Shape vs Form in Art

What do we mean by shape vs form in art?

Take a look at the artist M.C.Escher's surreal take on the difference between the two in the image below.

Still a bit puzzled? Well, we're going to think about it very simply here - shape has two dimensions (height and width) and form has three dimensions (height, width and depth).

It's the obvious difference between a flat square and a cube...

This is is an interesting one if we're not sculptors. Boy, do they have it easy! (Okay guys, only joking, I know you have your own problems!)

But for painters and people who love to draw using two-dimensional paper or canvas, a little artistic sleight of hand is needed if we want to make things look three-dimensional.

 And here are some of the magic tricks we can use to fool the eye of the viewer...

• Contour lines
• Perspective
  
• Color temperature
• Overlapping
  
• Light and Shade
  

Contour Lines

First, let's take a look at the use of contour lines in this drawing done in ink and chalk by Leonardo Da Vinci.

We can see how, in the shadowed parts of the face, he uses his lines to describe the form, noticeably on the neck and in that shadowed area between the nose and the right eye, and on the forehead and lower cheek. Also on the the hair where it curves down over the head.

Using contour lines is one way to help objects look three-dimensional.

Perspective

We've all seen parallel railway lines or roads which seem to meet at a point in the distance (the vanishing point). We know that can't be so but it just looks like it.

Using perspective is a really good way to suggest three dimensions on a flat two-dimensional surface (like this photo on your screen).

Look at what Raphael did with that simple linear one-point perspective in his fresco "School of Athens".

 

If we extended the lines made by the edges of the floor tiles and the lines made by the tops of the architraves, they would all meet at a point midway between the two figures framed by the last arch.

This is where Raphael put the imagined vanishing point, so that the whole room seems as if it's receding into the distance.

So by the time he'd finished with the painting, what had started off as a piece of semi-circular, flat wall now looks as if we're looking into a large space filled with people.

Though of course, it's water-based paint applied to a wall of wet plaster!

Some skill, wouldn't you say?

Color Temperature

Samuel Peploe was one of a group of four painters who became known as the Scottish Colourists.

In this painting he really wanted us to see that red tulip, didn't he? He wasn't going to have it hiding coyly in the background!

Here we see how he did it - and it's another useful trick for creating three-dimensional effects:

Warm or hot colors appear to advance towards us; cold or cool ones tend to recede. 

This work is a good example of a really hot color (red) appearing to advance, while the cooler mauves surrounding it are receding - and look how he's put a cold blue right near that red, to push the tulip even further forward!

There are some nice warm oranges and yellow in the foreground too, emphasising the three-dimensional feel to the painting.

Of course, none of that is accidental. He knew exactly what he was doing to create the effect he was after. A great colourist!

More on hot and cold color

Overlapping

Another way to bring an appearance of three dimensions to your work is to use overlapping.

In this still life by Frida Kahlo, the overlapping forms of the fruit give a feeling of depth to a flat, rectangular canvas.

We also notice that she has put the group against a cool blue background which pushes everything else forward towards us.

(There's no reason to limit ourselves to just one sleight of hand trick, is there?!)

Light and Shade

We can really see the difference between shape vs form in art in the two images above - one flat, and one appearing very three-dimensional.

This particular trick, worked here by M.C.Escher shows his great skill in depicting form using only monochromatic light and shade effects - no color needed.

Working your Magic!

Whatever your style, realistic to abstract, any of the above artistic tricks can be very useful. You're probably using several of them already, maybe even without knowing!

Shape vs form? Piece of cake - you now know five ways to transform two dimensions into three!

Maybe one of them has taken your fancy more than the others?

Remember, each one can be used to enhance any style of art.

Overlapping doesn't have to be just for still life. Contour lines, perspective, color, light and shade will bring out the best in your portraits, landscapes or abstracts.

And if you're into imaginative artwork, any one, or any combination, will really make it come alive! They're all brilliant tools waiting to be used whenever we want - it's magic!

So, whichever one grabs you most today, go to your special art space and start working your own magic.

Hey, you're not going to let those sculptors have all the fun, are you?!

Good luck, and by the way, no prizes for guessing which four artistic tricks the artist used in the painting below!

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