Visual Art - Essay Example

Pieter Bruegel the Elder: The Hunters in the Snow (The Return of the Hunters) (1565) Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

The image represents a group of people headed for a hunting spree together with their animals including dogs. On their shoulder are spears held firmly in readiness for attack in case their prey dashes by as they go down the path covered by the snow. The image also depicts a difference in topography whereby one part of the village is on a raised ground while the other is on the valley. In this regard, it is evident that most of the bush meat that the hunters normally look for come from animals within the valley at the far end, as the hunters are seen going down the valley in their hunting mission. On the upper part of the village are a few trees and buildings to sustain life, which is contrary to what happens down the valley that depicts few signs of life.

Since the piece of work is an example of composition design, it is best described using certain basic principles that mainly take into account the physical aspects of the image. The artist in this case has used these principles of visual arts to organize the various elements of art in the image. This enables the artist to come up with an aesthetic piece that described the natural environment and certain cultures using harmony, movement, unity, balance, variety, rhythm, contrast, pattern, emphasis, and proportion. To this effect, these principles of art describe the piece by the artist in an explicit, accurate, and visual manner that gives relevance and significance to the piece of art.

From the onset, there is an element of movement in the image as depicted by the group of people and their animals. In the piece of art, the group of hunters conspicuously faces the same direction that is downhill together with their dogs. They have their legs apart with one foot forward, an aspect that is repeated in their dogs. Indeed, all these aspects depict that the people in this case are involved in a range of motion making the viewer of the image look at the direction of their motion, which is down the valley. The artist carefully uses the hunters’ scenario to direct the viewer’s eyes down the snowy valley that seems to have a host of activities by several people.

When it comes to proportion, the artist has demonstrated a significant difference between the sizes and quantity of the elements in the image in that there is a clear scale between the foreground and middle ground in terms of topography. In this regard, the three hunters on top of the valley appear more enlarged than those people situated down the valley, although the number is not that big. Thus, every aspect of the drawing especially on the left foreground and left middle ground places an emphasis on the culture and living environment. Although the presence of snow in all parts of the drawing creates a sense of uniformity, it is apparent that life is more pronounced in the upper part of the valley as evidenced by people, trees, and buildings that are crucial for human survival. The motion downhill also depicts that people mainly reside on top of the hill together with their domestic animals as enhanced by various proportionalities.

The artist also makes appropriate use of variety in the drawing by including various aspects such as humans, animals, trees, buildings, topography, and snow. These elements when used together in the same drawing, as are the case creates a sense of harmony. Additionally, the close collaboration of the hunters carrying spears and heading in the same direction as their dogs create the impression of uniformity and harmony. The trees are arranged in the same direction down the valley to create a sense of balance in addition to uniformity due to their almost equal heights. Last but more importantly, the artist makes accurate use of patterns and rhythm in the drawing in the sense that the hole drawing is in color while depicting the fact that the art is a snowy region that covers almost entirely down the sloppy valley. This clear pattern of white color that spreads into the horizon in conjunction with the wavy lines that sweep across the valley topography creates a good example of rhythm, especially considering the fact that there are people both on top of the valley and down the valley as well. Additionally, the pattern creates a great contrast between the foreground and the background in that buildings, trees, hunters, and animals are depicted by the color brown. However, down the valley has no pronounced color apart from the usual black and white.