Elements of Art
Line
Shape
Value
Form
Color
Texture
Space
Time
Motion
Line
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Line is at once the simplest
and most complex of the
elements.
Line is one dimensional. It
is measured mainly by
length. If a line becomes
wide enough to measure
width, it becomes a shape.
“Composition with Red, Blue
And Yellow”, Piet Mondrian,
Oil on canvas, 1930
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://
Expressive Qualities of Line
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The expressive characteristics of a line
may be perceived as delicate, tentative,
assertive, elegant, forceful and even
brutal.
“Lavender Mist
Number 1”, 1950
Jackson Pollock,
Oil On Canvas
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/pollock/lavender-mist/
Types of line
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Contour Linethese lines describe the
outline shape of an
object. It is the edge
between the positive and
negative space
Actual line- This is a
non-interrupted line. The
points that make up this
line are connected
Implied Line- This could
be a dotted or dashed
line that your eye
completes. - - - - - ……………………………..
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~kjansen/art130.htm
Functions of Line
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To outline a shape (this helps simplify
shape for the viewer)
To create depth and texture. Vincent Van
Gogh uses line to describe.
“Starry Night”, 1889, Vincent van Gogh
Oil on Canvas
http://www.harley.com/art/abstract-art/vangogh.html
Functions of Line

To suggest
direction and
movementhorizontal lines
tend to
communicate
stability and calm,
vertical lines
suggest strength
and authority
(architecture),
and diagonal lines
tend to represent
movement.
“Harriet Tubman Series, No. 4”, 1939-40
Jacob Lawrence, Casein tempera on gessoed hard
board
http://www.phillipscollection.org/lawrence/tubmanpanel4.html
Shape
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Two types of shapes- organic (biomorphic) and
geometric
Biomorphic shapes are natural- leaves, rivers,
stones, mountains, sponges, animals
Geometric shapes are manmade, they are
regular and predictable. Squares, trapezoid
Some shapes are amorphous- not easily defined
as organic or geometric
Shapes are two-dimensional. They are measured
by length and width
Form
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Forms refer to
three-dimensional
shapes.
Forms are measured
by length, width and
depth. This
sculpture by David
Smith is a good
example of
geometric forms.
The Guggenheim
Museum in Bilbao,
XVIII”, David Smith, polished stainless steel,
Spain, 1997 is an “Cubi
1964
organic form.
http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/smith_
cubixviii.jpg
Shape, Form, Space
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Volume is the related amount of space a form uses.
Positive and negative space refer to the areas where
objects are and where there is only air.
Positive indicated filled space, Negative indicates empty
space. Together these two form Figure-ground
relationships
Figure-ground reversals create optical illusions that
contradict our perceptions of positive and negative.
Mass- the mass of an object refers to its bulk. A solid
work made out of steel the same dimensions as a
sculpture made out of cotton would have more mass.
“Paysage” , 1961, Jean Arp
http://surrealists.classifieds4u.co.uk/
viewPicture/13/
Squares with Two Circles (Monolith),
Barbara Hepworth, 1963 (cast 1964).
Brown with green patina. 124 x 65 x 30 in.
http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/050603/collector2.html
Light and Value
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Value- is the relative lightness or darkness of an art
element.
The value of a color is the lightness or darkness of that
color’s surface.
Value is determined by the amount of light reflected by
the surface.
Chiaroscuro- the gradual shifting from light to dark
through a successive gradation of tones across a curved
surface.
By using many gradations, objects portrayed on a flat
surface can be given a rounded, three-dimensional
appearance.
Chiaroscuro
“The Sleeping Gypsy”, 1897, Henri Rousseau
Oil onCanvas
Old Woman with a Candle
1661, Gerrit Dou Oil on oak, 31 x 23 cm
89 Seconds at Alcazar, Eve Sussman, 2004, Single channel video, video still
Eve Sussman's 89 Seconds at Alcázar, 2004, is a High-Definition video tableau inspired
by Diego Velázquez’ famous painting Las Meninas, 1656, at the Museo del Prado.
The video is an artistic revisioning of the moments leading up to and directly following
the approximately eighty-nine seconds in time when the royal family and their courtiers
would have come together in the exact configuration in Velázquez’ painting.
Color
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Light broken down into wavelengths.
The wavelength of light determines its hue.
Hue=color
The value of color is its degree of darkness or
light. Yellow is the lightest color and violet is
the darkest.
Color saturation is the pureness of a color. Pure
hues have the greatest intensity, or brightness.
The saturation, or intensity, decrease when
another hue, black , gray or white are added to
it.
Artists produce shades of a hue by adding
black and tints of a hue by adding white.
Complementary colors are opposite each other
on the color wheel. Analogous colors are three
(or more) colors in a row on the color wheel.
“Folklore”, Victor Vasarely, print edition
http://www.prints.co.nz/page/fine-art/PROD/Surrealism/1421
“The Night Café”, 1888, Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas
http://www.cssh.qc.ca/ecoles/simon/museedesenfants.quebec/stsimon1/Students/Antoine/van_gogh/
Color
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Primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. They
can not be produced by mixing two other colors
together.
Secondary colors are violet, orange and green.
They are created by mixing two primary colors
together.
Local vs. Optical- Local color is the color that an
object has in normal light
Optical color is the color produced by our visual
perception. “Haystack at Sunset Near Giverny”,
Claude Monet is a great example of optical color.
Mme Matisse: Madras
Rouge (The Red Madras
Headress)
Summer 1907 (120 Kb);
Oil on canvas,
http://www.ibiblio.org/w
m/paint/auth/matisse/
Texture
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Actual texture- is tactile, it is more than just visual
information. Texture can be rough, smooth, or
something in between.
Think of the texture of glass versus a Triscuit cracker.
Visual texture- is the illusion of texture in artwork.
Trompe l’oeil (“fool the eye”) is a method of art that is
intended to create a realistic illusion of texture and
depth in a work of art.
Subversive texture- contradicts our past visual
experience by using texture in a way that is unexpected.
“Object” by Meret Oppenheim is a good example of this.
`”Object” by Meret Oppenheim, fur covered cup, saucer, and spoon, 1936
http://www.moma.org/ecards/write_ecard.php?object_id=80997
Space
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No subject exists in and of itself.
When nearby objects are placed in front of more
distant objects they obscure part or all of the
distant objects. When objects overlap this gives
us a sense of perspective.
Perspective is a sense of depth (created as an
illusion in art to give a sense of a three
dimensional object on a two-dimensional picture
plane)
Linear perspective is a mathematical system for
organizing space in a convincing way.
Perspective
http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/h340/f05/renaissancepainting.html
Time and Motion
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Actual motion is live movement. A work of kinetic art like
Alexander Calder’s mobiles actually moves when we see
it in person.
Implied Motion and Time- is a non-moving image that
shows movement through the attributes present in the
image. Good examples of this are found in Bernini’s
“Apollo and Daphne”
The Illusion of Motion is what we experience when we
see a movie or series of shapes that note a passage of
time. A movie is a series of still frames that do not
contain actual motion, but when shown in a time
sequence, create an illusion of motion.
Giacomo Balla, Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, 1912. Oil on Canvas
Calder’s Mobiles
http://students.washington.edu/brandond/Page0004.html