Proportion

Proportion in art

Proportion refers to the relative size of parts of a whole (elements within an object) .
When drawing or painting realistically, proportion is important. If the proportions are incorrect, then the resulting image will look less realistic or abstracted.
By manipulating proportion, the artist can make his/her subject seem strong, weak, funny, mysterious, etc. We can exaggerate proportions to emphasize a meaning or an element within the scene. For example, a caricature artist distorts proportion in order to create a stylized image of the subject.

An artwork has a physical size; when referring to an artwork's size, we use the term scale. Scale is more than simply the object's size, however. It is the size of the art object in relation to another object.
The relative size of the artwork is always compared to the size of the human body--life-sized, miniature, enormous--are all terms that use the human body as a size reference.

Censored image of Michaelangelo's "David" sculpture

In art the size relationship between an object and the human body is significant. In experiencing the scale of an artwork we tend to compare its size to the size of our own bodies.
Michelangelo's sculpture David represents the Renaissance emphasis on the ideal, based on the ancient Greek model of the ideal: rationality reflected in the portrayal of perfection in the human body.
This image is an excellent illustration of both scale and proportion in art.
The scale of this overwhelming figure is larger than life: over 13 feet tall. In addition it is placed on a pedestal taller than the average human, so that the sculpture towers far above the viewer. This gives it a sense of godlike grandeur.
The proportions within the body are based on an ancient Greek mathematical system which is meant to define perfection in the human body.
Ironically, this powerful representation of perfection is based on the biblcal story of David, a small, humble shepherd boy who defeated the giant Goliath with one slingshot. This makes it an effective expression of the ideology of the Renaissance: mankind in alls its humility raised to the ideals of rationality, order, and scientific objectivity.

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