I’m continuing with my Elements and Principles of art series on the blog today focusing on scale and proportion. These two components are closely related and both deal with size and the relationship of things to others things.

Here are some artworks you can use to teach proportion and scale. I will add to this list when I find more, so this is a good one to pin or bookmark! The horizontal images do not contain all of the examples, FYI.

Artworks with Good Proportion to Teach the Basic Concept

• Michelangelo, David, 1501-04
• Leonardo da Vinci, Vitruvian Man, ca. 1490
• Caravaggio, Still Life with Fruit, ca. 1603

Artworks that Use Proportion to Emphasize Space

• Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s World, 1948
• Hiroshige, 107 Fukagawa Susaki and Jūmantsubo (5th Month, 1857) from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 1857
• Gustave Caillebotte, Paris: A Rainy Day, 1877
• Pieter Brueghel, Hunters in the Snow, 1565

Artworks that are Out of Proportion

• Agnolo Bronzino, An Allegory with Venus and Cupid. c. 1545
• Sir John Everett Millais, The Blind Girl, 1854-56
• André Derain, Portrait of a Man with a Newspaper, 1911-1914
• Songye people, Democratic Republic of Congo, Female Figure, late 1800s-early 1900s
• Fernando Botero, Dancing in Colombia, 1980
• Dorothea Tanning, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, 1943
• Saul Steinberg, The Fisherman
• Giacometti, Man Pointing, 1947
• Prehistoric, Nude Woman (Venus of Willendorf), c. 28,000-25,000 B.C.E (On ACFK, 5 Artworks to Promote Introspection)
• Parmigianino, Madonna with the Long Neck, 1535-4

Artworks that Manipulate Proportion of Figures for Meaning

• Ben Shahn, We French Workers Warn You, 1942
• Hannah Hoch, Equilibre (Balance), 1925
• Michelangelo, Pieta, 1498-99
• Gerardo Feldstein, All at this Link

Artworks with Things Out of Proportion with Other Things

• Jeff Jordan, Curiosity, 2009
• Francisco Goya, The Colossus, c. 1808
• René Magritte, Les valeurs personnelles (Personal Values), 1952
• Hans Eworth, Allegorical Portrait of Sir John Luttrell, 1550
• N.C. Wyeth, The Giant, 1923

Artworks with Hierarchical Scale

• Ancient Egypt, Nebamun Hunting in the Marshes, ca. 1350 B.C.E.
• Tanjore style painting from the late 19^th century showing the ten Sikh, Gururs, Bhai Bala, and Bhai Mardana
• Sumer, the Standard of Ur, about 2600-2400 B.C.E.
• Master Francke, The Pursuit of St. Barbara, Saint Barbara Altarpiece, c. 1410-15
• Palette of King Narmer, from Hierakonpolis, Egypt, Predynastic, c. 3000-2920 B.C.E
• Benin Plaques, 16th-17th century

Big Scale Artworks

• Ron Mueck, In Bed, 2005
• Ron Mueck, A Girl, 2006
• Georgia O’Keeffe, Oriental Poppies, 1928
• The Colossus of Constantine, c. 312-15
• Nazca Earth Drawings
• Chuck Close, Mark, 1978-79
• Henry Beacon and Daniel Chester French, Lincoln Memorial, 1914-22
• Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1970
• Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, Spoonbridge and Cherry, 1985-88

Small Scale Artworks

• Jade Mountain Illustrating the Gathering of Poets at the Lan T’ing Pavilion, 1784
• Diem Chau, Mahjongg
• Yang Yongliang, A Bowl of Taipei, 2012
• Slinkachu, Any Artworks at this Link

Artworks that Show the Scale of Nature in Relationship to Humans

• Shen Zhou, Poet on a Mountaintop, 1496
• Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, c. 1818
• Albert Bierstadt, Valley of the Yosemite, 1864

Remember I will add to this, so don’t forget to pin this post!

Stayed tuned in the coming months for more elements and principles posts! Join the e-mail list so you don’t miss them!

The post Artworks that Teach Proportion and Scale appeared first on Cindy Ingram, Your Art Teacher.