The following is a formal analysis of the work "The Walls of Knowledge" by Devinian, retrieved 12-04-2018 from https://devinian.deviantart.com/art/The-Walls-of-Knowledge-597418107 (1,030 words)
The composition of the image "The Walls of Knowledge" is a dynamic, open, hierarchically composed picture. The dominant lines in the picture, exemplified by the bolts of magic and the bookshelves are more often than not organic lines. The few static lines in the picture, going horizontally and vertically are broken by more dynamic lines. Furthermore, the sightlines of the characters can appear to point towards an object not necessarily in the POV of the viewer, and continuing the pattern past the picture, thereby confirming the picture as having an open composition. The hierarchically composition of the image comes from the three characters in the picture, and Twilight in particular. The different color of Twilight and Spike being bright purple in contrast to the either cool blue, book brown, or marbled red means that the eye of the beholder is drawn towards the two characters in the left of the picture
Furthermore, the Golden Ratio (1:1.618…) is also at work here. The vast majority of Twilight's body, save for the legs is along the Golden Ratio with her head being right in the middle of it. Spike's head, parchment and quill also lie along the line, with it going through his mouth and parchment. The windows in the background also lie almost perfectly along the two lines of the golden ratio (see fig. 1) While parts of the image may appear symmetrical at first glance, the fact remains that the picture as a whole is not. This is due to the angle that the picture is drawn/painted at, as it is angled too far to the left to be symmetrical along with Twilight, Spike, Owliwiscious taking up an amount of space, and due to their established information are not available for symmetrics. Individual places in the picture, however are symmetrical along their own axis. As an example, the bookshelf on the second floor to the left of the picture is symmetrical along its own axis.
Moving onto the topic of the illusionistic space, it can be seen that the image has a spacious idea, as the lines in the picture (see fig. 2) continue all the way to the border of the picture and further beyond. The vanishing point is placed centrally in Spike, creating an illusionistic space, continuing past the viewer and going further on.
A repoussior is also present. The cooler colors of the background, "drags" the focus of the image, Twilight and Spike to the front, as they are in "warmer" colors, than the background. This also contributes to the illusionistic space in the picture, as they deepen the space
As for the foreground, middleground and background it can be divided up as follows: In the foreground, we see Twilight and her books, the ottoman and Spike in the chair. In the middleground there is the astronomical globe and the desk in the middle of the room. The rest, ie. the library is the background and provides an enviroment for the characters to act in. Going into the topic of lighting, we see what is most likely natural light from the windows in the background, along with an invisible light source, lighting up parts of Twilight, located to the left of the viewer. It is also noted that in the extreme right of the picture, the roof is lit up by another unknown source. The magic strings and circle around Twilight also provides a small amount of light, as can be seen on the ottoman and the underside of the chair.
Chiaroscuro is used weakly in the lighting from the windows, where there s a very strong contrast in the light from the windows compared to the light levels around in the library. The own shadows fall towards the beholder, as the lighting mostly comes from the windows, and their reflective lighting towards the objects in the room. The drop shadows fall towards the ground in a steep angle. (est. 15 degrees from straight) depending on the placement in the room
Leaving lighting and moving into colors, there are very few, if any primary colors used, and same goes for secondary colors. Every color used has been "broken" in some way, using for example, a smidge of grey in the red to make the floor, blue in the chair, etc. Achromatic colors are used in three places, the paper of the books, Twilight's dress and the sharp lighting in the windows. On the topic of contrasts: The contrasts are used as following: Twilight and Spike are in a noticeably brighter color than the most of the picture thereby creating a light/dark contrast, making Twilight and Spike appear more noticeable than their position allows them. The brown/orange books, shoes and embroidery contrasts with both Twilight, and the rest of the background in the picture. The high use of purples and blues makes the bookshelves stand out in the background away from the pillars and stairs However, the quality contrast is not used in the picture, as every single color in the picture has been broken away from the primary colors.
The central point of the image remains unclear. In one aspect, it is in Spike where the vanishing point of the image lies, and many of the qualities he has in the image lie along the golden ratio, however his position is relatively static with only a few dynamic lines in his pose. On the other hand, Twilight has a much more dynamic pose, with few, if any static lines in it. She also has a much larger figure in the image, though she is not in the vanishing point, the usual first point where a beholder would look. (fig 3, 1 and 2)In any case, Owliwiscious, being too far away from the center, and pushed into the background by both the blue walls and pillars, as well as the bookshelves that can be said the "swallow" the pose of the owl, is not the focus of the image
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