The Elements
and Principles
of Art
The Elements of Art
The building blocks
or ingredients of art.
LINE
A mark with length and direction.
A continuous mark made on a surface
by a moving point.
Ansel Adams Gustave Caillebotte
Pablo Picasso
COLOR
Consists of Hue (another word for color),
Intensity (brightness) and Value (lightness
or darkness).
Alexander Calder
Henri Matisse
VALUE
The lightness or darkness of a color.
MC Escher Pablo Picasso
SHAPE
An enclosed area defined and determined
by other art elements; 2-dimensional.
Joan
Miro
Gustave Caillebotte
FORM
A 3-dimensional object;
or something in a 2-dimensional artwork
that appears to be 3-dimensional.
For example, a triangle, which is 2-dimensional, is a
shape, but a pyramid, which is 3-dimensional, is a form.
Jean Arp Lucien Freud
SPACE
The distance or area between, around, above, below,
or within things.
Robert Mapplethorpe
Positive (filled with
something) and Negative
Claude Foreground,
Monet Middleground and
(empty areas).
Background (creates DEPTH)
TEXTURE
The surface quality or "feel" of an object, its
smoothness, roughness, softness, etc. Textures
may be actual or implied.
Cecil
Buller
The Principles of Art
What we use to organize the
Elements of Art,
or the tools to make art.
BALANCE
The way the elements are arranged to
create a feeling of stability in a work.
Alexander Calder
Symmetrical Balance
The parts of an image are organized
so that one side mirrors the other.
Leonardo DaVinci
Asymmetrical Balance
When one side of a composition does
not reflect the design of the other.
James Whistler
EMPHASIS
The focal point of an
image, or when one
area or thing stand
out the most.
Jim Dine Gustav Klimt
CONTRAST
A large difference between two
things to create interest and tension.
Salvador Dali
Ansel Adams
RHYTHM
RHYTHM
RHYTHM
A regular repetition RHYTHM
of elements to
produce the look and RHYTHM
feel of movement. RHYTHM
and
Marcel
MOVEMENT
Duchamp
Vincent VanGogh
PATTERN
and Repetition Gustav Klimt
Repetition of a design.
UNITY
When all the
elements and
principles
work together
to create a
pleasing
image.
Johannes Vermeer
The use of
differences and
change to increase
the visual interest of
the work.
VAR IET Y
Marc Chagall
PROPORTIO N
The comparative relationship
of one part to another with
respect to size, quantity, or
degree; SCALE.
Gustave
Caillebotte
