Art Elements

Elements of Art

The elements of art are the "building blocks" of visual art.

This is the language we use to

respond, connect and create visual art.  

Line 

A path created by a moving point. It starts as a dot that continues……Lines have three components:

Line Types can be straight, curved, zig zaged, or broken(dotted).

Lines Directions include diagonal, vertical or horizontal.

Lines Styles can be thick or thin, short or long, and colored or black.

Shape

A two-dimensional (2-D) enclosed area.

All shapes have height and width.

Shapes are either geometric (mathematically precise and have names; oval, square etc.) or organic/free-form.

Form

Forms are objects with three dimensions (3-D).

 All forms have height, width, and depth.  

Like shape, forms are either geometric or freeform.

 Forms can be viewed from all sides.

Examples of geometric form include cubes, cylinders,

cones, and spheres.

Color

Color is also known as "Hue".

 The color wheel is a tool to better understand how colors are mixed or arranged in art.  Color schemes help to unify visual compositions.

The primary color scheme includes red, yellow and blue.

Secondary color schemes include purple, orange and green.

Other color schemes include:

Cool/Warm, Tertiary, Complimentary, Analogous and Triadic.

 All colors are created by mixing prime colors together.

 Texture

Texture visually shows how something might feel if you touch it.

In art there are two kinds of texture:

Real (how something actually feels; bumpy, soft etc.) and

Implied (how something appears to feel; bumpy, soft etc.).

  Value 

Value is the lightness or darkness of colors, shapes, forms or textures. Values create the illusion of forms (3-D) on a 2-D surface.

Value has three components: Tints, Tones and Shade.

Tint (adding white or a light hue to make something lighter).

 Shade (adding  black or a dark hue to make something darker).

Tone (adding grey or a medium hue).

Space 

Space refers to the emptiness of area around or within objects.

Positive space refers to the shape or form created by an object.

Negative space is the shape that surrounds the object.

 It helps to visually define the positive space.

Realistic/panoramic space is three-dimensional. In visual art, overlapping shapes, changing the color or value, changing the size of objects, as well as using perspective can create the illuision of realistic space on a 2-D surface.