Click the purple button below to read about the elements and principles.
Elements of Art
Line - a continuous mark made on a surface by a moving point that creates a shape or outline. It can also suggest mass and volume and create texture and value. Line can be particularly effective in controlling the way a view looks at art by directing the focus around the work.
Characteristic of Line are:
Types of Line:
Shape - a flat, 2-dimensional space with no form or depth. Shapes can either be geometric and organic.
Categories of Shapes:
Form is an element of art that is three-dimensional and encloses volume. Cubes ,spheres,and cylinders are examples of various forms. is a 3-dimensional object having volume and thickness. It is the illusion of a 3-D effect that can be implied with the use of light and shading techniques. Form can be viewed from many angles. Form is the three-dimensionality of an object. Shape is only two-dimensional; form is three-dimensional. You can hold a form; walk around a form and in some cases walk inside a form. In drawing or painting using value can imply form. Shading a circle in a certain manner can turn it into a sphere.
Color Is an element of art that refers to hues (the actual color, eg. red, yellow) with three properties:
1) Chroma or hue
2) Intensity or the purity and strength of the color such as brightness or dullness.
3) value, or the lightness or darkness of the color.
Black and white can be added to produce tints (add white), shades (add black) and tones (add grey).
Color Wheel is a tool used to organize color. It is made up of the following schemes (as well as others):
Color Harmonies is when an artist uses certain combinations of colors that create different looks or feelings.
Texture refers to the surface quality or "feel" of an object, such as roughness, smoothness, or softness. Actual texture can be felt while simulated textures are implied by the way the artist renders areas of the picture. s about surface quality either tactile or visual. Texture can be real or implied by different uses of media. It is the degree of roughness or smoothness in objects.
Space refers to the distance or area between, around, above or within things. It can be a description for both 2 and 3 dimensional portrayals.
Space is the three-dimensionality of a sculpture. With a sculpture or architecture you can walk around them, look above them, and enter them, this refers to the space of the sculpture or architecture. A three-dimensional object will have height, width, and depth.
Space in a two-dimensional drawing or painting refers to the arrangement of objects on the picture plane. The picture plane is the surface of your drawing paper or canvas. You can have a picture plane that is a crowded space with lots of objects or an empty space with very few objects in the picture plane. A two-dimensional piece of art has heights and width but no depth. The illusion of depth can be achieved by using perspective. This is the technique used to have your picture look likes it is moving to the distance like a landscape or cityscape.
There are different ways to achieve a sense of perspective in your art.
‘Linear perspective’- Diagonal lines that meet together at vanishing points (can be 1-point perspective or 2-point) help make objects recede or go back in space.
Objects that are drawn within the lines also appear smaller the further away they go.
valley. The viewer can appreciate the great distance between the foreground and the distant hills. Observe how the air seems to be veiled with a light grey-ish color.
From an artistic point of view, this ‘veil’ reduces our ability to see the natural brilliance of colors across the valley.
Categories of Space
· Positive space-Like in positive shape it is the actual sculpture or building.
· Negative space-Also like negative shape it is the space around the sculpture or building.
· Picture Plane is the flat surface of your drawing paper or canvas.
· Composition is the organization and placement of the elements on your picture plane.
· Focal Point is the object or area you want the viewer to look at first.
Value describes the lightness or darkness of a color. Value is needed to express Volume.is the degree of light and dark in a design. It is the contrast between black and white and all the tones in between. Value can be used with color as well as black and white. Contrast is the extreme changes between values.
Value is the range of lightness and darkness within a picture. Value is created by a light source that shines on an object creating highlights and shadows. It also illuminates the local or actual color of the subject. Value creates depth within a picture making an object look three dimensional with highlights and cast shadows, or in a landscape where it gets lighter in value as it recedes to the background giving the illusion of depth.
Categories of Values
· Tint is adding white to color paint to create lighter values such as light blue or pink.
· Shade is adding black to paint to create dark values such as dark blue or dark red.
· High-Key is where the picture is all light values.
· Low-Key is where the picture is all dark values.
· Value Contrast is where light values are placed next to dark values to create contrast or strong differences.
· Value Scale is a scale that shows the gradual change in value from its lightest value, white to its darkest value black.
Exercises to Exploring Elements and Principles of Design
Line:
Create a sampler of 15 different types of line. Label each type with a name that describes it, eg. wavy, bouncy. Be imaginative!
Color
Create a color wheel. Be sure to include the primary, secondary and intermediate colours. Use coloured pencils to create your colours.
Create diagrams showing ...
Shape
Create two designs, one with geometric shapes and the other with organic shapes.
Space
Draw the same, simple item twice. For the first drawing, shade positive space and the second shade the negative space.
Texture
Create a sampler or 15 different textures. Label the textures, eg. rough, smooth, swirly, bumpy... be imaginative!
Value
Create a value scale with 10 gradations, starting with white (the lightest) and ending with black (the darkest).
Form
Draw the basic shapes, then shade them so that they become forms.
Line - a continuous mark made on a surface by a moving point that creates a shape or outline. It can also suggest mass and volume and create texture and value. Line can be particularly effective in controlling the way a view looks at art by directing the focus around the work.
Characteristic of Line are:
- Width- thick, thin, tapering, uneven
- Length - long, short, continuous, broken
- Direction- horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curving, perpendicular, oblique, parallel, radial, zigzag
- Horizontal - restful, calm
- Vertical - strength
- Diagonal - motion or action
- Pyramid - stability, permanence
- Jagged - pain, tension
- Short, Quick Lines - nervous, agitation, hurried
- Rounded, Curved - restful, soothing
- V-Shaped - unstable
- Circle - perfection, completeness
- Focus- sharp, blurry, fuzzy, choppy
- Feeling- sharp, jagged, graceful, smooth
- 2-dimensional, like a pencil mark on paper, or 3-dimensional like a wire
Types of Line:
- Outlines- Lines made by the edge of an object or its silhouette.
- Contour Lines- Lines that describe the shape of an object and the interior detail.
- Gesture Lines- Line that are energetic and catches the movement and gestures of an active figure.
- Sketch Lines- Lines that captures the appearance of an object or impression of a place.
- Calligraphic Lines- Greek word meaning “beautiful writing.” Precise, elegant handwriting or lettering done by hand. Also artwork that has flowing lines like an elegant handwriting.
- Implied Line- Lines that are not actually drawn but created by a group of objects seen from a distance. The direction an object is pointing to, or the direction a person is looking at.
Shape - a flat, 2-dimensional space with no form or depth. Shapes can either be geometric and organic.
Categories of Shapes:
- Geometric Shapes-Circles, Squares, rectangles and triangles. They are man-made.
- Organic Shapes- Found in nature, eg. plants, flowers, seashells, They are free flowing, informal and irregular.
- Positive Shapes-In a drawing or painting positive shapes are the solid forms in a design such as a chair or a bowl of fruit. In a sculpture it is the solid form of the sculpture.
- Negative Shapes-In a drawing it is the space around the positive shape or the shape around the chair or bowl of fruit. In sculpture it is the empty shape around and between parts of the sculptures.
- Static Shape-Shapes that appears stable and resting.
- Dynamic Shape-Shapes that appear to be moving and active.
Form is an element of art that is three-dimensional and encloses volume. Cubes ,spheres,and cylinders are examples of various forms. is a 3-dimensional object having volume and thickness. It is the illusion of a 3-D effect that can be implied with the use of light and shading techniques. Form can be viewed from many angles. Form is the three-dimensionality of an object. Shape is only two-dimensional; form is three-dimensional. You can hold a form; walk around a form and in some cases walk inside a form. In drawing or painting using value can imply form. Shading a circle in a certain manner can turn it into a sphere.
Color Is an element of art that refers to hues (the actual color, eg. red, yellow) with three properties:
1) Chroma or hue
2) Intensity or the purity and strength of the color such as brightness or dullness.
3) value, or the lightness or darkness of the color.
Black and white can be added to produce tints (add white), shades (add black) and tones (add grey).
Color Wheel is a tool used to organize color. It is made up of the following schemes (as well as others):
- Primary Colors-Red, Yellow, Blue these color cannot be mixed, they must be bought in some form.
- Secondary Color-Orange, Violet, Green, these colors are created by mixing two primaries.
- Intermediate Colors- Red Orange, Yellow Green, Blue Violet, etc.; mixing a primary with a secondary creates these colors.
- Complementary Colors-are colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. When placed next to each other they look bright and when mixed together they neutralize each other.
Color Harmonies is when an artist uses certain combinations of colors that create different looks or feelings.
- Analogous Colors are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel for example red, red orange, and orange are analogous colors.
- Triadic Harmony is where three equally spaced colors on the color wheel are used for example, yellow, Red, Blue is a triadic harmony color scheme.
- Monochromatic is where one color is used but in different values and intensity.
- Warm colors are on one side of the color wheel and they give the felling of warmth for example red, orange and yellow are the color of fire and feel warm.
- Cool colors are on the other side of the color wheel and they give the feeling of coolness for example blue, violet, are the color of water, and green are the color of cool grass.
Texture refers to the surface quality or "feel" of an object, such as roughness, smoothness, or softness. Actual texture can be felt while simulated textures are implied by the way the artist renders areas of the picture. s about surface quality either tactile or visual. Texture can be real or implied by different uses of media. It is the degree of roughness or smoothness in objects.
Space refers to the distance or area between, around, above or within things. It can be a description for both 2 and 3 dimensional portrayals.
Space is the three-dimensionality of a sculpture. With a sculpture or architecture you can walk around them, look above them, and enter them, this refers to the space of the sculpture or architecture. A three-dimensional object will have height, width, and depth.
Space in a two-dimensional drawing or painting refers to the arrangement of objects on the picture plane. The picture plane is the surface of your drawing paper or canvas. You can have a picture plane that is a crowded space with lots of objects or an empty space with very few objects in the picture plane. A two-dimensional piece of art has heights and width but no depth. The illusion of depth can be achieved by using perspective. This is the technique used to have your picture look likes it is moving to the distance like a landscape or cityscape.
There are different ways to achieve a sense of perspective in your art.
‘Linear perspective’- Diagonal lines that meet together at vanishing points (can be 1-point perspective or 2-point) help make objects recede or go back in space.
Objects that are drawn within the lines also appear smaller the further away they go.
- ‘Atmospheric perspective’ – Using colour and value to create the illusion of perspective. Colours and details in the distance are ....
valley. The viewer can appreciate the great distance between the foreground and the distant hills. Observe how the air seems to be veiled with a light grey-ish color.
From an artistic point of view, this ‘veil’ reduces our ability to see the natural brilliance of colors across the valley.
- ‘Lost and Found’ edges – Also referred to as soft or hard edges. This is a technique used to create actual space or distance between objects. Observe how clearly defined the objects in the foreground are compared to those in the middle and rear planes of the painting.
- Control Contrast – Use a broard range of contrasting values in the foreground relative to a smaller range of contrasting values in the distance. Observe the dark darks, and the light lights relative to value. Where are most of these placed..are they in the foreground or background? The range of values used in the distance have little or no contrast between them.
Types of Perspective
· Nonlinear Perspective is the method of showing depth that incorporates the following techniques.
o Position-Placing an object higher on the page makes it appear farther back then objects placed lower on the page.
o Overlapping-When an object overlaps another object it appears closer to the viewer, and the object behind the object appears farther away.
o Size Variation-Smaller objects look farther away in the distance. Larger objects look closer.
o Colour-Bright colours look like they are closer to you and neutral colours look like they are farther away.
o Value-Lighter values look like they are farther back and darker value look like they are closer. For example in a landscape the mountains often look bluish and lighter then the trees or houses that are closer to you.
· Linear Perspective is the method of using lines to show the illusion of depth in a picture. The following are types of linear perspective.
o One-point perspective-When lines created by the sides of tables or building look like that are pointing to the distance and they all meet at one point on the horizon this is one-point perspective. To see an example stand in the middle of the hallway and look at the horizontal lines in the brick or the corner where the ceiling meets the wall. See how they move to one point on the horizon.
o Two-point perspective-Here the lines look like they are meeting at two points on the horizon line.
Categories of Space
· Positive space-Like in positive shape it is the actual sculpture or building.
· Negative space-Also like negative shape it is the space around the sculpture or building.
· Picture Plane is the flat surface of your drawing paper or canvas.
· Composition is the organization and placement of the elements on your picture plane.
· Focal Point is the object or area you want the viewer to look at first.
Value describes the lightness or darkness of a color. Value is needed to express Volume.is the degree of light and dark in a design. It is the contrast between black and white and all the tones in between. Value can be used with color as well as black and white. Contrast is the extreme changes between values.
Value is the range of lightness and darkness within a picture. Value is created by a light source that shines on an object creating highlights and shadows. It also illuminates the local or actual color of the subject. Value creates depth within a picture making an object look three dimensional with highlights and cast shadows, or in a landscape where it gets lighter in value as it recedes to the background giving the illusion of depth.
Categories of Values
· Tint is adding white to color paint to create lighter values such as light blue or pink.
· Shade is adding black to paint to create dark values such as dark blue or dark red.
· High-Key is where the picture is all light values.
· Low-Key is where the picture is all dark values.
· Value Contrast is where light values are placed next to dark values to create contrast or strong differences.
· Value Scale is a scale that shows the gradual change in value from its lightest value, white to its darkest value black.
Exercises to Exploring Elements and Principles of Design
Line:
Create a sampler of 15 different types of line. Label each type with a name that describes it, eg. wavy, bouncy. Be imaginative!
Color
Create a color wheel. Be sure to include the primary, secondary and intermediate colours. Use coloured pencils to create your colours.
Create diagrams showing ...
Shape
Create two designs, one with geometric shapes and the other with organic shapes.
Space
Draw the same, simple item twice. For the first drawing, shade positive space and the second shade the negative space.
Texture
Create a sampler or 15 different textures. Label the textures, eg. rough, smooth, swirly, bumpy... be imaginative!
Value
Create a value scale with 10 gradations, starting with white (the lightest) and ending with black (the darkest).
Form
Draw the basic shapes, then shade them so that they become forms.