Principles and Elements of Design Elements Line Shape

Principles and Elements of Design

Elements • Line • Shape • Form • Space • Colour • Value • Texture Principles • Rhythm • Movement • Balance • Proportion • Pattern • Emphasis • Unity

Elements of art: The building blocks of visual art Principles of art: use or arrangement of the building blocks of visual art Composition: the organization of the elements of art according to the principles of art.

Composition

Elements of Art

Line • the path of a point moving through space _____________

Shape • A twodimensional area that is defined in some way

Form • Objects having three dimensions (height, width, depth) • Ex. Cubes, cylinders, spheres

Shape vs Form

Space • Space refers to the area in which art is organized. Perspective is representing a volume of space or a 3 -dimensional object on a flat surface.

Colour • Colours all come from the three primaries and black and white. They have three properties – hue, value, and intensity.

Value • Value refers to relative lightness and darkness and is perceived in terms of varying levels of contrast

Texture • Texture refers to the tactile qualities of a surface (actual) or to the visual representation of such surface qualities (implied).

Principles of Design

Rhythm • Indicates movement by a repetition of elements

Movement • Used to create the look and feeling of action and to guide the viewer’s eyes throughout the artwork

Balance • Concerned with equalizing visual forces, or elements, in a work of art.

1. Formal or Symmetrical: • Elements are equally distributed in mirror image

2. Informal or Asymmetrical: • Balance is visual; a more dynamic and interesting arrangement. Weight is usually distributed unevenly throughout the piece.

3. Radial: • Elements radiate from a central point

Proportion • Proportion is the size relationship of parts to a whole and to one another.

Pattern • Pattern refers to the repetition or reoccurrence of a design element, exact or varied, which establishes a visual beat.

Emphasis • Makes one part of the work more dominant than the other parts

Unity • Unity is achieved when the components of a work of art are perceived as harmonious, giving the work a sense of completion.

Quiz Time! Which Elements and Principles do we see in these works of art?

Edgar Degas, The Absinthe Drinker, 1876 o/c

Vincent Van Gogh. Starry Night. 1889 o/c

Franz Marc. The Yellow Cow, 1911 o/c

Pablo Picasso. Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, 1910 o/c

Marcel Duchamp. Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, 1912

Meret Oppenheim. Object 1936 fur covered cup, saucer and spoon

Kaohsiung (TW) Rubber Duck 2013 18 x 21 meters Inflatable, pontoon and generator

Fin