In today’s class, we looked at the mood in a painting. Mood refers to the feeling created in the artwork. The use of the elements and principles of design affect mood in a painting. The lines, colours, shapes, values and textures in the work and how they are organized through harmony, variety, balance, emphasis and unity.
The subject matter – people, trees, buildings, objects etc. and the way they are represented influence the mood of a painting. The sensory qualities, emotional aspects, symbolism in the work, context – the time period and culture in which the work was produced and even the technical aspects – the medium, materials processes, techniques and style employed by the artist all affect mood.
In today’s class, we created a spooky Halloween mood by using dark colours, making bumpy textured trees with reaching “hands” for branches and a full moon with spooky clouds – hopefully, it isn’t too scary!