What is the meaning of Pictorial? Concept, Definition of Pictorial

Definition, Concept, Meaning, What is Pictorial




1. Concept of pictorial

The pictorial Word, refers to the painting, or drawing in general, but the pictorial plane is an imaginary plane, upright and transparent, put some distance between the object and the eye.
This plane is used when we are going to draw something, i.e. to represent our visual field. As you already observe, visual field is formed by wide, high and deep, but in the case of a surface flat which will draw well is a Blackboard or a sheet of paper, the artist is a difficulty, and is the represent the depth, since it only has two real dimensions: height and width.
Therefore, to represent the depth of the visual field, the cartoonist to use of certain devices to achieve this. These resources that will meet them later with the name: signs of depth.

2 Meaning of pictorial

Painting is an adjective that comes from pictor, a Latin term which can be translated as "painter". Painting, therefore, refers to what is linked to painting.
For example: "my pictorial knowledge are null and void, but the truth is that I loved this picture", "pictorial kinds yielded its fruits: yesterday I could sell my first work", "my uncle always sought to express their feelings, either through the musical or pictorial".
To understand the concept of pictorial, it is inevitable to know clearly what the notion of painting means. On the one hand, painting is the substance used to cover material, leaving a very thin layer over it. Painting, on the other hand, is the name given to the work of art about which there is something painted and even the name of this artistic branch in general.
If we speak of the pictorial art in this way, we will be referring to those expressive manifestations that develop with paint. There are various pictorial supports, such as the canvas, a mural or a wood. An artist can draw and scatter pigments on these supports to create a work.
Referred to as pictorial portrait, finally, the painting that seeks to reproduce a person's face. These portraits were popular in ancient times, when there was no photography, since they allowed to immortalize the appearance of an individual thanks to the talent of the painter. Members of the nobility used to order pictorial portraits then displaying as a demonstration of power and to foster the cult to his person.

3. Definition of pictorial

The pictorial portrait is a genus within the painting, which is intended to represent the appearance of the subject, particularly when what is portrayed is a human being, but also animals can be represented. The portrait work by custom, both public persons and private, or inspired by the admiration and affection towards the protagonist. They are often family or State, documents as well as memories of the person portrayed. When the artist portrays himself it is a self-portrait.
Historically, it has represented the rich and powerful. But over time, spread among the middle class, the custom of portraits of their families and colleagues. Still today, continues painting portrait as commissioned by Governments, corporations, associations or individuals.
Within the hierarchy of genres, the portrait has a stance ambiguous and intermediate; on the one hand, it represents a person made in the likeness of God, but on the other hand, at the end and within it's glorifying a person vanity.

Technique and practice

A well-executed portrait is expected to represent the essence of the subject from the point of view of the artist and not just the outward appearance. As Aristotle said, "the aim of art is not present the outward appearance of things, but their inner significance; for this, and not the appearance and detail external, constitutes the authentic reality». Artists may strive for a photographic realism or a similar Impressionist, but he is not a caricature, which aims to reveal the character through exaggeration of physical features. Artist generally attempts a representative portrait, as Edward Burne-Jones stated: «the unique expression that may be allowed in the great portraiture is the expression of the character and the moral, not anything temporary, fleeting or accidental quality».
In most cases this gives as a result a serious look, a stare of tight-lipped, still historically rare to be something beyond a slight smile. Or as Charles Dickens put it "there are only two kinds of pictorial portraits: the serious and the smirk». Even with these limitations, it is possible to achieve a wide range of subtle emotions, from a quiet threat to a happy friendly. If the mouth stays relatively neutral, it has created much of the facial expression through the eyes and eyebrows. As the writer and artist Gordon C. Aymar, "eyes are place that is regarded for the most complete, reliable and relevant information" about the subject. And the eyebrows can register, "almost them by themselves, wonder, penalty, fear, pain, cynicism, concentration, nostalgia, dread and hope," in infinite variations and combinations.
It can be represented the protagonist full-length, half-length, head and shoulders or head, as well as profile, half back, three quarters or front, receiving the light from different directions and being different parts in shadow. Occasionally, artists have created portraits with multiple views, as with the Triple portrait of Carlos I by Anton van Dyck. There are even some portraits showing not the face of the subject; an example of this is Christina's World (1948), Andrew Wyeth, which handicapped girl turned back posture is integrated into the setting which is to express the interpretation of the artist.
Among other changes, the subject can be dressed or naked; indoors or outdoors; standing, sitting, reclining; even mounted a horse (equestrian portrait). Portrait paintings can be of individuals, couples, parents and children, families, or groups of colleagues ("group portrait"). They can create media various including oil, watercolor, ink and pen, pencil, charcoal, pastel and mixed media. Artists can use a broad palette of colors, as in the terrace of Renoir (1881) or limited to almost black and white, as in the portrait made by Gilbert Stuart George Washington in 1796.
Sometimes the size of the picture has relevance. The huge portrait of Chuck Close, having destined for display in a museum greatly differ from most of the portraits, created to put in a private house or be carried easily from one place to another. It is common that the artist takes into account where to hang the final portrait and the color and the style of decoration that will surround.
Create a portrait may take a considerable time, and usually requires several sessions of sitting. Cezanne, for example, insisted on more than 100 sessions of their sitters. Goya, for its part, preferred a perched long of a day. The average is around four. The portraitists sometimes show a series of drawings or photos to their players so the model can choose his favorite position, as Joshua Reynolds. Sometimes, such as Hans Holbein the younger, they drew the face and then completed the rest of the painting without the depicted was posing. In the 18th century it could take a year from order to delivery of the finished customer portrait.
Dealing with the expectations and mood of the model is a serious concern for the portrait artist. As for the loyalty of the portrait on the appearance of the model, artists tend to have a consistent approach. Customers who searched for Joshua Reynolds knew exactly that the result would be flattering, while Thomas Eakins models expect a realistic portrait. Some sitters have strong preferences, others let the artist decide entirely. It is famous Oliver Cromwell for having demanded that his portrait show "all these roughness, grains and warts and all that you see in me, otherwise never pay a penny for it».
After the model is comfortable and encouraging him to adopt a pose natural, the artist studied the subject, searching among possible facial expressions, that meets his concept of the essence of the model. The posture of the subject is also carefully considered to reveal their emotional and physical state the same thing occurring with the clothing. To keep the model involved and motivated, skilled artist will often keep pleasant behavior and conversation. Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun advised fellow artists that they elogiaran women and their appearance to obtain their cooperation in the past.
To be successful in the execution of a portrait, it is essential to master human anatomy. Human faces are asymmetrical and a skilled portraitist plays this with subtle differences between left and right. The artists have to know bones remaining below and the structure of the tissue to make a convincing portrait.
For complex compositions, the artist would first do a full sketch, pencil, ink, charcoal or oil, which is particularly useful if it is limited the time available to the model to pose. General shape, then with a rough resemblance, is outlined on the canvas in pencil, charcoal or fine oil. In many cases, the face is completed first, and the rest later. In workshops many of the great portraitists, the master would only head or hands, while clothing and background is complement by the principal apprentices. There were even outside specialists dealing with specific issues such as clothing and its folds, as Joseph van Aken. Some artists of the past used mannequins or dolls to help establish and execute the pose and clothes. The use of symbolic elements placed around the model (including signs, household items, animals and plants) was often used to present encoded in the painting the religious or moral character of the subject, or with symbols representing the model occupation, interests or social status. The background can be totally black and without content or across a scene that puts the model in their social or recreational environment.
The self-portrait can be considered a sub-genre within the broader portrait. Already in the middle ages, artists not signed the work but yes could appear within the religious scene. Self-portraits are usually produced with the help of a mirror and the finished result is a portrait of the image in the mirror, the opposite to what happens in a normal portrait in which the model and the artist are sitting facing each other. In a self-portrait a dexterous artist seems to holding the brush with your left hand unless the artist, deliberately edit the image or use a second mirror while painting. As portrait in general, there are two tendencies within self-portrait: the psychological and the Court. In the «personal» or psychological self-portrait, the painter squint if same without piety, reflecting their reality and that are evident in many cocasiones that who is portraying is the own painter; example of this is the self-portrait with visor, pastel de Chardin of 1775. «Professional», on the other hand, Painter appears in coated of attributes typical as the brush and the palette and the solemnity of expression and luxury clothing as in the two self-portraits he did Poussin at the end of his life.
Occasionally the customer or his family are dissatisfied with the result and the artist is forced to tweak it or redo it or leave the Commission without charge anything, suffering the humiliation of failure. Famous portrait made by Jacques-Louis David's Madame Récamier, very popular in exhibitions, was rejected by the model, like the notorious portrait of Madame X, the work of John Singer Sargent. The portrait of General George Washington de John Trumbull was rejected by the Committee that commissioned it. Very irritable Gilbert Stuart once replied before the dissatisfaction of a client with respect to the portrait of his wife by answering: "you brought Me a potato, and expect a peach!".
A successful portrait, however, can win the life-long gratitude of customer. Count Balthazar was so delighted with the portrait of Rafael made his wife who told the artist: «your image... alone can lighten my worries. This image is my pleasure; I run to you smiles, it is my joy.