Elements and Principles of Art

• The elements and principles of art and design are the foundation of the language we use to talk about art.
• The elements of art are the visual tools that the artist uses to create a composition.
• LINE - An element of art that is used to define shape, contours, and outlines, also to suggest mass and volume.
• LINE - It may be a continuous mark made on a surface with a pointed tool or implied by the edges of shapes and forms.
• Line may come in two characteristics:

  1. form – curved, dotted, or broken lines
  2. direction – vertical, horizontal, or diagonal lines.
• Horizontal Line creates an impression of serenity and perfect stability.
• Vertical Line creates an impression of strength and perfect stability.
• Diagonal Line creates an impression of action.
• Curved Line creates an impression of gradual change of direction.
• Circular Line creates an impression of abrupt change of direction.
• 1. Outlines are made by the edge of an object or its silhouette.
• Contour Lines describe the shape of an object and the interior detail.
• Expressive Lines catch the movement and gestures of an active figure.
• Sketch Lines capture the appearance of an object or impression of a place.
• Calligraphic Lines are the elegant handwriting or lettering done by hand.
• Implied Lines are lines that are not actually drawn but created by a group of objects seen from a distance.
• Shape is an area that is enclosed by a line or lines.
• Shapes are two dimensional figures with height and width.
• There are different kinds of shapes and these are geometric shapes, organic shapes, positive shapes, negative shapes, static shapes, and dynamic shapes.
• Geometric Shapes are circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, and other geometric shapes.
• Organic Shapes are shapes found in nature and are free flowing, informal and irregular (abstract shapes).
• Positive Shapes are the solid forms in a design
• Negative Shapes are the space around the positive shape.
• Static Shapes are shapes that appears stable and resting.
• Dynamic Shapes are shapes that appears moving and active
• Colors are the way we see light reflected from a surface or refracted through a prism.
• We can classify colors into primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors, analogous colors, complementary colors, monochromatic colors, warm colors, and cool colors.
• Primary colors are red, blue, and yellow.
• Secondary colors are the resulting colors when the two of the primary colors are mix.
• The secondary colors are purple, green, and orange.
• Tertiary colors are the resulting colors when two of the primary and/or secondary colors are mix.
• The tertiary colors are amber, vermilion, magenta, violet, teal, and chartreuse.
• Analogous Colors are colors that lie next to each other based on the color wheel.
• Example of analogous colors are yellow, orange, and red.
• Complementary colors are colors that are opposite to each other based on the color wheel.
• Examples of complementary colors are red and green, blue and orange, and purple and yellow.
• Monochromatic Colors are several values of one color.
• Warm colors are colors that give the feeling of warmth.
• The warm colors are yellow, amber, orange, vermilion, red, and magenta.
• Cool colors are colors that give the feeling of coolness.