Chloe Ho "Moore From letter to Horner" 1923

Moore From letter to Horner 1923

Chloe Ho

1) INTRODUCE THE DRAWING IN GENERAL TERMS

What is the title of the drawing?

The title of the drawing is "Letter to Horner".

What is the name of the artist?

The artist's name is Moore.

What is the year the drawing was done?

The drawing is done in 1923.

What is the medium? (ie the materials used to produce the picture, for example charcoal on paper, pen and ink etc)

The artist used ink pen and ink to produce in paper.

What is the subject matter or general theme of the work? (eg is it a figure drawing, a map, a portrait, an autobiographical work, a picture about nature, a drawing of the city etc?)

This is a picture about Norway's fiord. It looks like a story through a comic style.

Does the drawing have a particular purpose? eg Is it a diagram that explains how something works?

Yes, it does. In fact, it is a letter from the artist to his friend.

Does it record accurately record the appearance of something?

Properly. The drawing records the view of the fiord in Norway.

Does it express the artist's emotion or memory?

Yes, it does express the memory of the artist. As we can see, a team is climbing the fiord. The artist is depicting his experience when climbing the fiord in Norway.

2) DESCRIBE THE DRAWING IN DETAIL

How is line used? What does it do/express?

In this drawing, there are curve lines, horizontal lines, vertical lines, some are thick and most of it is thin. It is clear as it was drawn by ink pen. Line is very functional in this drawing, which creating different texture of the objects.

First, the thick lines used to divide the space into several rectangles with different sizes. Most of the thick lines are drawn straightly, so it creates a tidy composition of the drawing because every subject is boxed and organized. It makes each rectangle works independently with the content.

As believe it is a quick sketch within a letter, thus, the line is the main character and simply used to contour the objects. For example, the tree, the road, the cloud, the house. All of it is drawn in a rush temple without any modeling or shading.

Besides, the artist also used different density of lines helps to create the sense of three-dimension and the perspective of distance. For example, no.3, the thin rectangle, it depicts mountains, rocks, bridge and three people. The contour of rocks and mountains were outlined by lines clearly. The shadow was created by the dense lines; most of it is parallel to a direction, also highly concentrated in a part of area. There will be a contrast with the blank area to stick out the shadow part of the rocks, making it more three-dimensional.

On the other hand, the no.5 rectangle, the artist used horizontal line to depict the sea level. In the bottom of this rectangle, the lines are denser. By contrast, the lines in middle part are sparser. It creates an aerial perspective of the distance that depicts a sense from the near to the far.

How is tone used? What does it do/express?

The drawing is monochrome therefore the color tone is quite neutral and unity by using ink pen and ink.

In the no.2, the sky was filled with a plate of spreading out ink. There are a few layers of the ink, thus, parts of it are darker, and it makes a gradual change of the tone.

It displays a huge contrast with surrounded area because of a single color tone. The advantage of it is easy to present the main object of the drawing. For instance, the no.8 rectangle, this small box was nearly filled with black; the rest area (the figure) is very outstanding and presentable.

What can you say about shape and/or form in this picture? What is the effect?

At mentioned above, the rectangles in this drawing are very obvious. It boxed all the things inside and started telling story. The size of the rectangle is intentionally designed to present the objects’ main characteristics. For example, the no.4 is very narrow but the height is quite tall. Referring to the object (the crag), it’s very suitable and proper to having the shape of that rectangle.

Is texture a feature of the drawing?

In my view, texture is not the main feature of the drawing. However, parts of the texture are drawn well. For instance, the artist used lines and spreading out ink to make the texture of the rock is very rough, craggy and rocky.

  

What can you say about the composition of the drawing? What is the effect of this type of composition on the overall drawing?

The composition of the drawing is very tidy, unity and well organized with several rectangles. The space was cut into various parts and orders it accordingly, in order to depict a story. The order guides the viewer and it is easy to understand what the storyline is about.

Is rhythm important in this picture? If so, say more about it...

The rhythm is quite important in this picture because the order of the boxes have already given a stable temple to the views. They follow the order and discover what experience the artist is sharing.

Is the picture balanced? Explain...

I think the drawing is balanced. Most of the areas in the paper are filled and the uses of line and tone make it fair on each area. None of the area looks heavier than others.. As written on the paper, the aim of drawing no.9 is “just to fill up the page”, the artist had an excellent perception of composition. He knew well the drawing would be unbalanced if there is no no.9. Therefore, the composition is now completely balanced with tidy rectangles.

Is perspective used in the picture? If so, describe the way that the illusion of three-dimensional space has been created.

Both of linear perspective and aerial perspective are used in the drawing. As mentioned in the part of line. There is an aerial perspective is presenting a sense of distance. The no.5 rectangle, the artist used horizontal line to depict the sea level. The bottom of this rectangle lines are denser. By contrast, lines in middle part are sparser. It creates an aerial perspective of the distance and the space is expanded. The farther area is always unclear for sight, thus, the artist used sparser lines, vice versa.

On the other hand, there is a linear perspective in no.9. As the picture I showed, lines are going to a same direction. Objects are smaller and smaller that creates the three-dimensional space from the near to the far.

Is the picture harmonious? If so, in what way?

In terms of composition, the uses of line and tone and slight contrast, I think the drawing is harmonious. The composition is well balanced. And the use of line and tone work with coordination. In combine with these elements, the picture is visually harmonious.

Are there any strong contrasts in the picture? Say more...

There is a strong contrast in the drawing. For instance, the no.8 rectangle, this small box was nearly filled with black; the rest area (the figure) is very outstanding and presentable.

3) INTERPRETATION AND EVALUATION

What is the mood of the drawing? Justify your answer using information from your responses above.

In my opinion, the mood of drawing itself is harmonious because of the balanced composition, the use of gentle tone and the capture of nature in Norway.

Besides, I believed the drawing also carry a joyful mood due to the story the drawing was told. The experience of hiking in the Norway fiord, the artist shared how excited and successful he was when he arrived the 1000ft Norwegian village by himself.

What does the drawing express? Justify your answer using information from your responses above.

The drawing is full of artist’s emotions and memories. He went to the fiord in Norway with friends, trying to visit the Norwegian village. Defeating the obstructs likes crossing the river, climbing the rocks, passing the bridge, descent of fiord, he arrived the 1000ft Norwegian village finally. I can see how the artist is excited to share his experience to his friend. Also, this drawing recorded his journey and captured the nature of Norway.

In your opinion, why is this work interesting/moving/clever/ imaginative/thought-provoking/......?  Choose the adjective(s) that best fit(s) the work, and then justify your conclusions by referring to specific features and qualities of the drawing (including those you have discussed above).

If to choose an adjective that best fit the work, I would like to pick “interesting”. That’s because the drawing is really interesting. The artist used a drawing depicting his experience in Norway fiord rather than used verbal description. What I impressed most is the composition that the artist made. Each box could be an independently work, at the same time it works with others well. The story is recorded clearly and completely.