Elements & Principles

Elements & Principles of Art

Ms Jenkin

​Elements of Art- What we use to create a composition

The elements of Art are the basic visual symbols artists use to communicate.

•Line

•Colour

•Shape

•Value (tone)

•Form

•Texture

•Space

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Principles of Art– How the elements are used

The principles  of Art are guides that govern how artists organise the elements.

•Proportion

•Balance

•Contrast

•Movement

•Rhythm

•Emphasis

•Pattern

The Elements & Principles of Art​

Elements of Visual Art

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Line

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Lines and curves are marks that span a distance between two points (or the path of a moving point). As an art element, line pertains to the use of various marks, outlines and implied lines in artwork and design. A line has a width, direction, and length. A line's width is sometimes called its "thickness". Lines are sometimes called "strokes", especially when referring to lines in digital artwork or painting.

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Lines have different physical qualities and can:

•Be seen and sometimes felt

•Vary in length, width and straightness

•Be two or three-dimensional

•Be made by many things and a variety of media

•Be smooth or rough

•Vary in direction (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, spiral)

•With different pressures to describe the edges of a 3D form in a 2D drawing

•Drawn lines vary in weight, width and emphasis and have expressive qualities

•A series of lines in a visual arts work can create patterns, textures, or mood.

•Line (real or implied) has direction and can create movement through a visual arts work.

•Line is always combined with one of more of the other elements.

•Line produces shapes.

•Line can portray rhythm and movement.

Examples of Line within Artworks

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Draw

Draw all the types of lines you can think of

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Colour

The visual response to different wavelengths of sunlight identified as red, green, blue and so on; having the physical properties of hue, intensity, and value.

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• Colour can give a feeling of warmth or cold

• Colour can be used to express emotion

• Colour can have symbolic meaning

Primary Colours

The three colours we need to make all other colours. These colours cannot be made by combining other colours

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Secondary Colours

Created by mixing 2 of the Primary colours

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Tertiary Colours

Created when you mix a primary colour with a secondary colour. They are known as two name colours (red-orange, yellow-green etc)

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Multiple Select

Which colours are examples of a secondary colour?

Reds, oranges, and yellows are considered warm colours- Like the warm sun

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Purples, blues, and greens are considered cool colours- like the cold depths of the ocean​

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Warm vs Cool colours

Multiple Choice

Is blue considered a warm or cool colour?

• Cool

• Warm

Now just to confuse things a little...

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One is a warm red that has undertones of orange or yellow (the warm side of the colour wheel).

And one is a cool red with undertones from the cool side of the colour wheel such as blue or purple.

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Can you tell which is which?

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​Each colour can be both warm AND cool. Take a look at both these reds...

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Multiple Choice

Which Red is the cool red (the red with undertones from the cool side of the colour wheel- blue or purple)?

Hue: One of the 12 colours within the colour wheel​

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Tint: A colour lightened with white

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Tone: A colour dulled with grey

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Shade: a colour darkened with black​

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Colour Terminology

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Monochromatic colour is the use of one colour with white or black added to make a range of tints and shades of that colour

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Analogous colours are groups of three colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel, with one being the dominant colour, which tends to be a primary or secondary colour

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Complementary colours are opposite one another on the colour wheel. When next to each other it appears its most brilliant, and when mixed they neutralise each other e.g. blue and orange (a dash of blue to orange lessens the intensity)

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Triad three colours that are equally spaced on the colour wheel e.g. purple, orange, green

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Tetrad group of four colours e.g. orange, yellow, blue and violet

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Diad group of two colours that are 2 colours apart on the colour wheel e.g. red and orange

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Colour Schemes

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These are colours opposite one another on the colour wheel​

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​Complementary colour scheme

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Multiple Select

Select colours within an analogous colour scheme (3 colours next to each other within the colour wheel)

• Blue

• Green

• Yellow

• red

Multiple Choice

What colours are used within this Artwork?

• complementary

• Analogous

• Primary Colours

• Secondary Colours

Multiple Choice

What colours have been used within this Artwork?

• Analogous

• Monochromatic

• fluro

• Complementary

Multiple Choice

What colour scheme has been used within this Artwork?

• Monochromatic

• Secondary colours

• Split Complementary

• Hues

An area that stands out because of a defined or implied boundary or because of differences of value, colour or texture. A two-dimensional area clearly designated in some way, generally by one or more of the other five visual elements. Although a form has depth, a shape has only width and height. Shapes are either geometric or free form(organic).

     

•The manipulation of geometric and organic shapes can enhance mood.

•Geometric, mechanical, organic, and varied.

•Shape is a flat two - dimensional defined area.

•Shape can be produced by line.

•Shapes can be symbolic.

•Shape can be defined by difference in colour,

value or texture.

•Shape can be positive or negative.

•Shape can create pattern.

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Shape (2D)

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​EXAMPLES OF SHAPE

Draw

Draw some geometric shapes

Draw

Draw some organic shapes

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Texture is about surface quality either tactile (real) or visual. How things feel or look as if they might feel, if touched. Texture is perceived by touch and by sight. Objects can have innumerable versions of rough or smooth textures and matte or shiny surfaces. Visual texture produces the illusion that something would feel rough, smooth, or soft if touched, an implied feeling.

         

•Texture is the tactile quality of a surface.

•Texture can be two or three dimensional.

•When creating art we can use tone, line and point to give the illusion of texture

•Texture evokes an emotional response relating to our experiences.

•Texture on a three dimensional surface slows our eye speed.

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Texture

EXAMPLES OF TEXTURE WITHIN ARTWORKS​

Open Ended

List as many words as you can to describe different types of textures

Space is an area that an artist provides for a particular purpose. Space includes the background, foreground and middle ground, and refers to the distances or area around, between and within things. Space in a two dimensional artwork is an illusion, artists use many techniques to give depth to an artworks such as linear perspective (usually refers to a fore, middle and background), perspective detail (tone, value and colour, overlapping, size). Some artists may create cluttered artworks, others may leave a large amount of empty space. Space can be positive or negative. There are many ways of achieving depth or space on two-dimensional surface – eg. Converging lines, overlapping shapes, objects placed higher on the picture. Place, colour and value differences.

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When analysing a 3-Dimensional artwork, sculpture within an exhibition space, gallery or location, you can talk about the physical space the artwork is placed.

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•Space is the area in which the art elements are organised in a composition to express an idea.

•Space is three-dimensional in that it exists all around us.

•Forms have substance and occupy space.

•Space can be used expressively.

•Space can contrast with form in a sculpture.

•Space can be receding, show point perspective

•the emptiness or area between, around, above, below, or within objects.

•Shapes and form are defined by these spaces.

•Positive space is the area within an object (occupied space) and negative space is the area

•around the objects (unoccupied space)

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​Space

​EXAMPLES OF SPACE WITHIN ARTWORKS

Draw

Create an image with space by drawing an object close and an object far away

Open Ended

What technique did you use to create space within the image you just drew? Overlapping, Size/ Scale, Colour, or Perspective?

Tone refers to the lightness or darkness of an object. Tonal values are created by light falling on an object. Chiaroscuro (meaning light and dark) is the arrangement and treatment of light and shade in a painting or drawing to obtain the illusion of volume, space, atmosphere and dramatic contrasts between light and dark areas.

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Tone can:

•Be made by using a variety of media

•Vary in lightness or darkness

•Appear to advance or recede

•Contrast is the extreme changes between values.

•Light areas have high value, dark areas have low value, the

general effect of value in a composition is called its key.

•Tone describes objects, shapes and spaces.

•Tone can evoke mood or emotion.

•Tone gives the impression of form on a two dimensional surface.

•Tone is used by sculptors, photographers and architects to

achieve effects.

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Tone/ Value

​EXAMPLES OF TONE/ VALUE IN ARTWORKS

Multiple Choice

How do you think tone can make a 2D shape or drawing look 3D?

• Shading various highlights and shadows

• By shading it all one colour

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The form pertains to the volume or perceived volume. Three-dimensional artwork has depth as well as width and height. Three-dimensional form is the basis of sculpture. However, two-dimensional artwork can achieve the illusion of form with the use of perspective and/or shading techniques. Sculptors, potters, jewelers and other artists are able to make real forms by constructing three- dimensional objects.

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•Form is shape with depth, length and width.

•Form is three dimensional.

•Forms have substance and occupy space.

•Form casts a shadow when light falls on it.

•3D form has substance and occupies space.

•3D form can be implied on a 2D surface.

•Golden mean - perfect harmonious proportions

that avoid extremes: the moderation between extremes.

                

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Form (3D)

​EXAMPLES OF FORM IN ARTWORK

Multiple Select

Select all the Artworks that use Form (3D)

Principles of Visual Art

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Proportion describes the size, location or amount of one element to another (or to the whole) in an artwork. It has a great deal to do with the overall harmony of an individual piece. The relationship between the size of the objects within an artwork and the size of the artwork itself has a direct bearing on how the work is seen and interpreted. Proportion can help to imply emphasis this is achieved by representing the most significant subject of a painting larger than all else.

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When looking at an artwork we usually expect items to be in an acceptable proportion to one another. We are accustomed to viewing the outside world and therefore when we see objects represented in an artwork, we have.a natural desire to view them in the same proportion. Artists can manipulate this to create a particular reaction from the viewer.

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When creating a composition for an artwork, an artist must consider the placement of various components. A mathematical formula was established to regulate the relationship between the various parts of an artwork. This formula is known as the ‘golden section’. It works on the principle that the structure and positioning of images within a frame should have an approximate ration of 5:8. It is believed that at this ratio the composition has a better proportion, location of the centre of interest can be found and a fixed position for the horizon can be established.

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​Proportion/ scale

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EXAMPLES OF PROPORTION IN ARTWORKS​

Multiple Choice

Is this Artwork disproportionate to it's environment? Is it to scale?

• It's not to scale and is disproportionate with the environment

• It's to scale and in proportion with the environment

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Principle of design concerned with equalising visual forces, or elements in a work of art. If a work of art has visual balance, the viewer feels that the elements have been arranged in a satisfying way. Visual imbalance makes the viewer feel that the elements need to be rearranged. The two types are called formal or symmetrical and informal or asymmetrical. A principle of art concerned with arranging the elements so no one part overpowers, or seems heavier than any other part.

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Symmetrical balance refers to offsetting the weight of the design elements on one side of a central axis by mirroring them on the other side. For example, if a large shape appears on one side then the same or a similar-sized shape should appear on the other side.

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Asymmetrical balance is achieved when opposing elements on different sides of a central axis are evenly weighted. They do not have to be the same shape or size or even the same design element; however, they do have to have the same visual weight.

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Balance

Subjects/ objects can also be arranged with the rule of thirds to form varying types of balance ​

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THE RULE OF THIRDS

Multiple Choice

Which type of balance has the Artist used to create this Artwork?

• Asymetrical Balance

• Symetrical Balance

• Radial Balance

Multiple Choice

Which type of balance has the Artist used to create this artwork?

• Asymmetrical

• Symmetrical

• Radial

Multiple Choice

Which type of balance has the Artist used in this Artwork?

• Asymetrical

• Symetrical

• Radial

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CONTRAST

Contrast (variety) is the arrangement of opposite elements in an artwork to create visual interest, excitement and drama. Combining one or more elements of art to create interest by having striking differences.

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Differences and similarities between temperature, texture, colour, scale and line. The key to working effectively with contrast is to make the differences obvious.

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Isn’t it fascinating to realise that no image, no form, not even a shade of colour, ‘exists’ on its own; that among everything that’s visually observable we can refer to relationships and to contrasts?

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Multiple Choice

Which Artwork best represents a contrast of colour and neutral tones?

Multiple Choice

Which Artwork best represents a contrast of texture?

Multiple Choice

Which Artwork best represents a contrast of Tone/ value (light and dark)?

The Visual Element of Pattern is constructed by repeating or echoing the elements of an artwork to communicate a sense of balance, harmony, contrast, rhythm or movement. There are two basic types of pattern in art: Natural Pattern and Man-Made Pattern. Both natural and man-made patterns can be regular or irregular, organic or geometric, structural or decorative, positive or negative and repeating or random.

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•Natural Pattern: Pattern in art is often based on the inspiration we get from observing the natural patterns that occur in nature. We can see these in the shape of a leaf and the branches of a tree, the structure of a crystal, the spiral of a shell, the symmetry of a snowflake and the camouflage and signalling patterns on animals, fish and insects.

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•Man-Made Pattern: Pattern in art is used for both structural and decorative purposes. For example, an artist may plan the basic structure of an artwork by creating a compositional pattern of lines and shapes. Within that composition he/she may develop its visual elements to create a more decorative pattern of color, tone and texture across the work.

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Pattern

Open Ended

Where can you see pattern in this Artwork? Can you see any shapes or forms being repeated anywhere?

Open Ended

Where can you see pattern in this Artwork? Can you see any shapes or forms being repeated anywhere?

Open Ended

Where can you see pattern in this Artwork? Can you see any shapes or forms being repeated anywhere?

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Movement in a composition can create action. The viewer can ―move through a composition depending on how the artist uses and manages the elements and principles of design. By using line, contrast, texture and other principles, the artist can direct the viewer to move to different areas of an artwork. If the viewer looks at a composition and gets stuck in a holding pattern, the artist has not been successful in creating movement.

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Movement

Two types of movement:

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•Movement Creates Physical Action The artist will arrange the subjects or elements in such a way that the viewer understands that there is real action taking place, the throwing of a rock, the water falling from a waterfall, the curtains blowing in the wind. All these examples suggest physical movement in real time.

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•Movement for Creating Interest In a work of the visual arts, as stated above, movement is used to create unity within the artwork. In other words, the principle of movement brings the composition together, creating the whole story. There is movement where the artist wants the viewer‘s eyes to move through the composition using colour, texture, pattern, line, value, shape, light, form, etc.

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Draw

Draw lines where movement is created within the Artwork. Where does your eye start and lead you through the Artwork?

Draw

Draw lines where movement is created within the Artwork. Where does your eye start and lead you through the Artwork?

Draw

Draw lines where movement is created within the Artwork. Where does your eye start and lead you through the Artwork?

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Rhythm is the repetition of an element (or elements) in a work, such as repeating colours, repeating lines, or repeating shapes. Alternating lights and darks also give a sense of rhythm. Visual rhythm is perceived through the eyes and is created by positive spaces separated by negative spaces. There are five types of rhythm: random, regular, alternating, flowing and progressive. The repetition of an element to make a work seem active or to suggest vibration.

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Continuity and order can be created in an artwork by the repetition of a similar element. By matching each element with tis repeated counterpart, the eye is ablate see the similarities within then image and is given direction to move easily and freely around the work. Whether it is line, shape, texture colour, the repeated element creates a pattern/. As a result, a harmonious balance is often established within the work.

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Rhythm

Open Ended

What is the repeated shape or form in this Artwork?

Draw

Now draw how these repeated shape connect and help move your eye through the Artwork creating Rhythm

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Emphasis occurs when the artist makes one part of the work dominant over the other parts. The element noticed first is called dominant; the elements noticed later are called subordinate. Making an element or an object stand out draws the viewer’s eye there first. That area is known as a focal point.

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A focal point can be created in an artwork by using a number of techniques, including: Placement: the subject is placed in or close to the centre of the artwork Scale: the subject is made larger than the other features Detail: the subject is more detailed than the other features of the artwork

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Emphasis calls attention to important areas of a design, however, any one element should not totally dominate. Emphasis is creating a focal point in an artwork, but it can also be used to emphasise shapes or features of objects in an artwork and develop a particular style.

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Emphasis

Draw

Circle the section of the Artwork that the Artist has Emphasised. What is the focal point that your eye is drawn too

Draw

Circle the section of the Artwork that the Artist has Emphasised. What is the focal point that your eye is drawn to?

Draw

Circle the section of the Artwork that the Artist has Emphasised. What is the focal point that your eye is drawn to?

​Unity

Unity is when all of the elements of an artwork combine to make a balanced, harmonious, complete whole. Arranging elements into meaningful visual organisation. Unity can be created through the use of similar colours, shapes or tones or through a particular meaning or style in the artwork. Unity is made by simplicity, repetition, proximity and continuation. Unity is achieved by creating an attachment between each of the elements, whether they replaced close to each other, touch, overlap, or come together to form part of a sequence.

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Unity is also created through compositional structure. An implied triangle is often used to create a sense of unity within an composition. By placing the elements and/or subject matter in a triangle or series of triangles, it is possible to make a united picture. The base of the triangle is solid and stable, therefore it is an ideal structure to use to achieve wholeness within a composition.

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Multiple Select

Select the Artworks using the principle of unity

YOU DID IT!!

Now you're an expert on

The Elements & Principles of Visual Art​

Great work!