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ELEMENTS OF ART & DESIGN

 

 

The elements of art are the "building blocks" of an art piece. They are the basic components of art-marking. It is impossible to create a work of art without using at least one of the seven elements of art, which are: line, shape, form, tone, texture, pattern and colour. They are often used together, and how they are organised in a piece of art determines what the finished piece will look like.

 
LINE
Line is the path left by a moving point. For example, a pencil or a brush dipped in paint. A line can take many forms. It can be horizontal, diagonal or curved. It can also change over its length, starting off curved and ending up horizontal.

Line can be used to show many different qualities, such as:

  • contours - showing the shape and form of something.

  • feelings or expressions - a short, hard line gives a different     feeling to a more flowing one

  • movements

FORM
 
Form is a three dimensional shape, such as a cube, sphere or cone.Sculpture and 3D design are about creating forms.In 2D artworks, tone and perspective can be used to create an illusion of form.

Form refers to objects that are 3-Dimensional, or have length, width, and height. The world we live in made up almost entirely of forms. As artists, we must have a strong understanding of form and how to create the illusion of form in drawings and paintings.

SHAPE

Shape is a two-dimensional area  enclosed by a line. Shapes can be either geometric, like a circle, square or triangle or organic or freeform shapes. Shapes defined by objects are positive shapes (space). Shapes defined around objects are negative shapes (space).

The relationships between the positive and negative shapes help the brain of our viewers understand what they are seeing. Our brains are even capable of making sense of complex relationships between positive and negative shapes.

VALUE
 
This refers to the lightness or darkness of something. Value is created by the way light falls on a 3D object. The parts of the object on which the light is strongest are called highlights and the darker areas are called shadows. 

Value deals directly to light. We see things because light reflects off of objects and goes into our eyes. Our mind processes the light and rationalizes what we are seeing. It  is the key to the illusion of light and it is why value is so incredibly important to drawing and painting.

SPACE
 
Space space refers to distances or areas around, between or within components. The area around the primary objects in a work of art is known as negative space, while the space occupied by the primary objects is known as positive space. It can also refer to the artist's use of the area within the picture plane (foreground, middleground and background). 

An artist uses space to denote the: 

Foreground: tis the visual plane that appears closest to the viewer.
Middleground: is the visual plane located between both the foreground and background.

Background: is the plane in a composition percieved furthest from the viewer.

 
TEXTURE
This is to do with the surface quality of something, the way something feels or looks like it feels. There are two types of texture: actual texture and visual texture.
 
COLOUR

The element of art derived from reflected or absorbed light. Colour adds interest and mood to a work of art.  Colour theory are the guiding principles that can be used to create harmoniuos colour combinations.

Actual texture really exists, so you can feel it or touch it. You can create actual texture in an artwork by changing the surface, such as sticking different fabrics onto a canvas.
 

Visual texture is created using marks to represent actual texture. It gives the illusion of a texture or surface but if you touched it, it would be smooth. You can create visual texture by using different lines, shapes, colours or tones. Think about how different marks can be used to show texture.

Colour theory can be divided into colour wheel, colour harmony and colour meaning.

 

  • Colour wheel:  diagram of the spectrum used to show the organization and relationships between the colors.

  • Colour harmony: pleasing arrangement to create visual interest and a sense of order.

  • Color symbolism: color meaning it is often a cultural agreement and opinion about the association and anecdotal information about colour.

LINKS

 

ELEMENTS OF ART

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