Elements

Elements: The Elements and Principles are essential to understanding, interpreting and talking about art. As you read the following definitions and view examples of how they are used in art work, pack your suitcase, by remembering what each of the Elements and Principles contribute to a work of Art. As you travel along your Journey Through Artline you can refer back to your suitcase in the contents column at the left of your screen any time, by clicking on 'Elements'.

The Element of design: The Elements of Design ... or the Sensory Properties are the building blocks of art. Artists use the elements to express their ideas, just as a writer words to express ideas. uses. The Elements of Design are sometimes called Sensory Properties because the viewer can see and touch them with their senses. You will be using these Elements in your Travel-Log Journal Activity pages. Some Travel-Journal activities will ask you to give specific Elements of Design, and some will ask you to use these Elements of Design to interpret a piece of art.

The Elements of Design are: line, color, value, texture, shape/form, and space.

Line: A line is a form with width and length, but no depth. Artists use lines to create edges, the outlines of objects. A line is created by the movement of the artist's pen.

Line - a mark, or stroke that is longer then it is wide. It is the path of a point moving in space. Objects and things are preceived by the line that describes them. Characteristics of line include: • • •

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Width - thick, thin, tapering, uneven Length - long, short, continous, broken Direction - horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curving, perpendicular, oblique, parallel, radial, zig-zag Focus - sharp, blurry, fuzzy, choppy Feeling - sharp, jagged, graceful, smooth ... can you think of others? Direction - horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curving, perpendicular, oblique, parallel, radial, zig-zag Focus - sharp, blurry, fuzzy, choppy Feeling - sharp, jagged, graceful, smooth ... can you think of others?

Lines describe many things ... Can you choose words to describe the line drawing at the right? Lines can be used to: • • • • • • •

Organize information. Highlight or stress words. Connect pieces of information. Outline a photo or set it off from other elements. Create a grid. (A grid is the underlying structure of a page.) Create a chart or graph. Create a pattern or rhythm by drawing many lines.

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Direct the reader's eye or create a sense of motion. (Create a sense of action by using a diagonal line.) Suggest an emotion.

Color: The sensation resulting from reflection or absorption of light by a surface. Hue is another name for color. Primary colors are hues from which all other colors can be made: red, yellow, blue. Secondary colors are made from mixing equal parts of the Primary colors: orange, green, violet. Tertiary colors are those colors between Primary and Secondary colors: yelloworange, red-orange, etc. Complementary colors are colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel: redgreen, orange-blue, yellowviolet. Locate all of these on the Color Wheel on the left. Analogous colors are colors that are adjacent (side by side) to each other on the color wheel.

Monochromatic colors are variations in value of one color by adding either white to make tints or black to make shades. Tints are made when white is added to a pure hue to make light values. A Shade is when black is added to a pure hue to make dark values. Where are the tints and the shades in the painting on the left? Intensity refers to the brightness or dullness of a color. • •

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Descriptors: brilliant, medium, dull. Colors have degrees of transparency: A color is Transparent if the viewer can see clearly through it. A color is translucent if it admits light but the image is diffused and can not be seen clearly. A color is opaque if it can't be seen through.

Look around you ... Can you find something transparent? Something that is translucent? Something that is opaque?

Neutral colors are black, white, brown and grays mixed from black and white. Usually artists use 3 to 5 side by side colors in an analogous composition.

Color can be used to: • • • • • • • •

Highlight important elements such as headlines and subheads. Attract the eye. Signal the reader where to look first. Create an image or a mood. Tie a layout together. Organize. Group elements together or isolate them. Provoke emotion The Psychology of Color Color

Value:

Associations Reds

Energy, Passion, Power, Excitement

Oranges

Happy, Confident, Creative, Adventurous

Yellows

Wisdom, Playful, Satisfying, Optimistic

Greens

Health, Regeneration, Contentment, Harmony

Blues

Honesty, Integrity, Trustworthiness

Violets

Regal, Mystic, Beauty, Inspiration

Browns

Easiness, Passivity

Blacks

Finality, Transitional Color

refers to the degree of lightness or darkness and can refer to the way color is used.

light__________________medium____________________dark Highlight is the lightest value. Shadow is dark value. The light color of a value is a tint. The dark color of a value is a shade.

Value can be used to: • • • • • • •

Lead the eye across a page, such as running a dark to light graded area in a background. Create a pattern. Give the illusion of volume and depth by adding shading to an area. Create an image of lightness or darkness. Make a layout dramatic with large areas of dark or light shading. Emphasize an element. Make objects appear to be in front of or behind each other

Texture:

Is the surface quality or appearance of an object. Visual texture is a quality of the surface that you can ‘see’, but not necessarily ‘felt’. Actual texture is a quality of the surface that you can both ‘see’ and ‘feel’. •

Descriptors are: rough/smooth, wet/dry, hard/soft, shiny/matte (dull), slick/sticky, slippery/abrasive, coarse/porous ... can you think of more?

Texture can be used to: • • • • •

Give a printed publication, presentation, or web page a mood or personality. Create contrast for interest. Fool the eye. Provoke emotions. Create a feeling of richness and depth

Shape/Form:

Shape is the external outline of an object. It is two-dimensional. Form is a shape that is threedimensional. Various types and charcteristics of shape include: •

Organic - natural, living

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form. Inorganic or geometric man-made, non-living forms. Open-forms - forms that can be looked into. Closed-forms - selfcontained. Geometric Shape circle, square, rectangle, triangle, pentagon, octagon, other polygons. Geometric Form sphere, cube, pyramid, cone, cylinder. Free-Form - any nongeometric shape: irregular, amorphic

Can you guess which types of SHAPES these to the right are? With shape you can: • • • • •

Crop a photo in an interesting way, such as in an oval. Symbolize an idea. Make a block of text more interesting by setting the text into a shape. Create a new format. Highlight information. You could add a screened or tinted shape to highlight important information.

Space:

Is the distance or area between shapes. •

Shapes can be arranged in space in many ways - rows, overlapping, by size to show distance ... can you think of other ways?

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Positive Space is created by objects that are seen as a main element appearing to be in front of the background.

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Negative Space is the area that surrounds the shapes.

Space can be used to: • • • • • •

Give the eye a visual rest. Create ties between elements. Highlight an element. Put a lot of white space around something important to call attention to it. Make a layout easy to follow. Make type as legible as possible