The Elements of Art and Principles of Design are the basic "building
blocks" of Art.
Click below for some basic Art Vocabulary:
- Elements of Art
- Principles of Design
- Three Dimensional
- Two Dimensional
- Composition
- Opaque
- Transparent
- Pigment
- Mural
- Mixed Media
- Geometric Shapes
- Organic Shapes
- Contour
- Positive Space
- Negative Space
- Perspective
- Triptych
- Renaissance
- Aboriginal art
- Abstract Expressionism
- Abstraction also known as Abstract art
- Achromatic
- Action Painting
- Aegean art
- Aerial Perspective
- Aerial view
- Aesthetic experience
- Aestheticism
- Aesthetics
- African art
- afterimage
- amorphous
- Analogous colors
- Cubism
Elements of Art
Elements of art are THE TOOLS ARTISTS USE TO CREATE ART.
1. Line
2. Shape
3. Color
4. Texture
5. Value
6. Form
7. Space
Line: may be straight, curved, continuous, broken; may indicate
direction
Light: the amount of light and dark; the source of light
Color: saturation is the intensity of a color, a bright color is
highly saturated
Space: perspective, size, figure placement, foreshortening
Shape: may be organic or geometric
Texture: may be actual, like brushstrokes on canvas; or imitative
of a surface
Principles of Design
1. Contrast
2. Rhythm/Repetition/Pattern
3. Emphasis (focal point)
4. Proportion
5. Unity
6. Balance
Composition: the overall organization of an image
Balance: In symmetrical balance, either side of the image is
equal in weight, and one side may reflect the other. In
asymmetrical balance, the sides of the image are unequal.
Contrast: refers to a large difference between two things; for
example, green and red, or light and shadow. This term refers to
differences between those elements of art in a design. For
example, a bright color in a painting will contrast with dull
colors. Contrast is used to create tension and interest.
Emphasis: refers to a feature of a work of art that is
highlighted or singled out. Elements of art are combined to focus
attention on a single element of a composition.
Rhythm: repetition of line, light, shape, etc.
Three Dimensional
Having or appearing to have, height, width, and depth.
Two Dimensional
Having height and width, but no depth; flat.
Composition
The plan, placement or arrangement of the elements of art in a
work. It is often useful to discuss these in reference to the
principles of design, as well as to the relative weight of the
composition's parts.
Composition can also refer to the area of a sheet in which the
design appears in a drawing or print. When a composition is
limited to a distinct area of a plate or a sheet of paper, it is
good practice to note the composition's measurements, as well as
the measurements of the plate and of the overall sheet.
The design of a composition should either be pleasing or it
should be in some other way expressive.
Opaque
Something that cannot be seen through; the opposite of
transparent, although something through which some light passes
would be described as translucent.
Transparent
Allowing light to pass through so that objects can be clearly
seen on the other side; the opposite of opaque. Window glass,
cellophane and watercolors are usually transparent.
Pigment
Finely powdered color material which produces the color of any
medium. Made either from natural substances or synthetically,
pigment becomes paint, ink, or dye when mixed with oil, water or
another fluid (also called vehicle). When pressed into wax it
becomes a crayon, pencil or chalk.
Mural
A large design or picture, most commonly created on the wall of a
public building, sometimes using the fresco technique. Among the
important mural painters of the twentieth century are the three
Mexican painters José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949), Diego Rivera
(1886-l957), and David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974).
Mixed Media
A technique involving the use of two or more artistic media, such
as ink and pastel or painting and collage, that are combined in a
single composition. The term intermedia is used synonymously.
(Avoid using "multimedia" as a synonym, because that is likely to
cause confusion.)
Geometric Shapes
Any shape or form having more mathematic than organic design.
Geometric designs are typically made with straight lines or
shapes from geometry, including circle, ovals, triangles,
rectangles, squares, and other quadrilaterals, along with such
polygons as pentagons, hexagons, etc. Examples of geometric forms
include spheres, cones, cylinders, tetrahedrons, pyramids, cube
and other polyhedrons. [The articles in ArtLex on these shapes
and forms cite mathematical formulas helpful in their use, along
with examples of works of art in which they have been used.]
Organic Shapes
An irregular shape, or one that might be found in nature, rather
than a regular, mechanical shape.
Contour
The outline and other visible edges of a mass, figure or object.
Positive Space
Space in an artwork that is positive — filled with something,
such as lines, designs, color, or shapes. The opposite of
negative space.
Negative Space
Empty space in an artwork, a void. Blank space or the space
around the main object.
Perspective
The technique artists use to project an illusion of the three-
dimensional world onto a two-dimensional surface. Perspective
helps to create a sense of depth — of receding space. Fundamental
techniques used to achieve perspective are: controlling variation
between sizes of depicted subjects, overlapping some of them, and
placing those that are on the depicted ground as lower when
nearer and higher when deeper. In addition, there are three major
types of perspective: aerial perspective, herringbone
perspective, and linear perspective.
Triptych
A painting or carving that has three side-by-side parts, panels,
or canvases. Typically, a triptych has three hinged panels, the
two outer panels designed so that they can be folded in towards
the central one.
Renaissance
A revival or rebirth of cultural awareness and learning that took
place during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, particularly
in Italy, but also in Germany and other European countries. The
period was characterized by a renewed interest in ancient Greek
and Roman art and design and included an emphasis on human
beings, their environment, science, and philosophy.
Aboriginal art
Art made by the aboriginal peoples of Australia — native to
Australia (before Europeans arrived).
Abstract Expressionism
A painting movement in which artists typically applied paint
rapidly, and with force to their huge canvases in an effort to
show feelings and emotions, painting gesturally, non-
geometrically, sometimes applying paint with large brushes,
sometimes dripping or even throwing it onto canvas. Their work is
characterized by a strong dependence on what appears to be
accident and chance, but which is actually highly planned. Some
Abstract Expressionist artists were concerned with adopting a
peaceful and mystical approach to a purely abstract image.
Usually there was no effort to represent subject matter. Not all
work was abstract, nor was all work expressive, but it was
generally believed that the spontaneity of the artists' approach
to their work would draw from and release the creativity of their
unconscious minds. The expressive method of painting was often
considered as important as the painting itself.
Artists who painted in this style include Hans Hoffman (German-
American, 1880-1966), Adolph Gottlieb (American, 1903-1974), Mark
Rothko (American, 1903-1970), Willem De Kooning (Dutch-American,
1904-1997), Clyfford Still (American, 1904-1980), Barnett Newman
(American, 1905-1970), Franz Kline (American, 1910-1962), William
Baziotes (American, 1912-1963), Jackson Pollock (American, 1912-
1956), Philip Guston (American, 1913-1980), Ad Reinhardt
(American, 1913-1967), Robert Motherwell (American, 1915-1991),
Sam Francis (American, 1923-1994), and Helen Frankenthaler
(American, 1928-). Abstract Expressionism originated in the
1940s, and became popular in the 1950s.
Abstraction also known as Abstract art
Imagery which departs from representational accuracy, to a
variable range of possible degrees, for some reason other than
verisimilitude. Abstract artists select and then exaggerate or
simplify the forms suggested by the world around them. The
paintings of Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973) and Georges
Braque (French, 1882-1963) as well as the sculptures of Henry
Moore (English, 1898-1987), Barbara Hepworth (English, 1903-
1975), and Jacques Lipchitz (Russian-American, 1891-1973) are
examples of abstract art. Wassily Kandinsky, (Russian, 1866-
1944), was one of the first creators of pure abstraction in
modern painting. After successful avant-garde exhibitions, he
founded the influential Munich group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue
Rider; 1911-1914), when his paintings became completely abstract.
His forms evolved from fluid and organic to geometric and,
finally, to pictographic.
Achromatic
Color having no chroma — black, white and grays made by mixing
black and white. All other colors employ chromatic pigments.
Action Painting
A style of abstract painting that uses techniques such as the
dribbling or splashing of paint to achieve a spontaneous effect.
In Action Painting the canvas is the arena in which the artist
acts. The action of painting becomes a moment in the biography of
the artist -- the canvas becomes the index (record) of the event.
Most associated with several of the Abstract Expressionist
artists, including Willem De Kooning (Dutch, 1904-1997, active in
the US) and Jackson Pollock (American, 1912-1956), though not all
Abstract Expressionists were Action Painters.
Aegean art
Generally refers to works of Crete, Mycenae, and the Cyclades,
from 2600-1200 BCE. Aegean painting is colorful and stylized, but
with a strong feeling for naturalism.
Aerial Perspective
The perception of depth in nature can be enhanced by the
appearance of atmospheric haze. Although this haze is most
commonly humidity (or cloudiness), it could be rain or snow,
smoke, or any other kind of vapor. Aerial perspective is the
portrayal of that atmospheric haze -- one means to adding to an
illusion of depth in depicting space on a flat surface. It is
achieved by using less focus, along with bluer, lighter, and
duller hues for the distant spaces and objects depicted in a
picture. Be careful not to confuse aerial perspective with aerial
view.
One of the first artists to use this technique was Masaccio
(Italian, 1401?-1428). Aerial perspective is also referred to as
atmospheric perspective.
Aerial view
Seeing from a point of view at a great height, also called a
bird's-eye view. Any picture in which the horizon line, and
consequently the vanishing point (-s), have been placed near or
above the top of the work, this applies to renderings of any
subject, but most often to landscapes, cityscapes, etc. (Be
careful not to confuse aerial view with aerial perspective.)
Aesthetic experience
Experience of intrinsic features of things or events
traditionally recognized as worthy of attention and reflection,
such as literal, visual, and expressive qualities, which are
studied during the art criticism process. Also spelled esthetic.
Aestheticism
The belief that the pursuit of beauty is the most important goal,
and that it is the artist's duty to orchestrate selected elements
from nature into a composition that, like music, exists for its
own sake, without regard to moral or didactic issues. Prominent
in the nineteenth century, now it often carries the connotation
of decadence or preciousness. Also spelled estheticism. It is
often associated with the fin de siècle circle of writer Oscar
Wilde (English, born Ireland, 1854-1900), painter James Abbott
McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903), and illustrator Aubrey
Beardsley (English, 1872-1898).
Aesthetics
The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and value of
art objects and experiences. It is concerned with identifying the
clues within works that can be used to understand, judge, and
defend judgments about those works. Originally, any activity
connected with art, beauty and taste, becoming more broadly the
study of art's function, nature, ontology, purpose, and so on.
A specialist in aesthetics is called an aesthetician.
There are many aesthetic theories, including imitationalism,
emotionalism and formalism.
To postmodernists, these interests have largely been supplanted
by questions of meaning and linguistically based investigations,
such as those involving semiotics. They have used the term to
indicate a certain imprecise distinction between art and life, or
as a rough synonym for "artistic."
African art
Ceremonial sculpture, masks, and crafts produced by African
tribal cultures, as well as by the African cultures of colonial
and post-colonial periods. Generally African art means sub-
Saharan art, with the cultures of Africa's northern parts
typically referred to as Egyptian and North African.
Making generalizations about the visual culture of any group of
people is a crude endeavor, especially with a culture as diverse
as Africa's. With this thought in mind, know that this survey, as
any must be, is tremendously limited in its breadth and depth.
afterimage
An optical phenomenon in which the eye's nerves continue to
convey an image after an initial image has departed. Typically,
the afterimage appears as a likeness of the initial image, except
that each of its colors is the complement to those in the initial
image. Sometimes called a complementary afterimage or a photogene.
amorphous
An anomalous, shapeless form, without crystalline structure.
Amorphous materials have no sharply defined melting point, and
surfaces of pieces that break have undulating surfaces like those
of lumps of broken glass or of resin, both of which are examples
of amorphous materials.
Analogous colors
Any two or more colors that are next to each other on the color
wheel and are closely related. For example, blue, blue-green, and
green all have the color blue in common. Families of analogous
colors include the warm colors (red, orange and yellow) and the
cool colors (green, blue and violet). Analogous colors are
sometimes referred to as adjacent colors.
Cubism
One of the most influential art movements (1907-1914) of the
twentieth century, Cubism was begun by Pablo Picasso (Spanish,
1882-1973) and Georges Braque (French, 1882-1963) in 1907. They
were greatly inspired by African sculpture, by painters Paul
Cézanne (French, 1839-1906) and Georges Seurat (French, 1859-
1891), and by the Fauves.
In Cubism the subject matter is broken up, analyzed, and
reassembled in an abstracted form. Picasso and Braque initiated
the movement when they followed the advice of Paul Cézanne, who
in 1904 said artists should treat nature "in terms of the
cylinder, the sphere and the cone."
There were three phases in the development of Cubism: Facet
Cubism, Analytic Cubism, and Synthetic Cubism.
After fauvist beginnings, Braque went with Raoul Dufy in 1908 on
a trip to l'Estaque, a place often painted by Cézanne. They
produced a series of landscapes with simplified forms and a
limited variety of colors. The controversy surrounding their
exhibition at the Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler Gallery brought Cubism
its name. In effect, the art critic Louis Vauxcelles described
the works in this way: "M. Braque scorns form and reduces
everything, sites, figures and houses, to geometric schemas and
cubes."