On the Incorporation of Ratios into Art

On the Incorporation of Ratios into Art

What causes Picasso’s paintings to emit emotion? What is used to make Frida Kahlo’s self portraits seem realistic? Both of these questions have a similar idea in which curiosity is used to consider and identify the utilized or abandoned element. The commonalities shared between these developing ideas have been incorporated into movements such as the fine arts. While viewing this approach, in terms of following the biological manifestation, or the subconscious scale, the overall views of the creation is judged based on a particular idea. However, within the different movements and inspirations mentioned, one common denominator is utilized as a scale. This scale is a standard basis of the usage of color, shape, line, composition, and balance. The relationship between these elements and how they’re used, affects the overall appearance and interpretation that is drawn from the finishing product. The relationship, as a result of the balance between many things (“Ratio”), is known as a ratio. The real question that is derived from the development of idea, and its integration into the concept of art, should be: how are ratios used in art? In art, this proportion determines the success of a painting, because the ratio between these different elements, can either determine the visual accuracy of a subject, or the overall mood.

In a realistic portrait, for example, the forms and structures that create the facial shapes and features, are based off of the common use of balance and composition. Most of the general forms in the facial and body structure are already balanced because of the usage of the Fibonacci sequence, which is a pattern that is evident within all life forms. The pattern is as follows:

Fig. 1. Miss. “Fibonacci Sequence Spiral”

Fig. 2. “Fibonacci Sequence Rectangle.”

As seen, the pattern that is presented in both figures shows the relationships between numbers. Starting with the number 0, the numbers increase according to a pattern in which numbers are added by each other to create another number, and this sequence infinitely continues (“What”). This formula for the sequence is expressed as follows:

(fn = number of pairs during month n)

fn = fn-1 + fn-2

Fig. 3. Reich, David. “The Fibonacci Sequence, Spirals, and the Golden Mean.”

Figure 3 represents the significance of this sequence because these numbers create a golden ratio, in which all numbers after 13 are divided by each other and equal the number 1.618, otherwise known as phi (Norton). This relationship in which one number divided by another, is recognized as a ratio, and otherwise deemed as equivalent symmetry (Dunlap). By having the equivalent amount of integration