The
and
Elements
Principles
of Art
The Elements of Art
The building blocks
or ingredients of art.
A mark with length, direction and width.
LINE
Ansel Adams
A continuous mark made on a surface by a moving point.
It can be actual or implied.
Gustave Caillebotte
Line
The path of a point moving through
space is a line. Lines may be actual,
(left, Matisse) or implied (right,
Hopper)
Pablo Picasso
TEXTURE
The surface quality or "feel" of an object, its smoothness, roughness, softness, etc.
Textures may be actual or implied.
Cecil
Buller
VALUE
MC Escher
Describes the degree of light and dark in a composition.
Colors can also have a range of values.
Pablo Picasso
Value
Value can be created using a
variety of drawing techniques
including:
Blending, Cross-hatching, and
stippling.
(left, Raphael)
COLOR
Consists of Hue (another
word for color), Intensity
(brightness) and Value
(lightness or darkness).
Alexander Calder
Henri Matisse
Color
All of the colors
are derived from
the three primary
colors (red, blue,
and yellow)
Secondary colors
are violet, green,
and orange)
SHAPE
Shape implies form and is perceived as 2dimensional. It can be geometric or organic.
Joan
Miro
Gustave Caillebotte
FORM
A 3-dimensional object that has mass and
volume.
It can be geometric or organic.
For example, a triangle, which is 2dimensional, is a shape, but a
pyramid, which is 3-dimensional, is
a form.
Jean Arp
Lucien Freud
SPACE
The distance or area between,
around, above, below, or within
things.
Robert Mapplethorpe
Claude Monet
Foreground, Middleground and
Background (creates DEPTH)
Positive (filled with
something) and Negative
(empty areas).
Space
& Perspective
Space is the area in which art is
organized. Perspective is
representative of volume of space or a
3-D object on a flat surface (above,
Escher, right, Da Vinci)
The Principles of Art
What we use to organize the
Elements of Art,
or the tools to make art.
BALANCE
Alexander Calder
The way the elements are arranged to create a
feeling of stability or equal weight in a work.
Symmetrical Balance
Leonardo DaVinci
The parts of an image are organized so
that one side mirrors the other.
Asymmetrical Balance
James Whistler
When one side of a composition does not
reflect the design of the other.
EMPH
Jim Dine
ASIS
The focal point of an image,
or when one area or thing
stands out the most.
Gustav Klimt
CONTRAST
A large difference between two things to create
interest, drama and tension.
Salvador Dali
Ansel Adams
PATTERN
and Repetition
Gustav Klimt
Repetition of a
design or motif.
Pattern
Pattern is the repetition or
reoccurrence of a design element
that establishes a visual beat or
rhythm. (left, Warhol and above,
Klimt)
RHYTHM
and
MOVEMENT
A regular repetition of elements to
produce the look and feel of
movement.
Marcel
Duchamp
Rhythm &
Movement
Rhythm or movement is the
suggestion of motion through
the use of various elements
(above, Pollock, and right, an
unknown artist, India)
Vincent VanGogh
UNITY
and
Harmony
When all the
elements and
principles work
together to create a
pleasing image.
Johannes Vermeer
Unity
Unity is achieved when the
components of a work of art are
perceived as harmonious, giving
the work a sense of completion
(right, Hokusai, above, Manet)
VAR
IE
T
Y
Using many
different
elements in a
work such as
different shapes,
textures, colors
and values to
create interest.
Marc Chagall
PROPORTIO
N
Gustave
Caillebotte
The comparative relationship of one
part to another with respect to size,
quantity, or degree; SCALE.