Elements and Principles of Design
• Elements are
the building
blocks of art
making.
• Principles are
the way in
which the
elements can
be arranged.
Line
•
Line – A continuous mark.
–
Contour Line - are the outline
edges of forms or shapes and
actually describe shapes and
forms in the simplest way.
–
Gesture Lines - indicate action
and physical movement
–
Implied Lines— what would show
if the object were silhouetted
against the light.
–
Hatching - the placing of many
lines nest to each other
–
Cross Hatching -occur when many
parallel lines cross each other.
Design Lens: L I N E
Dove of Peace
Pablo Picasso
Venus
Aubrey Beardsley
Love Letter
Meg Hill
Contour…Diagonal… Broken…Curved…Outline…Implied…
Vertical…Dotted…zigzag…
Horizontal…Wavy…
Slanted…
Continuous…Solid…
Narrow…
Robert Nowak
Bold…
Piet Mondrian
Snooze
New York City I
–
Primary Colors - These are colors that cannot
be mixed to be achieved. Primary colors are
RED, YELLOW, AND BLUE.
–
Secondary Colors - These are colors that are
made from mixing two primary colors.
Secondary colors are OREEN, ORANGE AND
VIOLET.
–
Warm Colors - Warm colors advance or come
forward RED, YELLOW, AND ORANGE are
warm colors. On the color wheel warm color
are yellow to red-violet.
–
Cool Colors - Cool colors recede into the
background or appear to go back in space.
BLUE, GREEN, AND VIOLET are cool colors. On
the color wheel cool colors are from yellowgreen to violet. . .
–
Complementary Colors - These are pairs of
colors that are located opposite, on the color
wheel.
Colour
Color
Theory
Design Lens:
C LOR
Secondary
Dark Side of the Moon Album Cover
Pink Floyd
Study for Homage to the Square
Joseph Albers
Complementary
The Lake, No. 1
Georgia O’Keeffe
Analogous
Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow, and Blue
Barnett Newman
Tertiary
Monochromatic
Design Lens:
An enclosed
space
defined and
determined
by other art
elements such
as line, color,
value, and
texture.
SHA PE
Kandinsky
Soft Hard 1927
Jerry Uelsmann
Untitled 1982
Henri Matisse
Paper Cut Out
Design Lens:
Shape
Organic:
Irregular
Natural
Free form
Tamara de Lempicka
Young Girl with Gloves
Geometric:
Squares
Circles
Triangles
Rectangles
Ovals
Tamara de Lempicka
Portrait of Ira P.
Tamara de Lempicka
Auto-Portrait -Tamara in the
Green Bugati, 1925
Design Lens: Value or Intensity
Vincent van Gogh
Shoes 1888
Katsushika Hokusai
The Great Wave Off Kanagawa
M.C. Escher
Relativity
An element of art that refers to luminance or luminosity – the lightness
or darkness of a color. Value is an especially important element in works
of art
when color is absent. This is particularly likely with drawings,
printmaking, and photographs.
Design Lens: Value or Intensity
Value is considered to be the
lightness or darkness of a
color. It takes at least three
values (light, medium, and
dark) for an object to take
shape.. .
Paul Jackson
Jewels of the Czar
Paul Jackson
Spectral Hierarchy
Design Lens: Texture
Texture is the
quality of a
surface,
whether it is
smooth, rough,
dull or glossy.
We arc able to
observe texture
visually,
through sight
and the sense
of touch.
Visual/Simulated
Physical/Real
Design Lens: Space
• Refers to the
emptiness or area
between, around,
above, below, or within
objects
– Positive Space- the
shapes or forms of
interest
– Negative Space- the
empty space between
the shapes or forms
Design Lens: Form
•
Form describes
volume and
mass or the
three
dimensional
aspects of an
object.
•
Where shape is
2D, form is 3D
•
Forms should
be viewed from
many angles.
Design Principles
The principles are ways to work with and arrange the elements.
EMPHASIS / FOCUS
or
CENTER OF INTEREST
Barbara Kruger
Violence
Rene Magritte
The Son of Man, 1964
Charles Demuth
The Figure 5 in Gold, 1928
HARMONY
Brings together
complex, but visual
combinations
that are pleasing,
making the elements
harmonious.
Karin Kuhlmann
Polished Spiral
UNITY
Art elements that
work together
and do not
distract from the
whole
Romero Britto
Samba
CONTRAST/OPPOSITION
Occurs with the
use of contrasting
visual concepts:
warm / cool, straight /
curved, positive /
negative, etc.
Beatles Album 1
Paul McCartney
VARIETY
When elements are changed in scale, color, or form.
Audrey Flack
Crayola
Maggie Taylor
The Reader
Andy Warhol
Che Guevara, 1962
Audrey Flack
Rich Art
BALANCE
The visual weight within the composition. based on color balance, element
balance, or visual arrangement of space; may be symmetrical or
asymmetrical.
Bernard Stanley Hoyes
Cactus Rose Mirage
Diane Arbus
Twins
Bernard Stanley Hoyes
Blessings
REPETITION
Involves multiples of the same element. Repeated elements can vary in size,
color, or axis placement. Repeated elements can create a pattern. The use
of repetition may be applied to all Visual Elements. Motion can be created
by repetition.
Charles Bell
Majorette, 1993