Materials in the image

About cold and heat, moisture and dryness, and also about visual weight

What are materials from a visual perspective?

Materials are the product of the interplay of lines and color. And from the interplay of lines, composition, and color, artistic styles are born. Needless to say, materials, as a tool, are eloquent and easy to use when creating a personal style.

In this short article, I would like to examine the main ones (excluding textiles) - first in correlation with Line types, and then with Image types.

Less theory - more clarity.

When looking at familiar objects, we can all assess their properties with a certain degree of confidence without having to physically examine them: whether an object is cold or hot, dry or wet, heavy or light, hard or flexible, dense or loose, and so on. Visual and tactile sensations help us determine linearity and also evoke corresponding emotions.

Based on this effect, we will correlate the most common materials with lines:

• TREE

• A warm, weighty material. Dry, with a rough texture or angular shape; wet, with a smooth texture or streamlined shape.

• STONES (faceted and rounded)
  

A cold, weighty material. Dry, if it has a rough texture or faceted shape; wet, if it is smooth or rounded.

• LEATHER (smooth and textured)

Smooth leather is cool and moist. Textured leather is warm and dry. Medium visual weight.

• PLASTIC

A lightweight, temperature-balanced material. Glossy when wet, matte when dry.

• GLASS

Cold, damp material, weight depending on thickness - light or medium.

• METALS (smooth and antique)

Temperature depends on color. Weight depends on shape. The more uniform and glossy the shape, the more moisture.

• FUR

Smooth, shiny, and long – cool and wet. Fluffy, textured, and curly – warm and dry. Visual weight ranges from light to medium.

• FEATHERS

Lightweight material. Shiny ones are cool, matte ones are warm. Uniform, dense, rounded ones are wet. Thin, variegated, sharp ones are dry.

• CLAY

Weighty material. Smooth - damp and cool. Textured - dry and warm.

• PORCELAIN

Cool and moist (the degree depends on the gloss level), lightweight material.

• MOTHER OF PEARL and PEARL

A light and moist material, the temperature depends on the palette - from extremely cold to warm.

• and also, additionally - PATINA and SEQUINS

Patina brings dryness, sequins and glitter - coldness.

9 Basic Line Types & Materials

Please note that the selection is based solely on the psychological fit of the material to the line. The shapes of the objects shown in the examples are irrelevant.

We mentally try things on, read our sensations, reflect on our emotions, and seek harmony:

10 Image Types & Materials

We proceed similarly with the Image Types, as OTs also evoke certain visual and tactile sensations that can be correlated with the properties of materials: temperature, weight, moisture level, softness, hardness, sharpness, or smoothness. This was partially discussed, but in some places in more detail, in the article on the ideal body. Regarding suitable materials, the recommendations would look something like this:

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P.S.

Finding harmony through collaging is, in itself, an effective way to frame one's appearance, provided one has sufficient visual thinking. Not only of materials, but also of specific objects and surrounding spaces—all you need are reliable photographs of the person (without filters, optical distortion, bright framing, and, preferably, obvious posing), photos of the objects being "tried on," and any program or app for creating collages. A useful bonus is the skill of evaluating the properties of objects separately, without allowing other means of expression to influence perception. This "muscle" responds well to training by expanding one's visual experience, but even without it, with such clarity, there's a good chance of intuitively grasping the level of integrity.

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That's all from me, dear fellow travelers ♥

Peace between the outer and inner to each and everyone!

Thank you for your trust, and until next time!