“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” So say many.
It’s not true.
Beauty lives outside the bias of parochial opinion.
There is a story of a man who while viewing the Mona Lisa said, “I don’t get it. It doesn’t look that hot to me”. A museum guide upon hearing this said, “If you don’t see the beauty in her, the fault lies not in the lady, but in you.”
Quite so.
The quality that makes a classic is the quality
of timelessness. Beauty is the same now, and forever. When generation after generation has found an object of art beautiful, it is beautiful. If you think otherwise, the fault is in you, not in the art.
We live in an age where opinion has been elevated above good sense. Does everyone’s opinion have equal value? I don’t think so. Many have been blessed with an understanding of beauty. Some have not. Do you argue with your architect about the soundness of a proposed structure? Do you argue with your doctor about his diagnosis? You might seek another opinion,
but only fools think that the only opinion that truly matters is their own.
The reason this happens is that in our age we have persuaded ourselves that art is outside of accountable consideration. That is partially true. Beauty cannot be weighed or measured; but it can be assessed. Proportion is one such accountable consideration.
There is one proportional ratio that supersedes all others. It is found in almost all of nature, from the spirals of sunflowers, to the spirals of galaxies. It can be seen most clearly in the mathematical march of the Fibonacci series.
1+1=2, 2+1=3, 3+2=5, 5+3=8, 8+5=13, and so on. The series continues to infinity.
From the ratio 8/13 onward, the numbers change, but the ratio does not. The culture of classical Greece called it the Golden Ratio. They used it in almost all the art they produced.
Since I discovered it, some forty or more, years ago, I have used it in much of my own design work; sometimes intuitively, sometimes deliberately. Many have. People respond to this proportion without knowing why. It just naturally seems the most pleasing choice. The Golden Ratio is eternal. There is something
of God in it.
The ratio between graphic values is equally eternal. By this I mean the values of black, white, and all the grays. Color consists of hue, value, and saturation. Hue refers to the vibrational variations of the spectrum: red, green, blue, etc. Value refers to the degree of lightness or darkness. Saturation refers to the intensity of hue and value combined. Of these three qualities, value matters most. Any hue (color) can be successfully matched with any other hue (color) provided the values contrast intelligibly.
There is a type of painting that is done entirely in black, white and grays. After the gray-scale has been established hues (colors) are applied with transparent glazes. Any choice of hues (colors) will work as well as any other. The value is in the values.
Framing is another consideration.
By framing I don’t mean the sort of frame that encloses a photo, or painting. I mean the set of ideas, images, composition, values and proportions that will comprise the art.
Intention informs framing.
The artist must ask, “In what frame can my intention best be accomplished”? At this point art starts – or fails. This is true of small art, as well as great art. It is also true of all the arts; whether graphics, film, literature, painting, sculpture, photography, or any other.
The frame limits what will be presented. What’s inside the frame will determine how successful the art
will be.
Great Art almost always frames something of importance beyond its’ own time and place. Small art does not.
Occasionally, some piece of cleverness will gain temporary acclaim. The same can be said of outstanding technical virtuosity. This kind of work does not endure.
When its’ time is past, so is it.
Beauty has only a cool, and distant, relationship with either cleverness, or virtuosity.
Many take it as self-evident that talent is all about skill. It is not.
Talent is partially about long hours of practice; but it is much more about knowledge. No one can draw convincingly if they do not understand the components of what they are trying to depict. No aspiring musician can play well without internalizing the rules of scales and chord formation. Dexterity can never compensate for lack of information.
So, if you follow all the rules described above, will you always produce beauty? No, you will not. But you will be more likely to produce work worth consideration.
The beauty of Great Art has an ineffable quality that cannot be commanded. Great Artists do not always produce Great Art. Inspiration is required, and inspiration only comes ‘round when it damn well feels like it.
The only true test of beauty is time.