The Elements and Principles

of Art

The Elements of Art

The building blocks or ingredients of art.

The Seven Elements of Art

• LINE

• SHAPE

• FORM

• VALUE

• COLOR

• TEXTURE

• SPACE

LINE

A mark with length and direction.

A continuous mark made on a surface by a moving point.

Gustave Caillebotte

FIVE BASIC LINES

• HORIZONTAL- run parallel to the ground

• VERTICAL-run up and down

• DIAGONAL-slant

• CURVED-change direction gradually

• ZIGZAG-combination of diagonal lines that change direction

Ansel Adams

LINE QUALITY

• Width-thick or thin

• Texture-rough or smooth• Length- long or short

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso, Mother and Child, 1881

SHAPE

An enclosed area defined and determined by other art elements;

2-dimensional, flat, having length and width.

Joan Miro

The Three Musicians, 1921, Pablo Picasso• GEOMETRIC SHAPES-based in math

The Knife Thrower, 1947, Henri Matisse

• ORGANIC SHAPES- based in nature

FORMFORMA 3-dimensional object; or in 2-dimensional artwork it appears to be 3-dimensional. It shows volume. It has length, width and depth.

For example, a triangle, which is 2-dimensional, is a shape, but a pyramid, which is 3-dimensional, is a form.

Jean Arp

Lucien FreudThe Bath, 1891, Mary Cassatt

VALUEThe lightness or darkness of a black and white or color.

MC Escher Pablo Picasso

Migrant Worker, Nipomo California, 1936, Dorthea Lange

Violin and Pitcher, 1910, Georges Braque

COLORConsists of Hue (another word for color), Intensity (brightness/dullness) and Value (lightness or darkness).

Henri MatisseAlexander Calder

Gustave Caillebotte

TEXTURETEXTURE

The surface quality or "feel" of an object, its smoothness, roughness, softness, etc. Textures may be actual or implied.

Illustration to Edgae Allen Poe’s, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, 1919, Harry Clarke

Cecil Buller

Robert Mapplethorpe

Claude Monet

S P A C EThe distance or area between, around, above, below, or within things.

Positive (filled with something) and Negative (empty areas).

Foreground, Middleground and Background (creates DEPTH)

The School of Athens, 1509, Raphael

One-Point Perspective-creates deep space in an artwork.

The Principles of Art

What we use to organize the Elements of Art,

or the tools to make art.

THE ELEMENTS and PRINCIPLES

WORK HAND AND HAND WHEN CREATING ARTWORK!!!!

Principles of Art• PATTERN• RHYTHM• MOVEMENT• BALANCE• CONTRAST• EMPHASIS• UNITY

PATTERNand Repetition

The repeating of an object or symbol. It can be planned or random repetitions.

Gustav Klimt

RHYTHM RHYTHM RHYTHM RHYTHM

A regular repetition of elements to produce the look and feel of movement.

Marcel Duchamp

MOVEMENT• The path the viewer’s eye takes through the

artwork, often to focal areas.

BALANCE

The way the elements are arranged to create a feeling of stability in a work.

Alexander Calder

Symmetrical Balance

The parts of an image are organized so that one side mirrors the other.

Leonardo DaVinci

Asymmetrical Balance

When one side of a composition does not reflect the design of the other.

James Whistler

RADIAL

• Symmetrical Design which is circular.

CONTRAST

A large difference between two things to create interest and tension.

Ansel AdamsSalvador Dali

EMPHASIS

The focal point of an image, or when one area or thing stand out the most.

Jim Dine Gustav Klimt

Vincent VanGogh

UNITY

When all the elements and principles work together to create a pleasing image.

Johannes Vermeer