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William Blake Research Paper

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Illustrations of power and authority, the dream of the individual to take control despite the existential context of life and death. Blake expresses his concern of social repression and believes instead in the individual’s freedom. His optimism seeps through the violent nature of his imagery to suggest hope in states of anxiety.
The composition of Blake’s work has a strong figure to ground ratio. They are usually centrally positioned to highlight the subject matter whilst the surrounding elements refer to the conditions of the event. In his early works as an engraver, his interest in communicating subject matter in conflict can be seen in the smaller details. In ‘A negro hung alive by the ribs to the gallows’ (1972), Blake exaggerates the muscular …show more content…
He transgresses between the written languages to envision new realms in his visual art. Having invented relief engraving which is the process of producing text and imagery on the one page, something which couldn’t be done before in printing press, Blake is both writer and artist and uses the strength of each to evolve his exploration into the existential world. His work naturally then contains narrative aspects and uses traditional techniques to emphasize hierarchies of communication. In the NGV exhibition of William Blake, his picture book of the Book of Jobs is an example of his progression into story telling. In this set, he explores the architecture of framing compositions and the layering of pictorial elements. Borders are used to frame the context of the content. It could softly reinforce or contradict the event in each picture. For example, in the 3rd engraving of the Book of Jobs, the border contains the text, progressing the sequence of the story, with elements of fire and cloud, the power of the Lord. The central image instead draws out the narrative through the expressive movement of the lines of an in between state. Chaos and destruction has befallen onto humanity but has not reached the sobriety and permanency of death. A sense of hope is still prevalent in the image given by the central figure illuminated as the mediating control of destruction. His scale is in near proportion to the figure of Satan above him. However, in this image, the power resides in the optimism of the figure as he is balanced through the classical composition of the holding onto him. On the contrary, when illustrating positive events, Blake doesn’t exaggerate the optimism of humanity, but humble it in harmony. In the Book of Job 18, the rules are the same with the classical composition, central figure and border. However, Blake’s vision of balancing good and evil is seen in the detail of the figure having his back

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