ELEMENTS OF DESIGNVISUAL

The elements of design are the tools artists use to create art.

L I N ELINE IS A MOVING DOT

Line is a mark on a surface that describes a shape or outline. It can create texture and can be thick and thin. Types of line can include actual, implied, vertical, horizontal, diagonal and contour.

Characteristics of line – – Active– Static– Aggressive/passive– Sensual/mechanical– Directional– Defines boundaries– Implies volume or mass– Suggests motion or emotion– Forms patterns and textures

• HORIZONTAL

• VERTICAL

• PERPENDICULAR

• ZIG ZAG

• WAVY

• OUTLINE

TYPES OF LINES

• Line defines contours; most basic visual element.

• Line in art may mean a single thin stroke• It may signify the meeting edge of two

areas• It may refer to the contours – as in

sculpture• Line can display strong suggestion of movement• Line can produce a sense of tranquility

Barnett Newman, Dionysius, 1944, 67x49in.

Barnett Newman, Yellow Painting, 1949

Barnett Newman, (The Cry), 36x24in., ink on paper

Late Gothic/ Early Renaissance from 1305

BOLD DIAGONAL

Giotto, Pieta(Lamentation)fresco

CaravaggioThe Calling

of St. Matthew,

1599-1600

Gentileschi,Judith Slaying Holofernes,

1620

Line can create volume

Line can create movement

• Larger lines in the foreground

• Smaller lines in the back ground give an illusion of distances, space and perspective.

Implied Line

• Implied Line is the line inside the object within in the art work. For example, an image of a soldier standing tall has an implied vertical line in the stance. Each of the lines imply different meanings.

• A vertical line can imply nobility. • A horizontal can imply calm or rest. • A diagonal line can imply movement. A

curvilinear line can imply grace.

Nobility and Movement

Diego Rivera, The Flower Carrier, 1935, 48x48 in.

Note lines implied by

directional gazes

Pierre-Auguste RenoirLe déjeuner des canotiers, 1880–1881Oil on canvas, 129.5 × 172.7 cm

Morandi, GiorgioStill Life (The Blue Vase)1920Oil on canvas

Caravaggio, Supper at Emmaus, c.1601

A VENETIAN WOMANJohn Singer Sargent (American, b.1856, d.1925)1882oil on canvas93 3/4 x 52 1/2 in. (238.1 x 133.4 cm)

A VENETIAN WOMANJohn Singer Sargent (American, b.1856, d.1925)1882oil on canvas93 3/4 x 52 1/2 in. (238.1 x 133.4 cm)

Lines used to create emphasis

Hokusai, KatsushikaThe Great Wave Off KanagawaFrom "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji"1823-29Color woodcut10 x 15 in.

Lines can curve . . .

Jean Honore Fragonard, The Bathers, 1761

Venus at Her Mirror ("The Rokeby Venus")

Implied GRACE

GiottoThe Mourning of Christ

c. 1305Fresco

Cappella dell'Arena, Padua

• Contour line is the outside line, or the line that distinguishes the outer edge of the object within the art work.

Contour Line

THE EXPRESSIVE QUALITY OF THE JAGGED LINES IN THE WORK . . .

Clyfford Still, 1957, No.1

Georgia O’Keeffe, Red, White and Blue, 1931

Johann KoerbeckeGerman, c. 1420 - 1491The Ascension, 1456/1457tempera on panel, 92.7 x 64.8 cm (36 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.)

Curved, smooth

Jagged

Jagged, zig-zag

straight

Clyfford StillAmerican,

1904 - 1980

1948-C, (1948)Oil on canvas

80 7/8 x 68 3/4 in.

complex contour lines formed by these complex shapes

A mark with length and direction.

A continuous mark made on a surface by a moving point.

Ansel Adams Gustave Caillebotte

• 3 artists exemplify the usage of line– Pablo Picasso

– Henri Matisse– Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh “Starry Night”

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890). Oil on paper.

LINES CAN CREATE VOLUME VICEVERSA

Frank Lloyd Wright, Fallingwater, 1936-37

Frank Gehry, Disney Concert Hall

Giusti Garden, Verona, Italy

Shape is an area that is contained within an implied line, or is seen and identified because of color or value changes.

•Shapes have two dimensions, length and width, and can be geometric or free-form.

•Shape: geometric and organic shapes; positive and negative shapes; abstract shapes; and outlined shapes.

Square

Triangle

Circle

Box

Pyramid

Sphere

Geometric Shapes

Shape / Form• A shape is an area that is defined in

some way by a line, an edge, a color or a texture. If we traced around its outline we would have a shape, silhouette

• Shapes can be geometric – look as if they were made with a ruler.

• Organic – irregular, uneven shapes of nature.

Hendrik van SteenwyckSt. Jerome in his Study 1624�Oil on panel27 x 21.7 cmBequeathed as part of the Princes Gate Collection, 1978P.1978.PG.423

How many shapes can you find?

Frank Stella, Wolfeboro II, 1966

CLOSED, GEOMETRIC

THE UPSTAIRSCharles Sheeler (American,

b.1883, d.1965)1938

oil on canvas19 1/2 x 12 3/4 in. (49.5 x 32.4

cm)

Lines create planes; planes suggest volume

An enclosed area defined and determined by other art elements; 2-dimensional.

M.C. Escher

Takashi Murakami

Space -Actual space is a three-dimensional volume that can be empty or filled with objects. It has width, height, and depth. Various techniques can be used to show such visual depth or space. Space: two-dimensional and three dimensional space; creating space with different sized and overlapping shapes; and linear perspective.

SPACE

• Open and Closed– In a painting, if the viewer’s eyes are led off the

canvas, the space is open, or the painting has an open frame. If the viewer’s eyes are kept in the center of the canvas and all the characters and action are within the edges of the frame, the artist has composed a closed space or closed frame.

• Positive and Negative– Positive space takes up space, negative space is

empty. The positive is the material, the negative is the absence of material.

Open and Closed Space

RaphaelCrucifixion with Sts Mary Virgin, Mary Magdalen, ohn and Jerome

c. 1503

GrunewaldThe Mocking of Christ1503

Grunewald’s piece exhibits and open frame, the action leads the eyes all over the canvas and off the edges of the frame.

Raphael’s piece exhibits a closed frame, the action

is centered and the viewer is

focused on the main action.

Positive Space

• Positive space is the space that an object occupies.• On the left hand side picture, the positive space is the

area that the bottles take up.• On the right hand side picture, the positive space is

shown as the black objects.

Negative Space

• Negative space is opposite of positive.• Negative space is the space around an object.

• On the left hand side picture, the negative space is the white area around the bottles.

• On the right hand side picture, the negative space is shown as the black area surrounding the bottle.

Artists often use positive space and negative space to manipulate an object.

For instance, an artist might deliberately leave a cutout area white, which would be a negative space. Then, they might add some kind of pattern in that space to trick the viewer’s eyes.

Brancusi, The Kiss, 1917

Positive and Negative…

All positive space, no negative space, no room between them.

Canova, 19th Century, NeoClassical(Reproduction)

Lots of negative

space employed to create tension, dynamic

embrace.

CONTINUOUS, INFINITE, EVER PRESENT

• Space is the area between and around objects.

• The space around objects is often called negative space; negative space has shape.

• Space can also refer to the feeling of depth. Real space is three-dimensional; in visual art when we can create the feeling or illusion of depth we call it space.

SpaceSince objects in our environment look smaller when they are farther away, the easiest way to show depth is to vary the size of objects, with closer objects being larger and more distant objects being smaller. As well, we perceive objects that are higher on the page and smaller as being further away than objects which are in the forefront of a picture.

Overlapping, vertical, and diminishing

Edward Degas

We live in a three-dimensional world of depth. When we look around us, some things seem closer, some further away. The artist can also show the illusion of depth by using the following means:

Size & Vertical Location Overlapping Linear Perspective

Depth of Field

The human eye, like the camera, has a limited depth of field. In other words we focus on one level and the objects in front or behind are often blurred. When Diego Velazquez painted Las Meninas he, along with many artists painted everything in focus. This was part of the magic of painting as the viewers perception was thereby expanded. This painting by Diego Velazquez has a defined foreground, middle ground and background.

The foreground in focus

The middle ground in focus

The background in focus

• Value can be flat or graduated• Can be created by using shading, line or dots.• Lines can be used to create value in hatching or

cross-hatching• Dots can be used to create value.• Value can be subdued• Strong• Contrasting

Value

Value refers to the degree of dark and light. Value contrasts help us to see and understand a two dimensional work of art. Value contrast is also evident in colors, which enables us to read shapes in a painting.

Value Scale

The above graphic is called a Value Scale.

Tonal graduations in color from light to dark produce perspective. Graduation of tone can add interest to a shape. A graduation from light to dark will cause the eye to move along the shape. Using black and white paint, many artists make a rectangular value scale with ten values. Pure white will be at one end, then mix varying amounts of black and white to create eight shades of gray, increasing in value, ending with pure black.

Hatching and cross-hatching

Rembrandt

•Dramatic use of light creates value.

•Light is used to attract our attention to the most important part of the painting

•The relative lightness or darkness is the value. A black-and-white photo or movie involves not only black and white, but also different values of gray.

Cast shadows are the dark shapes tha t emanate from an object onto another surface, revealing the direction and quality of the light source.

• Color is very expressive and an exciting element of art. It appeals strongly to the senses and emotions.

• Color can communicate in all different ways, it can be very powerful thing in art work. Art works can communicate by color alone. It can cause emotional reactions.

COLOR

HUE – the name of a color

VALUE – the lightness or darkness of a color

INTENSITY – the brightness or dullness of a color

MONOCHROMATIC – many values of one color

ANALOGOUS – colors side by side on the color wheel

COMPLEMENTARY – colors opposite on the color

wheel

WARM vs. COOL – red, yellow, orange – blue, green,

violet

Primary Colors• Red, blue, yellow• Cannot be produced by intermixing other colors• All other colors are mixed from these 3 colors

Secondary Colors

Orange, green, violet

Colors mixed from a combination

of 2 primary colors

Red + Blue = Violet

Blue + Yellow = Green

Red + Yellow = Orange

Tertiary Color

• Red-orange

• Yellow-orange

• Yellow-green• Blue-green• Blue-violet

• Red-violet

• Red

• Yellow• Orange

Mark Rothko

Warm colors come towards the viewer

Warm Colors

Cool Colors• Blue• Green• Violet

• Cool colors move back, away from

the viewer

Color wheel

Color Schemes Color groupings that

create distinct color harmony

• Monochromatic One color plus white

and black• Analogous 3 – 5 colors next to

each other on the color wheel

• Complementary 2 colors directly

opposite each other on the color wheel

Vincent Van Gogh

Monochromatic one color plus black and white

Violet, black and white were used in this painting

Analogous at least 3 – 5 colors next to each other on the color wheel

Complementary Colors2 colors directly opposite each other on the color wheel

These colors when mixed create hues of brown Red and green above

What your favorite color says about you!

• Red – You are a nonconformist. You work hard, are very optimistic, never let your mood down, and are quick to react.

• Orange – You are warm and friendly and use care in choosing your friends. You have a strong sense of justice, and are not impressed by material things.

• Yellow – You are interested in people and are glad to be of service to others. You are critical of mind and learn through observation.

• Green – You are a very good conversationalist and like people. You have a keen wit and tend to be alert at all times.

• Blue – You are devoted and truthful and tend not to show your feelings readily. People tend to have confidence in you.

• Purple – You like to live like royalty and enjoy a sense of luxury. You enjoy beautiful things and have a tendency to the romantic.

• White –You are sincere in mind and heart, you cooperate well, you are efficient and orderly.

• Gray – You seek perfection and are a good manager. You are very objective and seek constant development.

• Black – You are very self-assured and like meeting interesting people. You are critical in your choice of companions and seek perfection.

• Brown – You are patient and a hard worker. You are always ready to help others, have a strong sense of family loyalty, and do not take uncalculated risks.

Texture is the surface quality of an object. There are two categories of texture: real texture and implied texture. •Real texture refers to how the object would feel if it was touched. •Implied texture refers to something that has been made to look as if it has texture through drawing or painting techniques

• Real texture is texture that actually exists – what you can actually feel

• Implied texture -created to look like the real object on a flat surface

Texture can be•Grained•Rough•Corrugated•Smooth•Furry•Shiny•Prickly

Van Gogh close up

When we look at a photograph or a painting of the texture of a surface such as glass or velvet leather, we see patterns of light and dark that create the effect of textureSimulated texture; a two dimensional surface that imitates real texture, simulated textures copy or imitate real textures.

Texture can be surprising. The smooth texture of skin in this close up of a marble sculpture by Bernini is remarkable. Notice the veins, soft waves, in the top of the male hand. Also, notice the smooth texture of the drapery.

Oppenheim, Fur Covered Cup

Camille Claudel’s The Waltz 1891-1905

Creating texture…

Transition from smooth skin to rough, bumpy, rippling base

PERSPECTIVE

Perspective refers to the “point of view”. There are several different types of perspective: aerial, atmospheric, linear or one-point, and two-point perspective for a horizon line.

Aerial Perspective

• Aerial perspective is a “bird’s view,” seen from above, high

angle.

Aerial view of the grand canyon

Atmospheric perspective

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa 1507 Raphael’s Cowper Madonna

Atmospheric Perspective gives the illusion of a great distance in the background of the image.

Linear Perspective

Linear Perspective is also referred to as one-point-perspective. This perspective leads the eyes to a vanishing poin t that disappears deep into the image. The lines leading to the vanishing poin t created by the rails are called orthogonals.

Two-Point Perspective