September 2-5, 2008
Mrs. Caporale/Studio Art Notes/Elements of Art
Texture: Relates to “surface quality”, how something feels or appears to feel. (Rough, smooth,
shiny)
Line: A mark created by moving a point along in one direction. (Thin, thick, curved, straight,
vertical, horizontal, diagonal, jagged, dashed, dotted)
Shape/Form: Shapes refer to objects represented in two dimensions. Geometric shapes are
squares, triangles, circles, rectangles, etc. Organic shapes are fluid and often are associated with
things that occur in nature. (Leaves, flowers, etc.) Form refers to a shape that is threedimensional. (Cube, cylinder, cone, etc)
Value: Refers to the lightness or darkness of a shade or color.
Space: space is created by the emptiness between, around, behind or within a given object or
group of objects. Various techniques can be used to create space or dimension within a flat
composition. (Overlapping, one point perspective, etc.)
Color: Primary colors, Red, Yellow and Blue, cannot be mixed by any other color, are used to
mix other colors. Secondary colors, Orange, Green and Violet, are mixed with two primary
colors. R+Y=O, Y+B=G and R+B=V. Tertiary or Intermediate Colors
are those found in between the primary and secondary colors on our color wheel.
(Red-orange, yellow-orange, blue-green, red-violet, etc). Monochrome refers to a color scheme
including one color, with different values of that color (Red, Pink, Burgundy).
Tints represent the lighter variations of a specific color (Pink/Red). Shades are those, which are
darkened variations (Burgundy/Red). Analogous colors are those found close to one another on
the color wheel, a “family” of colors. For example, Red, Yellow and Orange are an example of a
Warm Analogous color scheme. Blue, Violet and Green represent a Cool analogous color
scheme. Yellow, Green and Blue would also be considered analogous. Complementary colors
appear opposite one another on a color wheel. When placed next to one another, complementary
colors are intensified and often appear to vibrate. When mixed, brown or gray is created. There
are three pairs to remember: Red and Green, Yellow and Violet, and Blue and Orange.
Y
YG
YO
G
O
The Color Wheel
BG
RO
B
R
BV
RV
V
Gradation: Refers to the smooth transition of color, from light to dark, or from color to color.