Art 1010: Class #3
The Principles of Design
Prince George’s Community College
Largo Campus, Marlboro 1019
TWTh 6:00 – 8:40 p.m.
Bryce Walker
Things to discuss today
Quiz #1 (Elements of Design)
 Papers review
 Art discussion (NEA Paper)
 Principles of Design
 Fred Wilson
 Study Guide for Exam #1(June 9th)
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ART1010- Intro to Art, Bryce
Walker
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Principles of Design

Goals and objectives for this unit:
– 1. Understand how artists create both symmetrical and
asymmetrical balance.
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2. Discuss how scale and proportional relationships
communicate.
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3. Analyze the nature of visual rhythm.
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4. Discuss how viewers can be influenced or affected by visual
rhythms.
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5. Understand how you can use the principles of design in our
daily lives and creative endeavors.
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Principles of Design

Principles of Art- Guidelines for making the decisions involved
in designing a work of art.
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Unity and Variety
Balance
Emphasis and Subordination
Proportion and Scale
Rhythm
The principles of design are a natural part of perception. Most of
us are not conscious of them in everyday life, but artists usually
are very aware of them, because they have trained themselves
to be aware.
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Unity and Variety
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Unity- A sense of
oneness, of things
belonging together and
making up a coherent
whole.
Variety- Counterpart to
unity that creates visual
interest.
“Memory of Oceania”, Henri Matisse, 1953
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Unity and Variety
Visual
Unity
–Unity of shapes, lines, colors,
etc…
Conceptual
Unity
–Unity of ideas
“Repeating shapes and
restricted color gives visual
unity to the work, but it is
conceptual unity that asks for
our interpretation.” (p. 123)
“Shimmering Substance” Jackson Pollack,
1946
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Balance
Symmetrical
Balance
–Implies a center to the picture
where both sides are in
balance.
–Approximate symmetrical
balance is when the picture is
weighted evenly on each side,
but not a mirror image.
“Arnolfini Double Portrait,’ Jan van Eyck
1434.
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Balance
Symmetrical
Balance
–Sometimes the symmetry is so
perfect that the two sides of a
composition are mirror images
of one another.
–Symmetrical balance is often
used to express order, harmony,
and authority, whether earthly
and social, or cosmic and
spiritual.
“Balance,’ Thomas Grill
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Balance
Asymmetrical
Balance
–Two sides that do not match.
Balance still occurs because the
visual weight of the two sides
are very similar.
–“The heaviness or lightness of
each form depends on its size in
relation to other sizes around it, its
color in relation to other colors
around it, and its placement in the
composition in relation to
placement of other forms there.”
(p. 129)
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Balance
Rules
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of Asymmetry
A large form is visually heavier
than a smaller form.
A dark-value is visually heavier
than a light-value form of the
same size.
A textured form is visually
heavier than a smooth form of
the same size.
A complex form is visually
heavier than a simple form of the
same size.
Two or more small forms can
balance a larger one.
A smaller dark form can balance
a larger light form.
“Death and Life” Gustav Klimt, 1911
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Balance
“A Bar at the Folies-Bergere” Edouard
Manet, 1881.
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Emphasis & Subordination
Complementary
Concepts
–Emphasis means that our
attention is drawn more to certain
parts of the composition than to
others.
–Emphasis can be made by the use
of size and placement, contrast,
value, and color.
–Subordination means that
objects not intended to draw
attention have blurred details, sit
outside of the center of the picture,
and do not possess colors that
jump out.
“The Banjo Lesson” Henry Ossawa Tanner,
1893
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Emphasis
“Executions of the Third of May, 1808”
Francisco de Goya, 1814
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Scale and Proportion
–Scale means size in relation to
a standard or “normal” size.
Some things can be seen as a
‘small’ scale while others as a
‘large’ scale.
–Proportion refers to size
relationships between parts of a
whole, or between tow or more
items perceived as a unit.
“Plantoir” Claus Oldenburg and Cossje van
Bruggen. 2001.
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Scale and Proportion
Fixed
Proportions
–Many cultures have developed a
fixed set of proportions for depicting
a “correct” or “perfect” human form.
–Human proportions vary for
symbolic or aesthetic purposes.
–The Hierarchical Scale is used to
show dominion of a king over a
group of people. The scale was
used in the Egyptian, Greek, and
Roman empires.
“Virtruvian Man” Leonardo da Vinci, 1485
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Scale and Proportion
–Golden Mean- Discovered by
the Ancient Greeks. A section
divides a length into two
unequal segments. The ratio
turns out to be 1 to 1.618
–A rectangle constructed using
the proportions of the golden
section is called a golden
rectangle.
“Golden Rectangle”
“Parthenon”
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Rhythm
–Rhythm is based in repetition.
–What types of art need rhythm?
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Music
Dance
Poetry
Visual Arts
–In Paul Klee’s “Landscape with
Yellow Birds”, where do we see
rhythm?
• Swaying of forms
• Flying yellow birds
• Full moon implies an arc of
circular rhythms
“Landscape with Yellow Birds” Paul Klee, 1923.
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Rhythm
–Articulation means to utter
clearly in distinct syllables. It
also means to be made clear,
distinct, and precise in relation
to other parts.
–Articulating can take place n
varying forms: speaking, writing,
and even architecture.
–“Leon Battista Alberti used rhythms to
articulate the monumental façade of the
church of Sant’ Andrea.” (p. 143)
“Church of Sant’ Andrea” Leon Battista
Alberti, 1470
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Summary of Principles of Design
–Unity
–Balance
–Emphasis
–Proportion
–Rhythm
Ugly Bugs Eat Pork
Rinds
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Walker
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Summary: Elements and Principles

Elements
– are a set of
techniques that
describe ways of
presenting artwork.

Principles
– are the set of rules or
guidelines of art that
are to be considered
when considering the
impact of a piece of
artwork. They are
combined with the
elements of art in the
production of art.
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