Learning a Visual Vocabulary Elements of Art Principles

Learning a Visual Vocabulary • Elements of Art • Principles of Art

The Elements of Art There are 6 elements of art: Color Texture Line Value Shape/Form Space

COLOR

Primary Colors • Red • Yellow • Blue

Secondary Colors • Orange • Green • Violet

Intermediate Colors • Yellow-Green • Yellow-Orange • Blue-Green • Blue-Violet • Red-Orange

Complementary Colors • Colors opposite each other on the color wheel • Ex: • Red & green • Blue & orange • Yellow & violet

Warm Colors • Hues containing red & yellow • Advance or come forward in a painting • Sunlight often painted with warm colors

Cool Colors • Hues containing green or blue • Seem to recede or go back into a painting • Water often painted with cool colors

Texture • The quality of a surface, what you can feel and see • What are some things that have texture? Describe them

Simulated Texture • The surface appears to have texture (an illusion)

Line • • • Thick or thin Continuous or interrupted Straight or curved Vertical, horizontal or diagonal Geometric or organic

Kandinsky Van Gogh

Value • The light or dark quality of a color or shape in a painting • Black is the darkest value while white is the lightest • Most successful paintings have a contrast in value • The stronger the contrast, the more dramatic the painting seems

Shape • An enclosed space having only two-dimensions • Can be geometric or organic

• Three-dimensional and encloses volume • Geometric: cubes, pyramids, boxlike, cones… • Irregular: pencils, horses, bottles, people… • The most important element for sculptors Form

Space • Illusion of space Artists create an illusion of space in a painting • Artists use perspective to show depth or space in a painting • Perspective: the representation of 3 D objects and space on a flat surface

Aerial Perspective: Creates the illusion of distance by muting color and blurring detail as objects get farther away • Far away – Lighter values – The edges become softer/more blurred • Up close – Values are darker – Colors are more intense

Analysis of a Painting • Subject matter: Which subject matter best describes your painting? Why? • Elements of Art: (COMPLETE SENTENCES) – Color: What kinds of the color? How does the artist use color? – Texture: What kind of texture, where? How does it contribute to the painting? – Line: What kinds of line? How does it contribute to the painting? – Value: Light? Dark? Where? How does it contribute to the painting? – Shape/Form: What kinds? Where? How does it contribute to the painting? – Space: Is it deep or shallow space? How do you know? How does it contribute to the painting?