.
Philosopher Edmund Burke describes
beautiful and the sublime as two separate things. Beauty being to do with the
aesthetics and being well formed, the sublime however has the power to 'compel and destroy us.'
"The passion caused by the great
and sublime in nature . . . is Astonishment; and astonishment is that state of
the soul, in which all its motions are suspended, with some degree of horror.
In this case the mind is so entirely filled with its object, that it cannot
entertain any other." - Edmund Burke
This is what concept art is, or at least the finalised landscapes. They invoke astonishment; they create a world based off someone’s imagination. Edmund Burke makes the point about a contrast of beauty/aesthetics and the sublime; beauty and aesthetics are there to relax the mind and fibres, whereas the sublime is there to do the opposite, to provoke and amaze.
Frederic Edwin Church was a key figure. This movement was all about exploring the unknown and being blown away. Audiences of fine art were after the new and unknown in the 1800's. Church went with the famous naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humbolt on a five year expedition to the new world.
Figure
4: Frederic Edwin Church, The Heart of the Andes 1859
This is a particularly breath-taking
piece, 'Heart of the Andes'. This 10ft masterpiece summarises the sublime
movement perfectly, everything it represents is in this picture; the vast,
untouched unknown.
On a technical level you wouldn't know
from looking at it the date of its creation, the understanding of colour, form,
aeriel perspective and focal points are extremely sophisticated. It's an
incredibly overwhelming piece due to its scale; having viewed this in the
1800's would've been breathtaking as most people would not have seen landscapes
such as this as they were widely untouched. Yet the audience not having seen
this landscape before would've been irrelevant because of the use of ordinary
objects within such as the tree and what appears to be a small shrine to the
bottom left. People can connect with these objects and work out the scale
themselves.
Whilst it's overwhelming, it's also
tranquil, it's an incredibly relaxing scene and it's easy to imagine the sounds
and being within the environment. The only motion within this would've been the
waterfall and perhaps some trees blowing in the wind.
Concept
Art
Names: Hugh Ferriss, Norman Bel Geddes, Buckminster Fuller, Chesley Bonestell, Raymond Loewy, Charles Eames, Walter Teague, Eero Saarinen, Phillipe Starck, Ettore Sottsass, Luigi Colani, Kelly Johnson, Syd Mead
When did concept art become 'big', when did
everyone start using it. The early 80's is when games switched from pong and
asteroid type games to adventure games like Loom, Monkey Island, Battle of
Britain etc. There's concept art involved in movies too; Alien, Aliens, Tron,
Bladerunner, Star Trek, Predator.
"We don't go into the future from
zero, we drag the whole past in with us."
Syd Mead
Concept art was born in the mid 50's. It’s all to do with pre-visualisation of a product, concept art is used in the industry to kick start projects, an ignition to the creative process. Concept art is raised on the shoulders of the renaissance and sublime movements; it cherry picks techniques and processes used by the previous masters, creating new ones. The beauty of creation is the recycling of ideas, taking something old and revitalising it into a new concept.
“New business concepts are always, always the product
of lucky foresight. That's right - the essential insight doesn't come out of
any dirigisme planning process; it comes from some cocktail of happenstance,
desire, curiosity, ambition and need. But at the end of the day, there has to
be a degree of foresight -- a sense of where new riches lie. So radical
innovation is always one part fortuity and one part clearheaded vision.” Gary
Hamel 2002
While this is a quote about business, its
message carries through. Actors and writers in films never know which line will
resonate with audiences, yet quotes from famous lines are part of the popular
public consensus. “radical innovation is
always one part fortuity and one part clearheaded vision.” Creating
something great takes more than technical ability and knowledge, having the
creative spark is essential in creating something sublime and memorable.
Syd Mead is a world renowned futurist. He's responsible for a lot of the 80's vision of what the future will look like, he's worked on Tron and Bladerunner.
"I start with small thumbnail sketches, then refine the best of those into larger, finished drawings using pen. After scanning in the ‘raw’ line drawing, I shade with grayscale felt-tipped markers. I then scan the shaded drawing to produce a digital version which can be colorized. The process is structured, but variable enough to suit whatever the problem happens to be.” Syd Mead 2014
Mead has used techniques that stand up
today with his concept art.
"I like the term ‘future proof’.
Some of the Le Mans-format vehicle designs I did back in the ’60s still look
comfortable alongside current high-end vehicles. The future is a morphed
version of what is ‘now’." Syd Mead 2014
This is an important point. Much like
the grand paintings from the sublime movement, they still stand up with the
best concept art of today because the techniques that were used then are
solidified techniques that are still valid today. Concept art is the designing
of an idea, a theory. It can be referred to as visual development. For this
reason it can be applied to any visual media because its the beginning stages
for something creative. Concept art comes under scrutiny, for two reasons;
firstly, it's sometimes considered as not actually being 'art', seeing as its
merely pre-visualisation. Secondly, a lot of the work under a simple Google
Image search; 'concept art', is not concept art. Those are finalised, polished
pieces used to market their product. Whilst the idea of the work might be
conceptual by content, the media itself has come under several stages of
production. This is an important thing to note when looking at 'concept art',
as conceptual art is, just that, the conception of ideas.
Figure 5: Sergio Sandoval, Hellboy 2 Concept Art,
2013
Above in an example of concept art,
it's taking a design through multiple variations to determine an absolute, a
final design. The artist is putting his ideas into reality. Sergio Sandoval
created this artwork for Hellboy 2. It has been laid out to show multiple
variations, this is for multiple reasons; comparison, the artist wants to
compare the ideas and figure out which is most aesthetically pleasing or
practical. Practicality is a large part of design, while something, to look
pleasing, sticks to the fundamentals of design, it has to be functional and
work with its intended purpose.
Figure 6: Kim Hyeong Seung, Tera Concept Art, 2011
Above is the art of Kim Hyeong
Sung, a Korean artist based in Seoul. Whilst this is concept art, it's not
conceptual art that'd be given to a 3D model artist to create something in a
game; this is a highly polished piece that'd be used to market the game. It's a
stunning piece; he uses clear contrast and definition to help the viewer see
the focal point. He uses aesthetic principals such as the golden ratio in this
piece.
Figure 7: Kim Hyeong Seung, Tera Concept Art (Edited),
2015
Above I've illustrated his use of basic
principles. The red line represents his use of the golden ratio, a powerful
tool to make something looked balanced. The yellow lines are an important part,
they're subliminal direction to keep your eyes in the painting, the jagged
rocks and clouds/wisps in the sky. The green lines are a more subtle approach
to keep the viewer within the limits of the painting, he's deliberately used
high contrast to keep you within the painting, the strong blacks indicate there
is no action there, meaning you're not supposed to be looking at that part of
the image.
Concept art began in the early 70's and
has been going fairly strong ever since. Whilst the media may have changed and
over time as concept art is used widely in more fields, the fundamentals of
conception have stayed the same.
Around its birth concept art was
claimed to not in fact actually be 'art', a lot of the attributes that went
along with art such as aesthetics, expression, skill and marketability were all
irrelevant within concept art as it was merely used
to conceptualise ideas. However concept art within its own
right succeeded as one of the many avant-garde movements such as
cubism and expressionism purely because it pushed the boundaries of 'art'.
This is what art is, it’s not a thing that can be judged and marketed, it’s an
idea.
Contemporary Art
I will be studying two separate sets of
two paintings, one done by old masters and the others done by current game
concept artists. I want to show that the techniques are the same now as they
were two hundred years ago.
Hugh Ferriss was an American delineator; looking at his drawings it's very clear to see some similarities in both the technique and the finished result in his work and the work of modern concept artists that create city-scapes.
Hugh Ferriss was an American delineator; looking at his drawings it's very clear to see some similarities in both the technique and the finished result in his work and the work of modern concept artists that create city-scapes.
Figure 8: Gotham Concept Art, 2011
Above is the concept art for Gotham,
and then beneath is a piece of work done by Hugh Ferriss. There are many
similarities in both of these pieces. The atmosphere of the two pictures is
almost identical, large looming buildings making everything beneath seem
minute.
Figure 9: Hugh Ferriss, 1930
Going back to Burke’s observation, an
object that is merely large by dimensions is ineffective. In both of these
works you get a sense of scale immediately, a technique that's been used by
both artists a century apart.
I conducted an interview with an artist
at Jagex. He's heard of these masters and knows about their techniques and what
makes a painting stand out. Although one point he mentions is that while the
philosophers and artists of the past were wishing to create a feeling, Connor
has a much more realistic view; "Sure, developers should use whatever mechanism necessary to propel their
gameplay, if large rolling hills are just the thing, then perfect." While aesthetics are important in making
something appealing, with the games of modern times it is important to
make your product stand out and most importantly, sell.
He mentions Richard Schmidt, whilst
he's a modern day artist, he still practices the techniques used 2 centuries
ago.
Figure 10: Richard Schmidt, April Thaw Jamaica,
Vermont, 1999
Figure 11: John Martin, The Great Day of His Wrath,
1851-53
John Martin’s The Great Day of His Wrath 1851-3 reaches a point of theatricality
beyond just the artistic merit. The sense of grandeur and devastation within
this piece is impressive by today’s standards. All of the fundamentals of aesthetics
that were stated have been utilised within this painting. According to Frances
Fowle the senior curator at the Scottish National Gallery, this painting is the
third in Martin’s great triptych, known as the judgement series. It was
inspired by St. John the Divine’s fantastic account of the last judgement given
in Revelation, the last book of the New Testament. The primary aim being to
express the sublime and show the helplessness of man under god’s wrath. It
features and entire city being thrown up and into the abyss. “and, lo, there was a great earthquake' and
the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; | And
the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. | And the heaven departed
as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were
moved out of their places.” (Revelation
6:12-14)Martin follows the description closely, creating a blood-red light
casting over the scene. Lightning splitting rocks and mountains crumbling, the
biblical proportions are difficult to comprehend. (Fowle 2000)
Conclusion
Appendices
Bibliography
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-conceptual-art.htm
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burke/edmund/sublime/contents.html
http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/
http://www.victorianweb.org/philosophy/sublime/burke.html
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aesthetic
http://screencrush.com/early-movie-concept-art/
http://artistryingames.com/concept-art-concept-art-important/
http://howtonotsuckatgamedesign.com/2014/02/lets-get-real-concept-art/
http://willkempartschool.com/about/home1/
http://www.sitepoint.com/a-solid-understanding-of-negative-space/
https://archive.org/details/mettomo00ferr
http://www.videogamesartwork.com/games/batman-arkham-city/gotham-panorama
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/the-sublime/christine-riding-and-nigel-llewellyn-british-art-and-the-sublime-r1109418
