The Elements of Design

Line

A series of moving points or a continuous group of marks.

Lines lead our eyes through and around a work of art because it takes movement to make a line.

Value

The relative lightness or darkness of a colour.

Darker values can add a sense of mystery, whereas lighter values create a sense of openness and clarity

Shape

An enclosed space defined by other elements of art.

Geometric Shape- regular shapes like circles, squares, rectangles, triangles etc

Free-form Shapes- irregular shapes

Form

Is 3-D and encloses volume

Space

The distance between, around, above or within things.

In 2-D artwork, we can have SHALLOW space or create the illusion of ACTUAL space using different types of PERSPECTIVE

Colour

An element of art with 3 properties:

Hue- the name of the colour

Intensity- the brightness/dullness

Value- the lightness/darkness

Texture

The surface quality or “feel” of an object.

Textures can be REAL (actually felt) or IMPLIED.

Questions

1. What type of lines do you think would show the most energy? Which would show stability?

2. On a 2-D surface, what would you add to a shape to create the illusion of form?

3. What sort of mood do you think it would depict if you have drastically different values in a work of art?

4. Do you think we can show real textures in Photoshop and other digital art programs?

5. What type of space was used in your collage? Shallow space or the illusion of Actual space? Why?

6. How have we been altering the “INTENSITY” of colours on Photoshop?

7. Can we create an actual 3-D form on a 2D surface?