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Design
Basics REPETITION:  Sean Scully works with horizontal and verticle rectangular shapes:  Arman Fernandez also shows unity by repetition. Review links of his work. http://www.artsoum.com/ http://www.artsoum.com/arman_sculptureeng.htm http://www.artsoum.com/arman_biographie.htm  ARMAN Armand Fernandez ARMAN (Armand Pierre Fernandez dit) In Edgar Degas' The Millinery Shop notice the repetition of the circle motif. Circles represent objects such as hats, flowers, bows, the woman's head, bosom, and skirt, etc. The painting is a whole design of circles broken by a few verticals (the hat stand, the ribbons, the back draperies) and a triangle or two (the table, the woman's vent arm, and the front hat's ribbons).  http://www.artic.edu/artaccess/AA_Impressionist/pages/IMP_5_lg.shtml Edgar Degas The Millinery Shop. 1879-1884 PROXIMITY: - make separate elements look as if they belong together - proximity - simply putting the elements close together - The painting by Thomas P. Anshutz of workers on their lunch break shows the idea in composition. The lighter elements of the workers' half-stripped bodies contrast with the generally darker background. These light elements are not placed aimlessly around the composition but, by proximity, are arranged carefully to unite visually. Arms stretch and reach out to touch or overlap adjoining figures so the bodies form a large horizontal unit stretching across the painting. 
Thomas P. Anshutz. The Ironworkers' Noontime  Miniature attributed to Shaykh Muhammad, Majnun Eaves-drops on Layla’s Campfrom Jami Haft Aurang, Mashhad, Iran? Shaykh Muhammad's miniature painting fills a single book page with humans, animals, tents, and carpets. The painting bustles with activity.  Michelangelo, Creation of Adam, c. 1510. Sistine Chapel, Rome. Michelangelo's Creation of Adam clearly demonstrates the expressive power of proximity. CONTINUATION: Continuity in the form of a line, an edge, or a direction from one form to another creates a fluid connection among compositional parts. In Picasso's painting the majority of the shapes (human figures, animals, plants, and a ship) share an edge with two strong, wavy, horozontal lines extending across the canvas. This continuation visually unites the forms.  Pablo Picasso La Joie de Vivre or Antipolis. 1946 http://perso.wanadoo.fr/mexiqueculture/nouvelles4-riberafr.htm In Degas' drawing the line of the round tub starts at the bather's hairline, meets her fingertips, and joins the vertical line of the shelf where the brush handle overlaps. The circular shape of the bather's hips is tangential to the same shelf edge. The objects on the shelf barely touch and carry the eye from one to another.  Edgar Degas, The Tub, 1886. Pastel http://www.abcgallery.com/D/degas/degas59.html Curving lines and shapes flow from one circle to the next creating a sense of movement in Frank Stella's, Lac Laronge IV.  The visual system of pattern or grid will produce a cohesive element of unity. Alfred Stieglitz uses the diagonal patterned light source to unify the image and contribute to a contemplative mood.  Nic Nicosia uses grid for his recent works: 365 SaFe Days 0423042405 and 365 Morning Skies     Resource: Prebles' ARTFORMS: Eighth Edition Patrick Frank Chapter Four: Principles of Design pages 72-75 Unity and Variety "Unity and variety are complementary concerns. Unity is the appearance or condition of oneness. In design, unity describes the feeling that all the elements in a work belong together and make up a coherent and harmonious whole. When a work of art has unity, we feel that any change would diminish its quality. Variety, on the other hand, provides diversity. Variety acts to counter unity. The sameness of too much unity is boring, and the diversity of uncontrolled variety is chaotic, but a balance between unity and variety creates life.  Artists select certain aspects of visual form in order to clarify and intensify the expressive character of their subjects or themes. In his painting GOING HOME, Jacob Lawrence balanced unity and variety. He established visual themes with the lines, shapes, and colors of the train seats, figures, and luggage, and then he repeated and varied those themes. Notice the varied repetition in the green chair seats and window shades. As a unifying element, the same red is used in a variety of shapes. The many figures and objects in the complex composition form a unified design through the artist's skillful use of abstraction, theme, and variation." 
"The flat quality of GOING HOME contrasts with the illusion of depth in Pieter de Hooch's INTERIOR OF A DUTCH HOUSE. Each artist depicted daily life in a style relevant to his times. In both, the painter's depiction of space provides the unity in the composition. De Hooch 'borrowed' the unity that architectural interior imposes in order to unify pictorial space and provide a cohesive setting for the interaction of figures." 
"Pattern refers to a repetitive ordering of design elements. In de Hooch's painting, the patterns of floortiles and windows play off against the larger rectangles of map, painting, fireplace, and ceiling. These rectangular shapes provide a unifying structure. the nearly square picture plane itself forms the largest rectangle. He then created a whole family of related rectangles, as indicated in the accompanying diagram. In addition, the shapes and colors of the figures in the painting above the fireplace-- another use of theme and variation." 
"Alberto Giacometti's sculpture CHARIOT combines diverse elements-- a standing female figure and two wheels. Unity is achieved through the thin lines and rough texture in the figure, wheels, and axle, as well as through the use of bronze for the entire piece. The unity of handling leads us to see the sculpture as a single mysterious entity. Our interest is held by the varied components and by the precariousness of the figure poised atop a two-legged table on two wheels." 
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