What is "plasticity"?

[Snowfly]

so sorry to turn the forum into a human dictionary, but what does that word mean??

"his studies have a plasticity that few other artists have achieved"

[cartoonfox]

lol, dont you mean "online" dictionary? :D:cool:

sorry, i dont know what that meens, i've never even heard it before.
something to do with quality?...

[geoffd]

'Having the qualities of sculpture; well-formed: “the astonishing plastic beauty of the chorus girls” (Frank Harris).'
- dictionary.com
i guess that would sound right?

[bizarre]

plasticity:

in reference to human or skin quality: too oily or specular looking to look natural. too smooth and shiny. that's the bad way. Good way: wet skin look. realistic oily look.

in general: anything that looks like plastic. shiny or whatever.

hope that answers the question.

[usagi yojimbo]

i think it also means that its flexible and can change shape

not sure of that though

[Nimrod]

It would perhaps make more sense with more context, but yes, I have always understood plasticity to mean flexibilty. As in, 'the infinite plasticity of the digital'. Is the artist not very confined to any one style? tell us more!

[cucaracha]

I also have a nice version :D

"his studies have a plasticity that few other artists have achieved"

his studies have a realistic feeling, you can very easily feel the space and life in it.

"plasticity" as a measure for something that is really seizable;
You think you can grab into the image and take the object.

well.. if someone draws a statue, and it looks stunningly realistic, every shape is correct, the lightning is perfect - then you might say "wow, it has an impressive plasticity"

heh.. correct me if I'm wrong :D

cu

[Prometheus|ANJ]

I have no idea what it means. This guy (Nadeara aka Z-vector) is great at plastic rendering though. Sadly he doesn't have much stuff on his site.
http://www.raidway.ne.jp/~nadeara/CB.JPG
http://www.raidway.ne.jp/~nadeara/NE9702b.JPG
http://www.raidway.ne.jp/~nadeara/ZV_CAMMY.JPG (look at that butt!)

[Snowfly]

vague, eh? it's one of those words you think you know the meaning of, but can't quite squeeze into a definition if you had to explain it to anybody.

anyway, i came across it multiple times in my leonarda da vinci biography book..."The World of Leonardo". i'll have to grab quotes, but you really have to see the sketches to figure it out i guess.

the term figured so prominently in the book, i figured you art school dudes might have come across it before.

thank you!

[adien]

I always thought of it as the rendering giving the impression that the substance was maleable, easily molded, would give way under pressure like plasticene, clay or soft rubber perhaps.

[Signature]

I like the:

'Having the qualities of sculpture'

definition.
I don't think that elasticity has anything to do with it.

[Dan.v.D.]

plasticity is achieved through sucessfully communicating 3hree dimensionality via 2wo dimensional media

i think that´s quite fitting in this case.

[madster]

:wtf:
Originally posted by cucaracha
I also have a nice version :D

"his studies have a plasticity that few other artists have achieved"

his studies have a realistic feeling, you can very easily feel the space and life in it.

"plasticity" as a measure for something that is really seizable;
You think you can grab into the image and take the object.

well.. if someone draws a statue, and it looks stunningly realistic, every shape is correct, the lightning is perfect - then you might say "wow, it has an impressive plasticity"

heh.. correct me if I'm wrong :D
cu
:wtf: You're wrong. Not even close, really.

People, people, people! Have none of you heard of dictionaries or search engines?

www.dictionary.com - "plasticity"
Capable of being shaped or formed: plastic material such as clay. See Synonyms at malleable.
Relating to or dealing with shaping or modeling: the plastic art of sculpture.

www.artlex.com (an ART LEXICON dictionary) - "plasticity" or "plastic quality"
The three-dimensional quality of sculptured or constructed forms. Plasticity can also refer to the quality of a material which can be easily manipulated -- modeled, molded or pressed into a desired shape; malleable and yet holding its shape . Clay is an example of a material which can be extremely plastic. Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976) enjoyed the plasticity of wire; Claes Oldenburg (Swedish-American, 1929) has enjoyed using vinyl, plaster and several other materials for their plasticity. Also see plastic, plastic art and plastic arts, and Plasticine.


cucaracha, to make up a definition of what you think a word means is okay, but you still have to base it upon the real definition of a word, and "realistic" has absolutely NO relation to the definition of the word "plastic"...nice try, but not even in the ballpark.

Good lord, people, when in doubt, LOOK IT UP!!!
:rolleyes:

[Nimrod]

madster - none of those definitions you posted have anything to do with sketches/studies, which was what snowfly asked about. They all talk about sculpture.

Dictionaries can't tell what context you meant.

Also, just because that's the dictionary definition doesn't mean that's what the original author of the quote had in mind when they wrote it. Maybe they have a wrong or warped definition too. We're trying to understand what THEY meant, not necesarily the exact definition of the word, which obviously doesn't apply.

Anyways, now that I know you are talking about Leonardo, I think they definitely meant the dynamic scupltural quality of his work. Supremely keen modelling of forms, etc.

[Deadsprite]

ok, for one, plasticity is not a word i have heard outside of SCULPTURES! this is from a sculptur. plasticity is the maliability of the clay and it's ability to resist forces enacted upon it. this is actually a potters term when throwing. i.e. this clay is really plastic, i can throw 1/4" walls like it is nothing.
i really wish people would stop using terms wrongly. it would be me saying i studying chiaroscuro(spelling i know) when i'm dealing with a sculpturally formed vessel with an ash glaze. it doesn't translate well. and if he did in fact try to warp the meaning of it, he failed.
and also, those images are pretty fluid, but should not have been described as having plasticity. because they still have rigidity to them. especially the first with those harsh squared off shoulders. ugh. no.

[madster]

Originally posted by Nimrod
madster - none of those definitions you posted have anything to do with sketches/studies, which was what snowfly asked about. They all talk about sculpture.

No they don't... what part of "The three-dimensional quality of sculptured or constructed forms" or "malleable and yet holding its shape" do you think is unapplicable to drawn or painted arts???

Dictionaries can't tell what context you meant.
Well, if you are NOT using a word properly, as in according it the known definition (which is what a dictionary provides), and then arbitrarily try to apply your meaning to a word that already exists and has a known and accepted definition, I guess you might have a point, illogical as it may seem; but dictionaries don't need to know context. The author needs to know what words they are using, and the reader needs to know how to look up the definitions of words they don't understand.

Also, just because that's the dictionary definition doesn't mean that's what the original author of the quote had in mind when they wrote it. Maybe they have a wrong or warped definition too. We're trying to understand what THEY meant, not necesarily the exact definition of the word, which obviously doesn't apply.

Oh, now THAT's a real hoot. Trying to evaluate a written sentence using completly arbitrary word definitions, with the lame justification of trying to understand the author's intent, and then using the illogic that the author may not have meant the definition of the word because YOU don't know what the word means, and putting it back on the author? WOO HOO!

Anyways, now that I know you are talking about Leonardo, I think they definitely meant the dynamic scupltural quality of his work. Supremely keen modelling of forms, etc.

And what if the artist in question were Salvador Dali, Georgia O'Keefe, or Georges Braque? Plasticity is a very descriptive term that means exactly what was stated. Lack of etymological skills of the audience was the only problem here.

Linguistic skills are a dying art...

[adien]

Capable of being shaped or formed: plastic material such as clay. See Synonyms at malleable.

looks alot like how i defined it.

The three-dimensional quality of sculptured or constructed forms. Plasticity can also refer to the quality of a material which can be easily manipulated -- modeled, molded or pressed into a desired shape; malleable and yet holding its shape . Clay is an example of a material which can be extremely plastic. Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976) enjoyed the plasticity of wire; Claes Oldenburg (Swedish-American, 1929) has enjoyed using vinyl, plaster and several other materials for their plasticity. Also see plastic, plastic art and plastic arts, and Plasticine.

wow hey, i guess my definition was right on then. :cool:

[cucaracha]

well, I referred to the german word "plastizitaet".
It's used for films and paintings, you can achieve plastizitaet through light, perspective and size.

Plastizitaet is "used" to transport a realistic feeling of a scene - when you shoot a film, you go from 3d to 2d, but it's necessary not to loose the 3d-feeling. So you have to do proper lighting and and good surfaces to let the viewer feel the space in it...

ouch, this is so hard to describe since english isn't my native language :D
I hope you understand it.

cu

[Neil]

Its also a song by Front Line Assembly. Not sure what their lyrics have to do with the actual definition of the word although you hope that they picked the title for a reason.