The

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The
Elements and Principles of Art
Including Media and Processes
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In order to understand and appreciate art, you
must understand its language
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The Elements and Principles of Design

• The Elements of Design are
• Line, Shape, Form, Space, Value,Texture and Color
• These are considered to be the grammar of art
• The Principles of Design are
• Unity, Variety, Balance, Contrast, Emphasis,
  Pattern, Proportion, Movement and Rhythm
• These are like the rules of grammar they form
  the guidelines that artists follow when they
  combine the various elements of design
• As you study visual art, and the world around
  you, you will notice that these Elements and
  Principles never appear by themselves.

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Now we will be learning
the definitions for
our new "grammar"
and looking at examples for each
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Line

• Everywhere you look, you see lines.
• In nature you can
• see lines in tree
• branches
  
• In a curving river
• 
  
• 
  

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The manufactured world provides examples too

• Lines formed by wires Edges of buildings
• And winding roads

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• As you have seen, lines can have many qualities
• They can be curved
  or straight
• Vertical horizontal diagonal
• Thick or thin smooth or rough
• 
  
• Light or dark and continuous or broken
• 
  
• In artworks, straight lines generally
  suggest directness or clarity while curving lines
  imply gentleness or movement. Vertical lines can
  give an artwork strength while horizontal lines
  convey calmness and tranquility. Diagonal lines
  convey action and energythink of a lightening
  bolt or a falling tree. Very thick lines appear
  strong while a thin line appears weak or
  delicate. Fuzzy lines imply softness while smooth
  lines imply harder surfaces. Repeated lines can
  create patterns, textures and even rhythms.

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• Lines can also be implied or real.
• A real line is one you can actually see (Ex.
  A) while an implied line is the suggestion of a
  line (Ex. B) An implied line may also be
  suggested by a string of objects (Ex. C)
• (A) (B) (C)

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Shape

• Shape is a 2-dimensional object (it is flat)
  It has height and width but no depth. Shapes can
  be either geometric or organic.
• Geometric shapes ---circles, squares and
  rectangles---are regular and precise. They
• can be measured.
• Organic shapes are irregular---seashells,
  leaves, flowers, etc.

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Shape

• An artwork is often made up of positive and
  negative shapes. The positive shapes are usually
  the solid objects that the artist depicts (see
  below). The negative shapes are formed by the
  areas around or between the objects (the sky,
  grass, mountains, etc)

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Form

• A form is 3-Dimensional. It has height, width AND
  depth. As with shapes, Forms can be regular and
  precise or irregular and organic.
• 3-D art, such as sculptures, architecture and
  crafts, is composed of forms. In 2-D art, artists
  can only create the illusion of form.

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Space

• In a 2-D work of art, space is limited to
  the picture plane. By using color and/or value
  you can make objects appear to advance (come
  forward) or recede (go back) into space to create
  an illusion of depth. Objects with clear surface
  detail appear nearer to the viewer than fuzzy or
  plain objects. Also, an illusion of space can be
  accomplished when objects overlap or are placed
  higher on the picture plane.

Items farther away appear less detailed or fuzzy
Objects farther away are placed higher on the
picture plane
Overlapping gives the illusion of space too.
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As you can see in this example of linear
perspective, in which parallel lines recede
toward a common vanishing point, the illusion of
3-D space is created on a 2-D surface. Objects
farther away are higher up on the picture
plane, there is overlapping of buildings and less
detail as the image seems farther away from the
viewer.
Objects farther away are placed higher on the
picture plane and are less detailed e
Buildings are overlapped to create an illusion of
space
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Value

• Value refers to the lightness and darkness of a
  color. Value is commonly known as shading of an
  object.

A value scale, such as this one, can show the
full range of a color. This is accomplished by
adding black to a color to make shades or adding
white to a color to make tints.
SHADES
TINTS
ORIGINAL COLOR
Accomplished artists know, that to make a drawing
look as real as possible, they must show a full
value range in their artwork
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Texture

• Texture is the tactile quality of a surface,
  such as rough, smooth, sticky, fuzzy, soft or
  slick. Like line, texture can be real or implied.
  A real texture is one that can be felt, such as a
  piece of sandpaper, a woven mat, or animal fur.
  In an artwork, real texture can be created
  through thickly applied paint, glossy glazes, and
  gluing objects to the surface. Implied texture is
  an illusion of texture created by an artist. As
  you can see below, this artist created a sense of
  smooth water and prickly grass.

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Color
Color

• Color is everywhere. In our clothes, the
  sky, trees, flowers, billboards designed to
  attract our attention, on the web and on
  television.
• There are literally thousands of colors from
  bright to dull (intensity) and light to dark
  (value). Colors are powerful they can make
  objects seem to glow, to come forward and recede,
  or to appear bigger or smaller.
• Colors can also be symbolic, with meanings
  that change from culture to culture. A color can
  symbolize an object or thing such as blue for
  water and green for grass and the leaves of trees
  or it may symbolize an emotion or idea, such as
  red for love, yellow for fear and blue for
  sadness. A trained artist is familiar with all of
  these options and can select and combine colors
  to create a desired impression or to evoke a
  certain mood.

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Color

• Color is a property of light. When we
  say an object is red, we mean that its
  surface absorbs certain wavelengths of
  light that we call red, we identify the
  object as red in color. If all
  wavelengths of light are absorbed, we identify
  the color as black, if all wavelengths
  of color are reflected, we see white.
• Color has 3 characteristics hue, value and
  intensity.
• Hue is actually the color we seesuch as
  red. Value
• refers to the lightness and darkness of a
  hue. For
• example, maroon is a dark value (shade) of
  red and
• pink is a light value (tint) of red.
• Intensity is the brightness or dullness of
  a color.

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Color

• Red, Yellow
  and Blue are called Primary colors (P)and
  are used to create the rest of the colors on
  the color wheel.
• When you mix two primary
  colors together, you get a Secondary
  color (S). These colors are Orange (yellow
  and red), Green (blue and yellow) and violet
  (red and blue)
• And when you mix a primary and a secondary
  color together you get an Intermediate color (I).
  These are yellow-green, yellow-orange,
  red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet and blue-green

P
S
I
I
S
I
I
I
I
P
P
S
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• Color Schemes
• When two colors are located directly
  across from each other on the wheel,
  they are referred to as complementary
  colors.
• Artists often pair complementary colors together
• because the area where they meet seems to
• vibrate. You can also lessen the intensity of a
• color by adding a small amount of its
• complementary color.
• What pair of complimentary colors did this artist
  
• use in this picture?

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• Color Schemes
• A monochromatic color scheme makes use of
  only one hue and its tints and shades. This
  scheme can produce appealing pictures as you can
  see below.

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• Color Schemes
• An analogous color scheme is made up
• of three or four colors that are adjacent
• on the color wheel.

What set of analogous colors are used in this
example?
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• Color Temperatures
• Have you ever noticed that colors seem to have
  different temperatures?
• Reds, Oranges and Yellows are
  warm colors. They remind us of the
  sun or fire and can add a feeling of
  excitement, boldness or happiness to a
  work of art. Warm colors make objects
  seem larger and appear to advance in
  an artwork.
• Greens, Blues, and Violets are cool
• colors. They remind us of lakes,
• distant mountains, sky and foliage.
• Cool colors tend to be calm and
• restful. They recede into the
• distance and make objects seem smaller.

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• Unity
• Unity is a sense of cohesiveness, a feeling
  that all the parts of something belong or work
  together. This is an important principle because
  a unified work looks complete and orderly. There
  are many ways to create unity in a work of art a
  dominant theme or idea, a texture or repeated
  color, line, shape, etc.

What creates unity in this picture?
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• Variety
• Variety generally accompanies unity in a work
  of art it adds visual interest by giving the eye
  different things to focus on. Artists create
  variety by including shapes, textures, lines, etc
  in many sizes and/or contrasting colors.

How has this artist shown variety? What elements
has he used to create it?
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• Balance
• There are 3 basic kinds of balance
• symmetrical, asymmetrical and radial
• Symmetrical balance occurs when one
• side of an object or painting is identical
• (or nearly so) to the other side. In nature,
• the human face and butterflies are examples.
• Symmetry can create a sense of calmness
• and formality, but sometimes it can be
• visually boring.

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• Balance
• Asymmetrical balance occurs when the two sides
  are balanced but different. Small objects near
  the center may balance out large objects
• nearer to the middle or
• large areas of light color or
• value may balance out small
• darker areas.
• Asymmetrical balance can
• be both subtle and exciting.

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• Radial Balance
• When a design exhibits
• radial balance, its parts
• spread out from the
• center.
• The spokes of a wheel
• is an example of radial
• balance.
• Radial balance is also symmetrical and often
  produces a graceful rhythm or a sense of turning.

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• Contrast
• The world around you is full
• of contrast a red flower on a
• green plant, a smooth pond
• surrounded by a rough
• shoreline, a fragile spider web
• attached to a sturdy fence post.
• Contrast creates interest. In an
• artwork, a strong contrast of light
• and dark will draw a viewer into
• a particular place in an artwork.
• As will contrasts of rough and
• smooth areas, warm and cool
• areas, straight and curved lines, or
• plain and patterned areas.
• What has the artist used as contrasts in
• this work of art?

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• Emphasis
• Artists use emphasis to create a center of
  interestthe part of the work they want the
  viewer to notice first. Sometimes an artist
  chooses to emphasize a single element of design
  to create a center of interest. And sometimes the
  artist separates the center of interest from its
  surroundings, makes it the largest object or
  places it in the center of the composition.
• 
  In any work
  of art, many
  
  
  elements and principles work
  
  together, but almost every
  
  successful work emphasizes
  
  something.
• 
  What is the
  artist trying to get us to notice first
  in this work of art?

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• Pattern
• Individual units or motifs repeated again and
  again, create a pattern. In nature, the hexagonal
  shapes in a honeycomb, stripes of a zebra and the
  petals of a daisy all form patterns. Patterns can
  be found in the columns of buildings, a polka-dot
  tie or the seats of a movie theatre.
• In an artwork, artists can
• use various patterns to
• decorate shapes or to add
• texture to the entire
• surface. Or he or she
• may add a pattern to a
• small area to add visual
• interest or create contrast.

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• Proportion
• Proportion is the relative size of one thing
  compared to the size of something else. In the
  paintings below, compare the proportion of the
  objects in one painting with one another. Do the
  proportions seem correct?

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• Movement
• In a work of art, movement may be the course
  that a viewers eye takes as it moves across the
  surface. Moving from color to color, shape to
  shape or value to value, the
• eye traces a path around the picture.
• Sometimes an artist will add
• elements such as spirals, curves,
• arrow-like shapes or diagonal
• lines to convey a sense of
• movement.
• How has the artist shown movement
• in this picture?

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• Rhythm
• Rhythm is a pattern of movement caused by
  colors, shapes, values, lines, etc. that occur in
  organized repetition. If the size, shape or color
  of the repeated units is the same and if the
  distance between them remains constant, the
  rhythm is predictable and may even be monotonous.
  This is the type of rhythm you could find on
  wrapping paper or wallpaper.
• To add variety and visual excitement, an
  artist may change the size, color or shape of the
  repeated units or vary the spacing between them.
• How does the artist show an
  interesting rhythm in this painting?
  
• Is the rhythm exciting or
  monotonous? How has the artist
  accomplished this?

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Media is the material used by the artist to
produce art. (Media is Plural and Medium is
singular)

• 2-Dimensional media include
• Paint (Egg Tempera, Oil,
• Watercolor and Acrylic) Fabric
• Yarn Paper
• Pastels (Oil and Chalk) Fiber
• Photography Drawing
• Computer-generated art Fiber Art
• Ink Photography

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3-Dimensiona Media include Clay Wood Glass
Metal Stone Metal Plaster Paper
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Art Processes both art methods and the media
used for visual communication in a variety of art
forms 2-Dimensional Processes
include Drawing Painting Printmaking Ph
otography Fiber Art (includes fabric painting,
stamping, batik, tie-dye, etc.
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3-Dimensional Processes include Textiles Ce
ramics Sculpture Architecture Fiber Art
(includes constructing with fiber, weaving, rugs,
crochet, knitting, quilting)