Elements of Elements of ArtArt
Elements of Elements of ArtArt
The basic parts of The basic parts of an artwork.an artwork.
Elements of art•Line•Shape•Form•Color
•Texture•Value•Space
Line
The path of an object through space or a mark
made by an object.
Use three words to describe a line
Type Direction Size, color, etc
Straight Vertical Thick
Wavy Horizontal Thin
Zig Zag Diagonal Short
Curved Long
Broken Green
Describe the Lines in this work!
Shape•Shape is a 2-dimensional enclosed space.
•It has width and height.
Shapes can be organic or geometric.
Geometric-Man-made shapes that have set
rules, ex.- square, circle, etc…
Organic-Shapes that are found in nature
that have no set rules.
Describe the shapes in this artwork.
Form• Form is a 3-dimensional enclosed
space. It has width, height, and depth.
• Form can also be geometric or organic.
• When describing form tell what the form is and how the artist made it look three dimensional.
For every geometric shape there is a corresponding
geometric form.Shape FormSquare Cube
Triangle Cone, pyramid, triangular prism
Circle Sphere or Cylinder
Rectangle Rectangular prism
Oval Egg
Diamond Diamond or Prism
Heart Heart
Describe the forms in this artwork.
Texture•Texture is the way something
feels or looks like it feels.•When describing texture you
explain how it looks like it feels and what the artist did to make it look that way.
Two Types of Texture• Visual texture is the way
something looks like it feels- used in 2-D artworks.
• Actual/Tactile texture is the way something actually feels- used in 3-D artworks.
Describe the texture in this artwork
SpaceDefinition one-
The area around, above, between, below and within
things.
Positive Space is area within what artist creates!
(black area)
Negative Space is the area left over.
(white area)
Definition TwoCreating the illusion of depth in an
artwork. Depth is making an object appear to
be 3-d.This is what you should focus on
when you describe space in an artwork!
• Foreground- the objects at the front of the artwork.
• Middle ground- the objects in the middle area of the artwork.
• Background- the objects farthest way in the artwork.
Two Types of Perspective
• Atmospheric Perspective- blurring objects, making them darker, or changing their size to make them look farther away.
• 1-Point Perspective- Using diagonal lines to make objects appear to go back into space.
One- Point Perspective
3 Parts to 1- Point Perspective
• Horizon Line- Line where earth meets the sky.
• Vanishing Point- point on the horizon line where all lines meet.
• Orthogonal- Diagonal lines that meet at vanishing point.
How did the artist create space?
Value•Value is the lightness and darkness of a color.
•Value is actually a property of color. When you discuss value you also should discuss color.
ValueTints are created when you add white to a
colorFor example- red + white= pink.
Shades are created when you add black to a colorFor example- red + black = burgundy.
A set of color values is the base color (like red) with its tint and shade- for example red, pink (tint) and burgundy (shade.)
How has the artist used value?
Color!•Color is what the eye sees
when light is reflected off of an object.
•Pure color only comes from pure white light.
•Without light, there is no color!
Color cont…•Color travels in white light
in the color spectrum.•When white light is passed
through a prism you get the colors separated- ROYGBIV.
Color Vocabulary• Hue is the name of a color.• Intensity is the brightness or
dullness of a color.• The color wheel is a tool used for
organizing color.• Color Groups/Color Schemes are
families of colors that have similarities.
Color Wheel
Primary Colors- •Basic Colors, cannot be created with other colors.•Red, Yellow, and Blue!
Secondary Colors- Created by mixing two primary
colors.Orange, Green, and Violet
(Purple)
Intermediate/Tertiary Colors- created by combining one primary
and one secondary.Yellow-orange, red-orange, red-
violet, blue-violet, blue-green, and yellow-green.
Warm Colors- feel warm and seem to come
forward in artworks- from yellow to red-violet on the color wheel.
Cool colors- feel cool and calming, seem to go
backwards in artworks. From yellow-green to violet on the color
wheel.
Neutral Colors-Not found on the color wheel
Can be created by combining all three
primaries or two complements.
Black, brown, white, gray.
Complementary colors- Colors directly across from each other
on the color wheel. When put next to each other, they
appear brighter.When combined, they make a neutral
color.
Analogous Colors- Colors next to each other on the
color wheel. They share a common color.
For example- red, red-violet, and violet.
Monochromatic- using tints and shades of only one
color.
Describe the colors in this artwork.
