The Elements

• Art is a powerful language

• Through it, the artists communicates thoughts, ideas and feelings.

The Visual Elements

1. Color

2. Line

3. Shape

4. Texture

Definition of the Elements of Art

• Individual parts that make up the whole of an artwork.

• Qualities of the artwork.

• Not all are being used.

• Master artists utilize the elements effectively

COLOR

• Color relies on light

• Vision relies on light

Characteristics of Color

1. Hue

• It is the name of the color

• Dimension of the color

• Referred to a scale ranging through red, yellow, green and blue.

Characteristics of Color

Primary colors: Red, blue and yellow

Secondary colors: Violet, Green, Orange

Complementary colors: that are opposite in the scale

Intermediate colors: Adjacent in the wheel

Characteristics of Color

2. Value

• Lightness or darkness of color.

• You can change color by adding black or white.

• Scale of medium

• White

• Light

• Medium

• Dark

• Black

Characteristics of Color

• Intensity or Saturation

• Brightness or dullness

• Pure hues are higher intensity colors.

• Dull hues have lower intensity colors.

• It is used to describe purity of colors

• Intensity means the strength of a hue

Color Schemes

• Colors can be combine to create striking results

• To create different effects

Color Schemes

a. Monochromatic – different values of single colors. (dark green, medium green, and light green)

b. Analogous – uses colors that are side by side on the color wheel and share a hue.

c. Warm or cool color scheme

• Warm – red, yellow, orange (color of the sun)

• Cool – blue, green, violet (ice, grass, sea)

Ways of Using Colors

Representational Use – the artist paints objects from the real world in hues approximating the colors, which they seem to have in ordinary illumination, thereby, implying color constancy in the local color of objects.

Impressionist Use – rejects the painting or colors in the local order, but instead seeks to render the nature with a sensitive perception of the effects of changing conditions of lights on objects.

Decorative or Ornamental Use – This is often in relation to pattern and design (e.g., carpets, textiles, wall paper) in which colors appear as a design component to enhance rhythm and sensuous appeal.

Personal Use – the artist uses hues to express his feelings and emotions as well as his spontaneous impulses and whims.

Scientific use – this is the use of a consistent format of a colored squared of a different hue.

Symbolic use – the meaning of colors changes from one cultural tradition to another and may also vary from one period to another. (e.g., color of the flag)

Characteristics of Color

• Colors are either warm or cool.

• Cool colors – retreating colors

• Warm colors – advancing colors

A. Colors differ in intensity and vividness.

B. A color is changed by the presence of f other colors.

C. Colors have definite psychological and emotional connotations.

Line

• It can send off different messages

• Defined as the path of a moving point through space

• The simplest, most primitive and the most universal means of creating visual art.

• Generally, line are either straight or curved.

Kinds of Lines

a. Horizontal Lines – runs parallel to the ground, at rest and quiet, sense of infinity, calmness, repose, stability, tranquility.

b. Vertical Line – body in upright position, poise, alertness, equilibrium, firmness, strength, static position.

c. Diagonal Line – body forward and charging purposefully towards something, energy, dynamism, impulse, will power, aspiration and passion as well as emotion.

d. Curve Line – shows action, life and energy, grace and beauty, expression of feelings, romantic yearning, sentimental.

a. Curve lines nay either be single or double, slow or quick

b. Single curve lines are but single arc

c. Double curve line turns back on itself, an S curve

d. Quick curve is an arc of a small circle, the type of curve is a fat baby

e. Slow curve is an arc of a large circle, the type of a long thin face.

e. Zigzag Line –combined diagonal lines, confusion or suggest action.

Shape

• An element of art that refers to an area clearly set off by one or more of the other elements of art. shapes are limited with two dimensions – length and width.

• Geometric Figures – made by ruler or drawing tool.

• 5 geometric shapes: triangle, square, circle, rectangle, oval

• Organic – free forms

Form

• Likes shapes, forms have length and width

• Also have third dimension, depth

• Refers to three dimension art (3D)

Space

• Refers to the distance between, around, above, below and within things.

• Positive Area – filled areas

• Negative Area – empty area

Texture

• It refers to the way things felt or perceived

PRINCIPLES OF ART

PRINCIPLE????

• A moral rule or belief that helps you know what is bright and wrong and that influences your actions.

• An idea that forms the basis of something.

PRINCIPLES OF ART

1. Balance

2. Variety

3. Harmony

4. Emphasis

5. Proportion

6. Movement

7. Rhythm

8. Unity

9. Contrast

BALANCE

• A principle of art concerned with arranging elements so no one part of a work overpowers, or seems heavier than any other part.

• In art, it can be either seen or felt by the viewer.

3 DIFFERENT KINDS OF BALANCE

1. Formal Balance (symmetrical) – two halves are mirror images.

2. Informal Balance (asymmetrical) – two unlike elements seem to carry equal weight.

3. Radial Balance – it occurs when elements or objects in an art work are positioned around a central point

VARIETY

• Same routine everyday become dull. (nakakaumay…hehe)

• Variety is a principle of art concerned with combining one or more elements to create interest by adding slight changes.

• By giving a work variety, the artist heightens the visual appeal of the work.

HARMONY

• If too little variety can become boring, too much variety can create chaos.

• Harmony is concerned with blending elements to create a more calm, restful appearance.

EMPHASIS

• To attract a viewer’s attention to important parts of a work, artist use the principle of emphasis.

• Emphasis is making an element in a work stand out.

• To make one part of an artwork dominant over the parts.

PROPORTION

• Proportion is a principle of art concerned with the relationship of one part to another and to the whole.

• The principle of proportion is not limited to size.

• Colors can be used in differing proportion to create emphasis.

MOVEMENT

• We may not realize it, but when we look in a work of art, our eyes move from one part to another.

• Movement is used to create the look and feeling of action and to guide a viewer’s eye through the work of art.

RHYTHM

• Rhythm is a principle of art concerned with repeating elements to make a work seem active or suggest vibration.

• To create a rhythm, an artist will repeat not just element but also the same exact objects over and over.

• When this is done, a pattern is formed.

• Regular rhythm – a repetition of elements that are evenly spaced.

• Irregular rhythm – elements are repeated but not exactly the same.

• Progressive rhythm – as elements repeat, they increase or decrease in size.

UNITY

• Unity is the arrangement of elements and principles with medium to create a feeling of completeness or wholeness.

• You will sense the unity as you look at works of art in which artist use the elements and principles with skill, imagination and sensitivity.

CONTRAST

• Contrast is to show difference and diversity in an artwork by combining elements to create interest.

• Contrast is to provide an artwork with something interest to break the repetitions.

TAKING THE ROLE OF AN ART CRITIC

• “…an art critic’s task is to unveil the process or processes employed and undergone by the artist to give the viewer a meaningful visual-aural experience”

• “The art critic helps the viewer dig and decode the world of the artist and translate it to their language.”

• The aim of criticism is simple-to understand, in this case, the art-its cause and effects.

ART CRITICISM PROCESSES

1. Description

2. Analysis

3. Interpretation

4. Judgement

ART CRITICISM PROCESSES:DESCRIPTION

• Viewing a work of art and taking a visual inventory of this part, noting what is immediately visible

ART CRITICISM PROCESSES:ANALYSIS

• Discovering the relationships among the parts by attending to the design principles within the composition.

ART CRITICISM PROCESSES:INTERPRETATION

• Discovering the meaning within the work by focusing on content and expressive qualities.

ART CRITICISM PROCESSES:JUDGEMENT

• Evaluating the quality by assessing the work on specific criteria and ranking within the context of like works.