Learning a Visual Vocabulary

•Elements of Art

•Principles of Art

The Elements of ArtThere are 6 elements of art:

Color

Texture

Line

Value

Shape/Form

Space

COLOR

Primary Colors

• Red

• Yellow

• Blue

Secondary Colors

• Orange

• Green

• Violet

Intermediate Colors

• Yellow-Green

• Yellow-Orange

• Blue-Green

• Blue-Violet

• Red-Violet

• Red-Orange

Complementary Colors

• Colors opposite each other on the color wheel

• Ex:

• Red & green

• Blue & orange

• Yellow & violet

Warm Colors

• Hues containing red & yellow

• Advance or come forward in a painting

• Sunlight often painted with warm colors

Cool Colors

• Hues containing green or blue

• Seem to recede or go back into a painting

• Water often painted with cool colors

Texture•The quality of a surface, what you can feel and see

•What are some things that have texture? Describe them

Simulated Texture

•The surface appears to have texture

(an illusion)

Line

• Thick or thin

• Continuous or interrupted

• Straight or curved

• Vertical, horizontal or diagonal

• Geometric or organic

Van Gogh

Kandinsky

Value• The light or dark quality of a color or shape in

a painting• Black is the darkest value while white is the

lightest• Most successful paintings have a contrast in

value• The stronger the contrast, the more dramatic

the painting seems

Shape

• An enclosed space having only two-dimensions

• Can be geometric or organic

Form• Three-dimensional

and encloses volume

• Geometric: cubes, pyramids, boxlike, cones…

• Irregular: pencils, horses, bottles, people…

• The most important element for sculptors

Space• Illusion of space

Artists create an illusion of space in a painting

• Artists use perspective to show depth or space in a painting

• Perspective: the representation of 3D objects and space on a flat surface

Aerial Perspective: Creates the illusion of distance by muting color and blurring detail

as objects get farther away• Far away

–Lighter values

–The edges become softer/more blurred

• Up close

–Values are darker

–Colors are more intense

Analysis of a Painting• Subject matter: Which subject matter best describes your

painting? Why?• Elements of Art: (COMPLETE SENTENCES)

– Color: What kinds of the color? How does the artist use color?

– Texture: What kind of texture, where? How does it contribute to the painting?

– Line: What kinds of line? How does it contribute to the painting?

– Value: Light? Dark? Where? How does it contribute to the painting?

– Shape/Form: What kinds? Where? How does it contribute to the painting?

– Space: Is it deep or shallow space? How do you know? How does it contribute to the painting?