Lesson 4

• Line


  A path made by a moving point; a series of dots; a prolongation of points or according to Paul Klee is a dot that went for a walk
• Line


  An intended mark made by the artist to convey meaning beyond its physical description
• Kinds of lines

  • Straight lines
  • Horizontal lines
  • Vertical lines
  • Diagonal lines
  • Zigzag lines
  • Curved lines
• Straight lines


  • Geometric, impersonal and differ in the direction that they take
  • May move from left to right, start from the top going down, slant or move up and down forming angles
  • Each kind indicates a specific type of emotion
• Horizontal lines


  Move from left to right or vice versa, appear to be laying down
• Vertical lines


  Start from bottom to top or vice versa, appear to be standing
• Diagonal lines


  • Slanting lines
  • On the positive diagonal lines, indicate action and movement i.e. to move forward and act
  • On the negative diagonal lines, convey a feeling of uncertainty, stress and defeat
• Zigzag lines


  • Angular lines that resulted in abrupt change in the direction of a straight line thus forming angles
  • Unpleasant and harsh which portrays tension, conflict, chaos, or violence
• Curved lines


  • Curvilinear lines
  • Suggest grace, movement and flexibility indicative of life and energy
  • When a curve line moves continuously in opposite directions, it forms a wavy line which shows fluidity because of the gradual change in direction
• Lines can possess a variety of characteristics, depending on shape, density,rhythm, angularity, and the material that have produced them
• No matter what type of line it is, it always has direction
• Color


  • The significance of color as an element of the visual arts cannot be over emphasized
  • People see and perceive the world as a multitude of colors
  • Color adds beauty and meaning to all forms of art
• Color


  • The property of light
  • When light goes out, color goes with it
  • Color is composed of a series of wavelengths which strike the retina of the eyes
  • A ray of light contains all the colors of the visible spectrum- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (ROYGBIV)
• Hue


  • The name given to the color, e.g. red, green, violet and blue
  • For pigments, RED, YELLOW and BLUE are called primary hues
  • When two primary hues are mixed in equal amounts, secondary hues are produced (ORANGE, GREEN and VIOLET)
  • Mixing equal amounts of the primary and secondary hues produces intermediate hues (RED ORANGE, BLUE GREEN and BLUE VIOLET)
  • Combining in equal mixture any two secondary hues produces the tertiary hues
• Value


  • The lightness or darkness of a color
  • Shade - When black is combined with hue
  • Tint - When white is added with hue
• Intensity


  • The brightness or dullness of a color
  • Hues become less intense (dull) when white is added because color becomes lighter in value
  • The hues' intensity diminishes when black is added and as the value darkens
  • If gray is added, the result will be a variation in intensity without any change in value
• Ways of creating color harmony

  • Monochromatic harmony
  • Complementary Harmony
  • Analogous harmony
  • Color temperature
• Monochromatic harmony


  When a single color in the composition is varied in intensity and value by adding white or black
• Complementary Harmony


  Results when two colors that are opposite each other in the color wheel are placed side by side
• Analogous harmony


  Results when hues that are adjacent or beside each other in the color wheel is used in a composition
• Color temperature


  • Refers to the relative warmth or coolness of a color
  • Warm colors are colors that have YELLOW as its dominant component
  • Cool colors have blue as their dominant component
• Light and shadow (Achromatic Value)


  • Refers to the changes in the amount of reflected light which ranges from black to gray to white and vice versa
  • An artist who has mastered the manipulation of achromatic value in a composition gives his work the illusion of depth and form
• Chiaroscuro


  • The technique of manipulating light and shadow in painting
  • Masters who have perfected the use of this technique are Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and Caravaggio
  • Rembrandt and Caravaggio went a step further and exaggerated the use of shadows to an extreme called tenebrism or "dark manner"
  • Fernando Amorsolo, also mastered chiaroscuro, but his focus was more on the manipulation of light rather than shadow
• Shape


  • In visual arts, a shape is formed when two ends of a line meet to enclose an area
  • The area may stand out from the surface because of a difference in color, value or texture
  • They may also present themselves as flat or two-dimensional and solid or three-dimensional on a picture plane
• Picture plane


  Any flat surface onto which the artwork is created
• Negative shapes


  • The spaces between the shapes that are not occupied by any form
  • In painting, these spaces can be as important as the shapes themselves
  • In sculpture and architecture, the shape of the artwork can be determined by viewing the work against its background
• Classification of shapes

  • Natural or organic shapes
  • Abstract shapes
  • Non-objective or biomorphic shapes
  • Geometric shapes
• Natural or organic shapes


  Those are seen in nature like the shape of leaves, animals, mountains, flowers and seashells
• Abstract shapes


  Those that have little or no resemblance to natural objects
• Non-objective or biomorphic shapes


  Seldom have reference to recognizable objects, but most often show a similarity to some organic forms
• Geometric shapes


  These are triangles, rectangles, squares, cylinders, cubes
• Sculpture and architecture


  • Three-dimensional forms, which are identified either by mass or volume
  • When mass is structured or has a definite shape, it is said to have volume
  • The sculptor is concerned with volume because sculpture occupies space
  • Single volume is the fundamental unit in sculpture
• Texture


  • Refers to the feel or tactile quality of the surface of an object
  • It has to do with the characteristic of the surface, whether it is rough or smooth, fine or coarse, polished or dull, plain or irregular
  • Textures add richness and vitality in paintings
• Visual texture


  In such cases where touching the artwork is not allowed, textured can be perceived by the eyes
• Space


  • An illusion in the graphic arts, created by techniques that add depth and distance to two-dimensional art
  • In sculpture and architecture, space is actually present
• Methods of creating space

  • Overlapping planes (interposition)
  • Relative size
  • Position on the picture plane (relative height)
  • Perspective
• Overlapping planes (interposition)


  Create space when an object covers a part of another object which is behind it
• Relative size


  • Objects that appear large/big indicate nearness and small-sized objects as distant
  • Can also be interpreted as power and import
• Position on the picture plane (relative height)


  • Spatial representation is based upon the position of objects relative to the bottom of the frame
  • Objects found at the bottom of the frame will appear closer to the viewer
  • Farther distances are indicated by the positions of the objects higher on the picture plane
  • The point of reference is the horizon line which is the line at the eye level
  • The picture plane can be divided into: foreground (the bottom part), middle ground(where the horizon is) and background( the topmost part)
• Color


  • Used to give the illusion of distance
  • Warm colors advance and make objects look closer while cool colors recede making objects look farther away