Composition and Principles of Design

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Digital Photography Q1
1.3
Composition and Principles of Design
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Art Basics 101 To discuss art, one needs to
understand about composition and the elements and
principles of art. Those are the basics. One
might even call them the science of art. In a
nutshell, the elements of art are building
blocks. The principles are the ways the blocks
can be used. The composition is the way in which
specific blocks can be used to make a particular
work of art. This slideshow will briefly cover
composition and these elements and principles of
design.
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• Elements of Art
• Line
• Color
• Shape/Form
• Space
• Value
• Texture

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ELEMENT Line A line in art is a continuous
mark made on a surface by a moving object. It
has length and direction. The main types of line
are descriptive, expressive and implied.
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• ELEMENT Color
• Color  is the relationship of a surface to the
  spectrum of reflected light. There is a complex
  theory of color which can be studied in depth.
• Basically, color has three properties
• Hue, - the name of the color such as blue or
  red
• Intensity - the purity and saturation of the
  color translating into brightness or dullness
• Value - the range of lightness to darkness of the
  color

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ELEMENT Shape or Form Shape is 2 dimensional
but may give the appearance of being 3
dimensional. It is an enclosed space with
recognizable boundaries. Form is 3 dimensional.
It is a space that surrounds volume. Cylinders,
spheres, and cubes are examples of various forms.
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ELEMENT Space Space refers to the area between,
around, below, above or within things. It can be
positive or negative. It can describe both 2 and
3 dimensional areas.
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ELEMENT Value Value describes the range of
lightness and darkness both in color and in
grayscale. Without value, volume could not be
expressed on a 2 dimensional surface.
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ELEMENT Texture Texture is that element of art
that describes the surface quality of an object.
This description shows qualities such as
roughness, softness, smoothness. In two
dimensional art, texture is usually simulated and
not actual. It visually shows what it would feel
like to touch such a texture. Photography
captures the actual three dimensional texture and
documents it as two dimensional texture.
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What is Composition? Composition is the
organization or placement of visual elements in a
work of art.
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Principles of Art Fact is that not everyone
agrees on exactly which qualities make up the
principles of art. If you do a web search for
the principles of art you will come up with
similar lists, but not exact lists. Because of
that, this slideshow will include the nine most
commonly used rules or principles. Ordinarily,
there are around seven.
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• Principles of Art
• Unity
• Variety
• Emphasis
• Balance
• Rhythm
• Movement
• Proportion
• Pattern
• Contrast

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Unity or Harmony Unity  is that quality seen in a
work of art that gives the feeling that all the
parts belong together as a whole.
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Variety Variety is that quality in a work of art
that welcomes differences in shape, color,
texture, value or other elements.
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Emphasis Emphasis refers to those points of
interest or dominance that capture the viewer's
attention
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• Balance
• Balance is a sense of visual stability or
  equality. When an artwork is in balance, no part
  of the work appears to be heavier than the
  others. This is visual balance and not
  necessarily physical balance. There are three
  types of balance
• Symmetrical when one side is the same as the
  other
• Asymmetrical when visual balance does not
  rely on symmetry (as in the image to the left)
• Radial vertical and horizontal balance
  radiating from a center focus (such as a mandala)

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Rhythm Rhythm is an abstract principle of art
that uses repetition in such a way as to create a
pattern that moves the viewer through the art.
Rhythm in visual art is similar to rhythm in
music but is seen rather than heard. While rhythm
is similar to the principles of movement,
repetition and pattern, it remains a distinct
principle because it combines all three.
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Pattern and Repetition Repetition is when one or
more of the elements of art are used repeatedly
in a work of art. An art work can have
repetition without having a pattern. A pattern is
repetition that is used in such a way as to
anticipate what comes next. Elements are
repeated in a regular manner. The pattern can be
a simple one or it can range to very complex.
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Movement Movement  Is a visual flow that guides
the viewer through the artwork. Movement gives
the viewer a sense of action through look or
feel or both. Because photography freezes a
moment in time, movement is sometimes captured in
such a way as to give the photograph tension and
anticipation for the follow through of the
movement as in the photograph to the left.
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Proportion Proportion is the relationship of the
size or amount of objects in an artwork both to
each other and to the artwork as a whole.
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Contrast In art, contrast generally means
comparisons in the range of light from brightest
to darkest. In digital photography contrast is
important and a word that is used often to mean
several different things. In the image at the
left as you follow the blue tube you will see the
varying degrees of contrast with the shadows on
the tube and in the background.