20 CONSISTENCY OF VISUAL LANGUAGE
COHERENCE REQUIRES UNITY OF EXPRESSION
Consistency of language throughout a work of art is nearly always necessary if it is to be coherent. For example, it will be hard to make a representational painting read well if half of it is in black and white and the other half in color. Tonal and color structure must be consistent to sustain an illusion. The same principle applies to handling. It is nearly impossible, for example, to develop a unified painting in which part of the picture is executed in heavy brushstrokes and the rest of it is painted in very small and delicate brushstrokes. Similarly, it is hard to combine flawless rendering with other parts of a painting executed in a broken impressionistic style. ...
Get Universal Principles of Art now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
