Different Threads Of Glass And Different Colours example essay topic

History of Glass Naturally occurring glass like substances were used to make spear and arrow heads when men were still living in caves. These are made of fulgurate which is formed when lightening strikes sand and obsidian which occurs in volcanic eruptions. Ancient Egyptians had developed the art of making and working glass about 4,000 B. C, yes that is about 6,000 years ago. Glass was made in small quantities by melting wood ash and sand together. Decorative beads and small bottles were made by carving out the centre of blocks of solid glass.

Another method had developed further to building up bottles. A ' core ' of sand and clay was made, dipped into molten glass and then turned it around so that a layer of glass was deposited on it. Often different threads of glass and different colours were worked into the surface to make artistic designs. As the glass was cooling after the glass bottle had formed, the clay was chipped out to leave a glass bottle. Then over 1,000 years later, about 200 B. C, the glass blowing tube was invented and that revolutionise d the glass industry.

This new development consisted of a tube with which the craftsmen picked up a nodule of molten glass and then blew through it to produce a bubble. Bottles which were found to be hard to make now could be made. Roman craftsmen knew all of the technical processes used in glass making. Romans had used the glass techniques a great deal to produce glass window panes and also produced was the cast glass.

While this was still hot the glass was shaped by pressure then stretched, twisted and / or blown into various shapes as required. Many designs of cups, bottles and basins were made for every day use as well as artistic ornaments and vases for decoration. The glass industry of the break up of the Roman Empire had declined. During the next thousands of years glass was produced in Western Europe but it was inferior to that made in the Roman period. Glass was beginning to be used for windows again in Britain by a specific technique which consisted of small pieces of glass held together by lead strips. As the weather became much colder and the " Little Ice Age " covered the world, people began to think much more of indoor comfort.

Many of the rooms of the house were made to keep warmer by placing wood on the window to act as shutters. Sometimes the windows were fitted with small glass roundels like the bottoms of glass bottles. Venetians began to manufacture the glass ware for which later they became famous in the early 13th century. The Venetians were very artistic in their glass making skills which improved the shape, decoration, gliding and the Filigree work of their glass ware.

They excelled in particular at making mirrors and drinking glasses. The glass ware which was exported to many parts of Europe including Britain. Stained glass windows in churches and cathedrals are a strong tradition. These beautiful images in glass have been introduced and used in Britain since the 12th century. They are created by a craftsman blowing a bubble in the glass, swinging it round, reheating the glass and blowing it again. Finally the ends of the bubble are cut off to convert the glass into a cylinder.

This is then cut along its length and flattened out to make a glass sheet. Futurism, Colour, and Light Introducing Futurism Futurism was founded in 1909 in Milan by an Italian poet called Emilio Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. The aim of the people who were members of this group aimed to free Italy of its past and 'glorify it modernity'. The Futurists were amazed by modern machinery, communication networks, and modes of transport. In the paintings and sculptures produced, very angular forms with strong, powerful lines were used to convey the sense of 'dynamism'. Probably the most noticeable feature of futurist art is the attempt to capture movement and speed.

They could achieve this by depicting several images of the same object all in slightly different positions, this would give the impression of a 'flurry' of movement. Futurists using Colour There a two main categories for Futurist art. In one they use plain, dull, colours with a vivid foreground, and in the other the colours seem to have been shattered in to pieces, causing an array of different shades and hues. One painting that doesn't follow this general rule is 'Elasticity' (1912) by Umberto Boccioni. The painting depicts a man riding a horse. It is full of life, energy and colour. wherever you look on the canvas you will find something to intrigue you, whether it be the small perpendicular village in the top right-hand corner or the fiery base that the horse is riding upon.

The colours have obviously been specially picked aswell because they Are in contrasting sets, the main one being red and green. Within this set alone though there are a wide range of different hues, with reds ranging from sunsets to bright flames, to dark maroon, tulip purple, and soil brown. In the greens there is lucio us mountain grass and wild herbs, or shadowed fields with worn out leaves. The only other featured colour in this painting is blue, but this only appears in flashes, and quickly turns into purple. There is also a powerful section of black and white in the centre (the horse-riders leg).

This stands out very well because behind it lies a series of purples and reds. Because of the colours that have been chosen by the artist it is actually quite hard to see the horse. The head consists of a number of purples which blends in with the dark shrubbery in the background. The rest of the body is then blended into the ground which is constructed, as I mentioned earlier, of a series of fiery yellows and oranges. The colours work so well together that it is quite hard to see where the legs of the horse ends.