terada analysis

 

Terada is one of my favourite artists that I've come across in the last few years, he's right up there with Kim Jung Gi in my mind but he leans more towards design it seems than Kim.

Composition and design

 We can see the figure sits dead centre in the image but he is not symmetrical in any way which gives us structure but adds variety which is key to making a visually appealing image. When we look at the image in thumbnail size its easier or us to see that  that the shapes of the clothing as it moves away from him create an interesting silhouette that contrasts against the light background of the environment. 

This creates 6 negative space shapes that help carve out the form from the background and gives it visual appeal. Much like everything in design even the negative shapes come in a variety of sizes of big medium and small. He keeps the piece from feeling static by keeping the shapes and their position dynamic to the rest of the image. For example on the right side we see the cloth extend past the page while on the left side it doesn't. It would feel weird and flat if it did. 

The most symmetrical elements in the piece is the straight line of the bow he holds, and the ornamentation of the belt around his waist that extends down his midline. behind him is some sort of Dragon or what looks like to me a building arch that breathes fire on the left side of the page. The shape of both it and the flame frame the figure and keep our eye focused in this area. 

In one way I can start to see a pattern of symmetry from big to small start to appear, the biggest shape has the suggestion of symmetry but ultimately is not as each part from his leg to his hand and even facial expression is changed to where no part is equal to its counterpart, when we then look at medium shapes we see symmetrical shapes in the form of the symbol hanging down around his waist and his skull belt buckle like shape. 

We then look in even closer and see the smaller shapes are not symmetrical at all and are concentrated in his upper chest area and right arm. We can also see the principle of resting areas vs detail areas taking place here. Notice that the majority of the detail is sitting on his right arm which sits at the same or similar level as his face and notice that all this detail sits above the bar. Meanwhile the left side of him and naked Chest, legs and robe have much less detail. 

Color wise, this is fairly straight forward with a clear emphasis on blue and red contrast at a mid tone grey colors.