Elements and Principles of Art

By Emily Bergen

Elements of Art

• Line• Color• Shape/Form• Texture• Space• Value

The SistersMary Cassat

Line

• An element of art: mark on a surface created by a tool (pencil, pen, brush)

Vincent Van Gogh Grove of Cypresses 1889

Color

• Appearance of object that is created by the differing qualities of light it reflects

Claude MonetImpression: Sunrise

1872

Shape/Form

• Two-dimensional area defined by line or color change

• Three-dimensional artwork such as sculpture, architecture, various crafts. Also shown by shading when drawing a 3-D form on a flat surface

John Frederick PetoThe Old Violin

1890

Texture

• Actual texture is the way a surface feels; visual texture is the way it looks as if it would feel

Mary CassattMargot in Blue

1902

Space

• Usually related to showing foreground, middleground, and background on a flat surface

M. C. EscherProcession in Crypt

1927

Value

• Lightness or darkness of a color; color added to white to create tints; black added to a color to create shades

Rembrandt van RijnSelf-Portrait

1659

Principles of Art

• Balance• Emphasis• Proportion• Movement• Rhythm, Repetition, and

Pattern• Variety• Unity

Starry NightVan Gogh

Balance

• A harmonious arrangement of parts or elements in a design

Chateau de Chambord

Emphasis

• Viewer’s attention is directed to focal point in an artwork

Cronos Devouring His Children

Goya

Proportion

• Relationship of one part to another

TipharetLeonardo da Vinci

Movement

• Motion; may be simulated or actual in an artwork

The Great Wave of Kanagawa

Katsushika Hokusai

Rhythm, Repetition, and Pattern

• Sense of visual movement regular or harmonious pattern created by repetition of lines, shapes, or colors

Marilyn MonroeAndy Warhol

Variety

• Principle of art in which elements are different and combined in a pleasing, non-chaotic manner

I SpyWalter Wick

Unity

• Seen or felt when all parts of an artwork give viewer a sense of harmony and completion

Mona LisaLeonardo da Vinci