BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE
ARTS
ARTS
• ALL ARTS have certain elements in common: rhythm, line, medium,
structure, style and color
• Architecture has no subject UNLESS defined with the terms: church,
dwelling and factory.
• Music has NO SUBJECT
• It HAS its own VOCABULARY.
“pretty” and “beautiful” AREN’T MEANINGFUL in Arts.
“empathy” or “feeling with” is already OVERWORKED
However, artists began to DISTORT REALITY in late 19th century…
 Henry Moore’s “Family group”
 Zorach’s “Spirit of Dance”
 Piet Mondrian’s “Straight Lines”
 Zorach’s “Still Life with Fruit and Guitar”
Henry Moore’s “Family group”
Zorach’s “Spirit of Dance”
Piet Mondrian’s “Straight Lines”
Zorach’s “Still Life with Fruit and Guitar”
ELEMENTS OF THE FINE ARTS
1. Subject
-provides the answer to WHAT is the painting or the sculpture ABOUT?
-architecture has no specific subject although architectural ends are
sometimes with bit of sculpture.
 Caryatids of the Erechtheum in Athens or
 Gargogyles on Gothic churches
Gargogyles on Gothic churches
Caryatids of the Erechtheum in Athens
2. Medium
-materials w/c an artist uses.
FRESCO
- pigment is mixed with water and applied to wet
plaster.
Giotto in the Arena
Chapel in Padua
Raphael’s “Stanze” in the
Vatican
Michelangelo in Sistine Chapel
Piero della Francesca in
the Church of San
Francesco in Arezzo
TEMPERA
- pigment is mixed with EGG and applied to
smooth surface
Simone Martini’s
“Annunciation”
OIL
-applied on canvas or prepared wood panel
Van Dyck’s portrait
Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”
WATER COLOR
-pigment is mixed w/ water and
applied to white paper
Winslow Iomer’s
“Sloop Bermuda”
John Marin’s
“Boat Off Deer Isle”
MATERIALS USED IN
SCULPTURE
-Stone
-Wood
-Metal
- Marble
- Junk
Marble
- has always been the
favorite material in
countries.
- because of it's hardness,
it has great permanence,
but when polished to a high
gloss it looks soft and
yielding.
Metals
- Bronze has always been the
favorite from the early Greek
KOUROS (boy) down to the
modern Picasso and Henry
Moore.
Michelangelo's "Pieta"
Materials Used in Architects
Marble
- Churches, buildings, and country villas of the
Renaissance merchant princes in Italy.
Pazzuolia
- an abundance of
reddish clay out of
which roof tiles are
made.
Brick
- generally used for
dwellings in low-lying
countries.
Wood
- used by
americans.
Line
-shaped of a work of art.
Three kinds of Line (w/pic)
1. Horizontal - in repose.
2. 2. Vertical - in repose.
3. 3. Diagonal - lines of action.
George Inness' "Lackawanna Valley"
Velasquez' "Surrender of Breda"
Color
- the decorative element in painting.
Properties of color:
Hue-name given to a color
Intensity-vividness of the color
Value-the amount of white or black in
the hue and intensity or brightness.
Monochromatic
- when value and intensity
are in low key, all the colors
tend toward gray and brown.
Polychromatic
- when value and intensity are
high and all the colors strongly
opposed.
Raphael's "Madonna. Of the Chair"
*Tintoretto's "Last Supper"
Warm Colors
- red, orange, yellow
- which tend to
advance, are
stimulating.
Cool Colors
-green, blue
- which tend to
recede, are restful.
TEXTURE
The term texture refers to the way two objects feel to the touch.
He must make an object look the way it would feel if we could touch it.
The painters of the low countries were adept at painting texture.
THE RECORD STATED THAT HIS PORTRAIT OF THE HENRY VIII WAS "LIFE SIZE, SO
WELL THAT EVERYONE
WHO LOOKS IS ASTONISHED, SINCE IT SEEMS TO LIVE, AS IF IT MOVED ITS HEAD
AND LIMBS."
. THE PAINTING ALSO DEPICTS HIM WITH CARNATIONS, AT THAT TIME SYMBOLIZING HIS ENGAGEMENT. ALSO, A PLAQUE
DEPICTED OVER HIS HEAD IDENTIFIES HIM, AND STATES THAT IT SHOWS HIM IN HIS 34TH YEAR, IN 1532. HE IS HOLDING A
LETTER HE RECEIVED FROM HIS BROTHER, WRITTEN IN MIDDLE SAXON (“MIDDLE LOW GERMAN”): “DEM
ERSZAMEN/JORGEN GISZE TO LUNDEN/IN ENGELANT MYNEM/BRODER TO HANDEN” (“TO BE HANDED TO MY BROTHER,
THE HONOURABLE JORGEN GISZE AT LONDON IN ENGLAND”).
A MISALIGNED SET OF SCALES AND THE PLACING OF A VASE OF FLOWERS TOO CLOSE TO THE EDGE OF THE TABLE ARE
SUGGESTIVE OF THE INSTABILITY OF THE WORLD AND OUR PLACE WITHIN IT.
VOLUME
The term volume refers to solidity or thickness.
The sculptur is concerned with volume because his figures actually occupy
space and are observed from any direction depending on where the
beholder stands.
To the painter, volume is an illusion.
VAN GOGH’S “BEDROOM
AT ARLES”
ACROBAT BY PABLO PICASSO
PERSPECTIVE
To get depth or distance, an artist uses perspective, both linear and aerial.
Linear Perspective
we mean that objects become smaller as they recede into the distance.
AERIAL Perspective
we mean that objects become fainter, in the distance due to the efect of the
atmosphere.
LAST SUPPER BY LEONARDO DA VINCI
SCHOOL OF ATHENS BY RAPHAEL
MANTEGNA’S PIETA
FORM
The term form applies to the overall design of a work art.
When the elements of painting are containedwithin the frame and lead the
eye back into the picture, it is said “closed form”.
Conversely, if parts of figures are cut off by the frame and we feel that the
action extends out of the picture, it is said to be in “open form”.
STYLE
Every artist has a personal style which is the result of his temperament, outlook
on life, and training. He tends to repeat certain stylisms that he has found
effective.
ELEMENTS OF
MUSIC
Music is a highly versatile art that originates in nature, and has
been taken up by mankind as a way of expression and also as
an art.
Music and its elements were initially taken up by man from
sounds in nature, like the chirping of birds or blowing of the
wind. Today, music has become an inclusive aspect. There
exist countless numbers of genres and sub-genres that are
unraveled frequently.
• Melody - It refers to the tune of a song or piece of music.
it is the memorable tune created by playing a succession
or series of pitches.
“Levels” by Aviici
• Dynamics - Dynamics are abbreviations or symbols used
to signify the degree of loudness or softness of a piece of
music. It also indicates whether there is a change in
volume.
“Spanish Sahara” by the band Foals
• Rhythm - It may be defined as the pattern or placement
of sounds in time and beats in music. Roger Kamien in his
book Music: An Appreciation defines rhythm as "the
particular arrangement of note lengths in a piece of
music." Rhythm is shaped by meter; it has certain
elements such as beat and tempo.
“Come in Naso” by Pink Floyd
HARMONY - the simultaneous sounding of two or more tones results in
harmony. This is also the musical third dimension loosely analogous to depth in
painting.
• Counterpoint or polyphony - this harmony was achieved by having
two or more melodies sung or played against each other.
• Tonality - equal temperant
• Polytonality – using several keys simultaneously
• Atonality – having no key feeling
TEXTURE – it refers to the number of tones we are asked to apprehend
simultaneously.
FORM – is a necessary to a work of music as a blueprint to an architect or a
pattern to a dressmaker.
COLOR – the result of the difference in timbre (quality of tone) in the various
instruments and voices. STYLE – applies equally to musical style.