Elements and Principles of Design

• Elements are the building blocks of art making.

• Principles are the way in which the elements can be arranged.

Line• Line – A continuous mark.

– Contour Line - are the outline edges of forms or shapes and actually describe shapes and forms in the simplest way.

– Gesture Lines - indicate action and physical movement

– Implied Lines— what would show if the object were silhouetted against the light.

– Hatching - the placing of many lines next to each other

– Cross Hatching -occur when many parallel lines cross each other.

Design Lens: L I N E

Love LetterMeg HillVenus

Aubrey Beardsley

Dove of PeacePablo Picasso

Contour…Diagonal… Broken…Curved…Outline…Implied…Vertical…Dotted…zigzag…

Horizontal…Wavy…Slanted…

Continuous…Solid…Narrow…

Bold…Robert NowakSnooze Piet Mondrian

New York City I

Colour– Primary Colors - These are colors that cannot be mixed to be achieved. Primary colors are RED, YELLOW, AND BLUE.

– Secondary Colors - These are colors that are made from mixing two primary colors. Secondary colors are OREEN, ORANGE AND VIOLET.

– Warm Colors - Warm colors advance or come forward RED, YELLOW, AND ORANGE are warm colors. On the color wheel warm color are yellow to red-violet.

– Cool Colors - Cool colors recede into the background or appear to go back in space. BLUE, GREEN, AND VIOLET are cool colors. On the color wheel cool colors are from yellow-green to violet. . .

– Complementary Colors - These are pairs of colors that are located opposite, on the color wheel.

Design Lens:

C LOR

The Lake, No. 1 Georgia O’Keeffe

Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow, and BlueBarnett Newman

Dark Side of the Moon Album CoverPink Floyd

Study for Homage to the SquareJoseph Albers

Analogous

Color Theory

Monochromatic

Complementary

Tertiary

Secondary

Jerry UelsmannUntitled 1982

KandinskySoft Hard 1927

Henri MatissePaper Cut Out

S H A P EAn enclosed

space defined and determined by other art

elements such as line, color,

value, and texture.

Design Lens:

Design Lens:

Shape

Geometric:

SquaresCircles

TrianglesRectangles

Ovals

Organic:

IrregularNatural

Free form

Tamara de LempickaPortrait of Ira P.

Tamara de LempickaYoung Girl with Gloves

Tamara de LempickaAuto-Portrait -Tamara in the

Green Bugati, 1925

Design Lens: Value or Intensity

An element of art that refers to luminance or luminosity – the lightness or darkness of a color. Value is an especially important element in works

of art when color is absent. This is particularly likely with drawings,

printmaking, and photographs.

M.C. EscherRelativity

Vincent van Gogh Shoes 1888

Katsushika HokusaiThe Great Wave Off Kanagawa

Design Lens: Value or Intensity

Value is considered to be the lightness or darkness of a

color. It takes at least three values (light, medium, and dark) for an object to take

shape.. .

Paul JacksonJewels of the Czar

Paul JacksonSpectral Hierarchy

Design Lens: TextureTexture is the quality of a surface, whether it is smooth, rough, dull or glossy. We arc able to observe texture visually, through sight and the sense of touch.

Physical/RealVisual/Simulated

Design Lens: Space

• Refers to the emptiness or area between, around, above, below, or within objects– Positive Space- the

shapes or forms of interest

– Negative Space- the empty space between the shapes or forms

Design Lens: Form• Form describes

volume and mass or the three dimensional aspects of an object.

• Where shape is 2D, form is 3D

• Forms should be viewed from many angles.

Design PrinciplesThe principles are ways to work with and arrange the elements.

EMPHASIS / FOCUS or

CENTER OF INTEREST

Charles DemuthThe Figure 5 in Gold, 1928

Barbara KrugerViolence

Rene MagritteThe Son of Man, 1964

HARMONY

Brings together complex, but visual

combinations that are pleasing,

making the elements harmonious. 

Karin KuhlmannPolished Spiral

UNITY

Art elements that work together and do not

distract from the whole

Romero BrittoSamba

CONTRAST/OPPOSITION

Beatles Album 1Paul McCartney

Occurs with the use of contrasting visual concepts:

warm / cool, straight /curved, positive /

negative, etc.

VARIETYWhen elements are changed in scale, color, or form.

Andy WarholChe Guevara, 1962

Audrey Flack Crayola

Audrey FlackRich Art

Maggie TaylorThe Reader

BALANCE

The visual weight within the composition. based on color balance, element balance, or visual arrangement of space; may be symmetrical or

asymmetrical. 

Bernard Stanley HoyesCactus Rose Mirage

Bernard Stanley HoyesBlessings

Diane ArbusTwins

Charles BellMajorette, 1993

REPETITION

Involves multiples of the same element. Repeated elements can vary in size, color, or axis placement. Repeated elements can create a pattern. The use of repetition may be applied to all Visual Elements. Motion can be created

by repetition.