Elements of Art and Principles of Design

Realy easy to understand the Elements of Art

and the Principles of Design

Space.

Space is one of the seven Elements of Art.

      Space is the area around, above, and within an object. But the feeling of space in a painting or drawing is always an illusion. Painters have been creating the illusion of space for a very long time. Leonardo Da Vinci recorded these devices to show the illusion of space during the Italian Renaissance.

     There are six easy ways to make our three-dimensional drawings and give the illusion of depth and space (by Miriam Paternoster, Arte a scuola)

1. Overlapping. Occurs when a figure partially hides an object that's behind it. Our brain beli
eves that one is closer and the other further.
2. Shading. Light and shadow create the illusion of form and space.
3. Placement on the paper. Elements placed on the top of the  picture are appear to be in the distance.
4. Size. The smaller objects will appear to be further away from the viewer.
5. Value and focus.

• Lighter values and less detail suggest distance. 
• Perception of detail and clarity decrease as things go back into space.
• Objects that are further away are cooler in color temperature, while objects that are closer are warmer.  Color seems to become less intense as it gets further away.

6. Linear Perspective. Linear perspective is a drawing method that uses lines to create the illusion of space on a flat surface.  Things appear to get smaller as they go back into space.

Textures

Questions:

1. Do you know what a texture is?
2. Touch some objects you have around you. What do you feel when touching them?
3. Look at the objects and textiles around you. Do you see any texture?
4. Do artists use Textures in Art?

Whenever you talk about the surface quality of an object, you are discussing its texture.

Texture is the element of art that refers to the way things feel, or look as if you could feel if touched (the illusion of touch).

Types of textures

Texture is the character of a surface and is both tactile and visual.

• Tactile texture is the tactile quality of a surface, such as rough, smooth, sticky, fuzzy, soft or slick. A real texture is one you can actually feel with your hand, such as a piece of sandpaper, a wet glass, or animal fur. It also can be created by an artist by doing a collage.
• Visual texture is a visual quality of a surface. It is the result from painting or drawing as the real texture.  Visual texture is an illusion of texture created by an artist. Paint can be manipulated to give the impression of texture, while the paper surface remains smooth and flat.   

 

This four images are axamples of Tactile texture: Wood, water, grass and paper.

 Two examples of tactile texture: textile and writing.

 

 

Value. Light and shade.

 Questions:______________________________________________________________

1. Think of different light sources. 
2. Is there any difference between natural and artificial light?
3. What happens when there is no light? 
4. What happens when an object stands in front of the light?
5. Will the shade be the same if we change the position of the light?

     Light and shadows visually define objects. Before you can draw the light and shadows you see, you need to train your eyes to see like an artist.

Values are the different shades of grey between white and black. Artists use values to translate the light and shadows to create the illusion of a third dimension.

     A full range of values is the basic ingredient for shading. When you can draw lots of different values, you can begin to add shading, and therefore depth, to your drawings. With shading, the magical illusion of three-dimensional reality appears on your drawing paper.

 

Form or Volume.

     Questions

• What is a form?
• Do you remember what a geometric shape is? Name me some.

FORM and VOLUME___________________________________________________________

   
      Form is an element of art. At its most basic, a form is a three-dimensional geometrical figure (i.e.: sphere, cube, cylinder, cone, etc.), as opposed to a shape, which is two-dimensional, or flat.
 A form always has three dimensions; length, width and height. When you stand next to an object you can go round it and see the three dimensions.

    Volume (three-dimensionality) can be simulated in a two-dimensional work (like a drawing) thanks to the use of light and shadows, perspective, etc.

SOLIDS_______________________________________________________________________

     Solids are three dimensional rigid bodies that occupy some volume or capacity. Solids have length, width and height.

 Type of Solids:

• Polyhedron: regular and others.
• Non Polyhedron

    1. Polyhedron is a geometric solid in three dimensions with flat faces and straight edges. Each surface is a polygon.

     2. Non Polyhedron: solids like cylinder, cone, and sphere have surfaces which are curved or combination of both curved and flat surfaces.

     

Colour light versus Colour pigment

Questions:
   •  What does colour mean?
   •  Would we see the colour without light?
   •  When do you see a rainbow? Why?
   •  Do all the animals see the same colours? And what about people?

Light and Vision_____________________________________________________

     The Colour spectrum: The familiar colors of the rainbow in the spectrum – named using the Latin word for appearance or apparition by Isaac Newton in 1671 – include all those colors that are visible to the human eye. 

      The ability of the human eye to distinguish colours is based upon the varying sensitivity of different cells in the retina to light of different wavelengths. The colour that we see is the result of a part of the visible spectrum that is reflected. We see a red apple because only that part of the spectrum is reflected. Black occurs because all the colours of the spectrum are absorbed rather than being reflected.

     If one or more types of a person's colour-sensing cones are missing or less responsive than normal to incoming light, that person can distinguish fewer colours and is said to be colour deficient or colour blind.
 

B

A

On the left the colours of the rainbow as viewed by a person with no colour vision deficiencies.

On the right the colours of the rainbow as viewed by a person with colour blindness.

Shape.

Shape is one of the seven Elements of Art. 

Questions:

• What is a Shape?
• Can you name a shape?

1.  A shape is created when a line is enclosed.

2. It is a 2 dimensional area with width and lenght.

3. The are 2 types of shapes:

 Geometric shapes

 Organic shapes

4. You can turn a Shape into a Form by adding 3D: a square into a cube, etc.

To find out more about Shape go to The Virtual Instructor.

LINE

"A Line is a Dot that went for a walk" Paul Klee

         

     Line is one of the most important Elements of Art. Imagine creating a painting, 
sculpture or design without drawing lines to divide the paper or canvas into shapes and forms!. Think about how important a role Line plays in 
the creation process. Lines can communicate an idea or express a feeling. They 
can appear static or active. Lines define objects. We will take a look at how artists 
use line expressively.
 
Line

•  is the path of a moving point: horizontal, vertical, diagonal.
•  is the mark left by a tool: brush, pencil, pen, etc.
•  defines the position and direction of a design, image or form.
•  Types of line include vertical, horizontal, diagonal, contour or a combination of these.
•  They may be curved, straight, thick, thin, smooth, long, short and so forth.
•  Lines are used to create shape, pattern, texture, space, movement and optical illusion in design.
•  The use of lines allows artist to demonstrate delicacy or force.
•  Curves may take us slowly uphill, or turn sharply twisting our mind as they turn.
•   a line can express various moods and feelings.

Look around your class. Look at the edge of objects ... you are looking at lines!.

Learn more about lines  and practice drawing with them.

Engraving. Germany, 1568.

Pablo Picasso

DOT

Every painting, drawing, or photograph is a collection of dots and lines.

Dot:
  •  is a small spot that is usually circular in shape.
  •  It often denotes the starting position of a design from which other elements such as line, shape and plane  are brought into motion.
  •  Dots are often used in multitudes or in combinations to form patterns, rhythm and movement.

Pointillism: Pointillism was a movement in France where painters mixed colours on the canvas by placing dots side by side so that when viewed from a distance they were blended by the eye. This is really called an optical illusion.

A sunday afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884-86. Seurat.

Kiss by Roy Lichtenstein is an example of how Pop Art often exhibited dots. The symbolism was about mechanistic printing methods.

Kiss, by Roy Lichtenstein. 1964

• Printed examples: Newspaper, pixel in a picture, etc
• Light dots examples: TV, computer.

Elements of Art and Principles of Design

     In order to appreciate art, you must understand its language. So, if Art is a language, what is its grammar or structure? We will find the answer in the Elements of Art and Principles of Design.

The Elements of Art are:

• Dot (not really)
• Line
• Shape
• Colour
• Texture
• Value
• Form or Volume
• Space

 

The Principle of Design. They help us to organize and unify our works of art. Artists "design" their works by controlling and ordering the Elements of Art in them. If we just put objects anywhere in a work of art—without thinking about how to arrange them—that work would probably not be very interesting, or very good. The Principles of Design help us to create effective compositions.

• Unity
• Variety
• Balance
• Contrast
• Emphasis
• Pattern
• Proportion
• Movement
• Rhythm
• Dominance

As you study Visual Art, and the world around you, you will notice that these Elements and Principles never appear by themselves.

Elements Of Art 2009 from Riverwood HS