Practice question · Sort into groups
Sort each observation by whether it concerns COMPOSITION or FACTURE.
Groups: Composition · Facture
- A surface so smooth no mark is visible
- Paint thick enough to cast its own shadow
- A strong diagonal leading the eye
- A pyramidal grouping of three figures
- Visible brushmarks in the highlights
- A figure cropped by the frame
Hints
- One concerns the arrangement of what is depicted; the other the handling of the paint.
- Anything about the mark itself is facture.
Show the answer
Composition: A pyramidal grouping of three figures, A strong diagonal leading the eye, A figure cropped by the frame
Facture: Visible brushmarks in the highlights, Paint thick enough to cast its own shadow, A surface so smooth no mark is visible
Why
The distinction matters because the two make different demands on the viewer. Composition asks you to look through the surface at an arrangement of things; facture asks you to look at the surface and register that it is paint.
Practise Painting II: Reading the Surface
The app has 5 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Art History I is free to start.
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