Elements of Art and Principles of Design

Elements of Art
The elements of art are the components used to create, or build, a work of art 

Texture: The surface quality that can be seen and felt. Textures can be rough or smooth, soft or hard. Textures do not always feel the way they look; for example, a drawing of a porcupine may look prickly, but if you touch the drawing, the paper is still smooth.

• Drawn Texture: Texture that is drawn that looks like a physical texture

Line: is a mark with greater length than width. Lines can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal; straight or curved; thick or thin.

• Contour Line: A line that designates an edge of something, such as an eye, face, etc.  These lines vary in length and width.

Color: The visible spectrum of light you see. Color has three main characteristics: hue (the name of the color, such as red, green, blue, etc.), value (how light or dark it is), and intensity (how bright or dull it is).

• Primary Colors: Red, Blue, or Yellow-These colors mix to create the secondary colors
• Secondary Colors: Green, Purple, Orange- Colors that can be obtained by mixing two primary colors
• Cool Colors: The darker colors on the color wheel, blue, purple, green
• Warm Colors: The warmer colors on the color wheel, red, yellow, orange
• Neutral Colors: Black, White, Gray, Brown (image to the right)
• Complement: Colors opposite to each other on the color wheel.
• Analogous: Colors next to each other on the color wheel
• Monochromatic: When you only use one color and various shades and tints of that color.
• Triad: Three colors that are evenly spaced out on the color wheel, i.e. primary colors, secondary colors

Shape: Lines that connect to enclose an area

• Geometric Shape: Shapes such as squares, triangles, etc. that have clear edges and starting and stopping points.
• Organic Shapes: Shapes such as a puddle of water that have curved forms and unclear starting and stopping points

Value/Shade: How light falls on an object. The areas of dark and light in a picture.

• Highlight: An area the has the most light.
• Cast Shadow: The shadow create on the ground create by an object blocking light.
• High and Low Key: High key refers to places with a lot of light (like a highlight).  Low key refers to dark shades.  There is also middle key. The image provided shows a variety of shades.  

Space: This principle refers either to the physical area in and around a sculpture or the illusion of area created in a 2-D work of art.

• Negative Space: The background or the area around a work of art.
• Positive Space: The actual subject or foreground of a work of art.
• Linear Perspective: A technique that create an illusion of space by using a horizon line and vanishing point

Form: Any three-dimensional object.

• Form can be measured, from top to bottom (height), side to side (width), and from back to front (depth). 
• Form is also defined by light and dark. 
• There are two types of form, geometric (man-made) and natural (organic form). 
• Form may be created by the combining of two or more shapes.

Principles of Design

The way the elements of art are organized, or arranged, in a work of art

Balance: The sense that a picture is visually balanced.

• Symmetrical: Both sides (top and bottom, right and left, etc) of the picture are the same.
• Radial: A picture balanced around a central point and that can be rotated 3 or more times and still look the same.  (example to the left)
• Asymmetrical Balance: A picture that is visually balanced but different on each side.

Rhythm: Similar elements or patterns that repeat

• Regular: A pattern that is much like a beat in music.  Its continuous and always the same.
• Alternating: A pattern that switches back and forth like a zig zag or a wavy line.
• Progressive: A pattern type that slowing changes in shape, size or another element of art.
• Random: A pattern that uses a motif or an element that ties a group of randomly organized shapes together.
• Flowing: A pattern type that uses several similar marks to create a general sense. Water often has flowing rhythms. (Image to the left)

Emphasis: The place your eye is drawn to first in a picture

• Point of Emphasis: A technique for emphasis that uses directional forces to “point” to a central location.
• Framing: The technique for emphasis that “frames” the object or area of emphasis with some element of art.
• Grouping: Putting several similar shapes or other elements close together creating emphasis
• Contrast: Using an element that is different then the rest of the piece to create emphasis.
• Size: Creating emphasis by making the area of emphasis the largest thing in the piece.
• Clarity/Detail: A type of emphasis that uses greater detail in the areas where the point of emphasis is. The image to the right shows this because the girl has the most detail, while the background is fussy.

Movement: The sense of motion or the feel that your eye is carried around the picture, visually. This can be implied, directional (pointing) or real.

Variety: Occurs when an artist creates something that looks different from the rest of the artwork. An artist may use variety to make you look at a certain part or make the artwork more interesting. It helps to create interest and avoid monotony.

Harmony: Using similar elements and principles in such a way that everything in a picture “feels” like it belongs. This can be done with similar elements such as soft textures.

Proportion: The size relationships of one part to another part or to the whole.