Joseph Ducreux Portrait de l'artiste sous les traits d'un moqueur, Self-portrait, ca. 1793

This is a self portrait by Joseph Ducreux who was a prominent French portrait painter during the times leading up to the French Revolution and following the French Revolution. The reason I like this self portrait is because he takes a nontraditional approach as apposed to the typical composed posture, ghost-like emotionless face, and crossed arms of the majority of the portraits during the time. This self portrait works well at expressing the sort of character this French painter might've been, by actually including a face that shows some emotion and clothes and accessories that convey a classy but informal vibe. Overall, I find this self portrait amusing to say the least, and I applaud Ducreux's approach to conveying his character in this self portrait.

-Andrew Chen

Visual Texture

"Canticle" by Mark Tobey is a great representation of visual texture. Without changing the 3-demensional space of the object the painting represents a sandy texture. The painting is made of Casein on parchment. Casein is a milke casein derived medium used by artists and is known for being fast-drying and water soluble.

Piet Mondrian, Composition II in Red, Yellow, and Blue (1930)

By just creating lines and using color to his advantage, Mondrian created shapes. This was a reoccurring process in the majority of the work. It can be debated if he meant to paint or make shapes, or whether they were a byproduct of making lines and using colors.

- Taylor

Texture

UK artist Derek Kinzett crafts these amazing figurative sculptures by cutting and forming different kinds of wire. The wire not only forms an amazing sculpture, but also adds a bit of texture to the over all piece.

Roses under the Trees, c.1905 by Gustav Klimt

Roses under the Trees, by Gustav Klimt to me is a perfect example of a crowded painting. The way that Klimt uses the colors and the composition of trying to portray the tree's leaves gives off a sense of cluster and feeling crowded, but yet it is not over-whelming and works beautifully in this image. The extreme amount of painted dots in a concentrated area is very visually stimulating and works out very well in this artwork. 

Papier a Cigarette Job, c.1897 by Alphonse Mucha

"Papier a Cigarette Job" by Alphonse Mucha is an image that most everyone has seen once or twice before in their lives. This image represents the aspect of movement beautifully to me. The way this woman's hair flows around the frame of the picture, along with the billowing smoke circulating around the background of the image personifies movement perfectly. It is almost as there is a giant fan in front of her blowing her hair and the smoke around the composition of the image.

Motion

Ana Soler hung 2,000 tennis balls in spaces throughout the Mustang Art Gallery in Alicante, Spain. The balls are carefully aligned in suspended trajectories that appear to bounce off walls, floors, and other surfaces providing an uncanny sense of motion similar to a photograph taken with a strobe light. A very awesome composition.