Study of Elements of Art

Elements of Art:

The elements are the basic components used by an artist when creating works of art. It’s hard to imagine anything visual without the use of one or more of these elements. The elements are line, shape, form, texture, & color. Understanding the elements and principles of art helps people think and talk about art.

Line

• Line is one of the elements of art. You can find variety of lines in works of art and everywhere you look.

• There are many different kinds of lines. Here are some common lines, practice making some lines of your own.

Artworks using Line

Shape • Shape is one of the elements of art. When lines meet,

shapes are formed.• Shapes are flat. Some shapes are geometric, such as

squares, circles, triangles, rectangles, and ovals. Other shapes are organic, like shapes from nature such as irregular or free form shapes.

These shapes are geometric.

These shapes are organic.

Create some of your own shapes then label them as geometric or organic.

Form

• Form is one of the elements of art. Forms are three-dimensional. They have height, width and depth (thickness). Shapes are flat; forms are not.

• Here are some common forms:

You can learn to shade shapes so they look like 3-D forms. Practice drawing the outlines of some basic forms.

Then try shading to make them appear as though they are 3-D.

Texture

• Texture is one of the elements of art. Texture is the way something feels when you touch it. Artists also can create the illusion of texture in artworks such as drawing paintings and prints.

Draw some other examples of texture, then describe them using texture words. 

Leafy, cloudy slippery, hard shiny, silky shiny, rough

Color

• Color is one of the elements of art. Artists have invented many different media that imitate the colors of light. Painters, for example, use powdered pigments to reproduce the colors of the rainbow.

Color has 3 properties:

1. Hue: the name of the color itself

2. Value: the lightness or darkness of a color

3. Intensity: the brightness or dullness of a color

is the lightness or darkness of a color. You can get different values of a color by mixing its shades and tints.

Shades are dark values of a color.

Color + black= Shade

Tints are light values of a color.

Color + white= Tint

Try making your own value scale using pressure & blending.

Value

Color Wheel

• Primary colors

The primary colors are red, blue, and yellow. Primary colors cannot be made from other colors.

Secondary Colors• Secondary colors: The secondary colors are

green, orange, and violet (purple). A secondary color is made by mixing two primary colors. Each secondary color is made from two primary colors on either side of it in the color wheel.

Warm, Cool & Neutral Colors• Warm colors are made mostly of red,

orange, and yellow. This family of colors is called warm because they remind you of warm things like the sun and fire.

Vincent van Gogh used warm colors in this painting of Sunflowers.

Cool Colors• Cool colors are made mostly of green, blue,

and violet (purple). This family of colors is called cool because they remind you of cool things like a cool forest or a cold lake.

This painting, Water Lillies by Claude Monet uses cool colors to suggest a quiet pond.

Neutral Colors

• Neutral colors or earth tones are not seen on most color wheels. Black, gray, and white are neutral. Browns, beiges and tans are sometimes neutral too.

This painting, Head of a Dog, by Pierre Renoir uses neutral colors.

Resources

• Sanford Lifetime of Color Web sitehttp://www.sanford-artedventures.com/

• Artsonia: Education through Artwww.artsonia.com

Created by Gena Maley http://www.murray.kyschools.us/MMS/maley-home.asp

Information adapted from the following resources: