Learning Goals Today I will Gain an understanding

Learning Goals Today, I will… • Gain an understanding of the elements of art and the principles of design • Apply my understanding of the elements of art and the principles of design using text & images

The Elements & Principles Elements • The basic building blocks; • The things inside, that make up a piece of art • Most art will contain several of the elements • (Think of as the ingredients) Principles • What we do with the building blocks (elements) • (Think of as your chef’s technique and preparation of a dish)

Elements of Art – a composition’s individual visual parts, including line, shape, form, value, color, space and texture –––––––––––––––––––––

Line • Fundamental • Point moving in space • Visual pathways through your pictures • Can be actual/real lines • Ex: Yellow line on road OR implied like geese flying in a “V”

Shape & Form • A contained area. • Can be GEOMETRIC (man-made) ex. Square, triangle, circle, etc. • Can be ORGANIC (natural) ex. Leaves, humans, puddles, etc. • Used to create a sense of space and substance.

Shape/Form Shape Form • Shapes are 2 -Dimensional and flat • Form encloses volume; 3 -Dimensional • Created when a line is enclosed • highlights / shadows • No highlights / shadows • For example, sphere • For example, a circle

Color • Color can alter the overall mood/ feeling. • Hue (refers to the name; i. e. red) • Saturation (intensity or amount) • Temperature (cool, warm) • Related to value (lightness or darkness).

Value • True black, pure white and all the greys inbetween • Refers to quality of light and dark (color and shades) • The darkness or lightness of a color • Can add drama and impact the mood of the composition

Space • The area used or unused in a composition; can contribute to balance within a composition • Use of space can create dimension for the viewer (near vs. far) • • • Foreground (closest), Middleground and Background (farthest). Area around, within, or between objects/subjects in an image create perspective; positive and negative space. • Positive space – subject (the area the objects takes up). • Negative space – background (the area around, under, and between). Can define importance and lead the eye to focal point.

Texture • The appearance of how a surface feels • Rough, smooth, bumpy, gooey, sharp, etc. • Adds interest - sense of sight and sense of touch involved. • Makes a photo look real and suggests 3 D quality

Principles of Design – A composition’s organizing ideas, including balance, unity, variety, movement and rhythm, emphasis, proportion, and pattern –––––––––––––––––––––

Principles of Art & Design: What you do with/how you arrange the basic building blocks (elements) to create artistic, interesting, more visually powerful photographs. Just like elements, photographs can utilize multiple principles.

Principles of Design What you do with the basic building blocks (elements) to organize a photo • Balance • Unity • Variety • Movement • Rhythm • Emphasis • Proportion • Pattern

Balance • Balance is the impression of stability or equality in a composition. • Visual “weight” • Balance is often referred to as symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial.

Unity • Unity is achieved when the components of a work of art are perceived as harmonious, giving the work a sense of completion • How things are linked, similar, common when all the parts equal a whole. • Elements relate to each other through size, shape, texture or color. • Too unified = boring

Variety • Variety is opposite of unity • Diverse art elements and principles found in a picture (contrast) like light and dark, big and small, smooth and rough • Variety is created with objects or subjects, colors, textures, movement or shapes • Adds interest • Involves senses and creates tension in photos • Too varied = chaos

Movement • Movement refers to the suggestion of motion through the use of various elements (real or implied). • The way elements are arranged to lead the eye to or from the subject.

Rhythm • Rhythm is the organized repetition of elements such as line, shape and forms to create interest and consistency.

Emphasis • Creating a focal point • Emphasis in a composition refers to creating points of interest to pull the viewer's eye to important parts of the body of the work. • Focal point should usually be bigger, have highlights

Proportion • Proportion – the relationship between the sizes of objects or components in an image. • Proportional difference helps indicate object’s size & distance/location. • For example: subject can look bigger than anything else in the image because it is closer to the camera and farther away from other objects.

Pattern • An element that occurs over and over again in a composition • Can repeat the element consistently • EX: Repeating lines creates pattern of stripes. Intersecting lines creates waffle pattern.