STUDIO ART

The Parish Episcopal School

ELEMENTS OF ART:

LINE

SPACE

FORM

VALUE

COLOR

TEXTURE

PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN:

THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN ARE VERY INTERDEPENDENT. ARTISTS USE THEM ALL, AND IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. THESE PRINCIPLES WILL HELP YOU TO ANALYZE AND APPRECIATE A VARIETY OF ART FORMS. YOU MAY ALSO FIND THEM HELPFUL IN CREATING YOUR OWN WORKS OF ART.

UNITY:

The main purpose of the artist’s plan is unity. If an artwork is to be successful, the artist must make the elements work together as a unit. If a work does not have unity, it will appear to be a collection of individual parts. If the composition is successful, you are aware of the whole work of art before looking at individual parts. Although unity is dependent upon all the design principles, it is especially enhanced by proximity, similarity, and continuation.

VARIETY (CONTRAST):

A composition can be so unified that it is uninteresting. Variety refers to differences. Variety may involve different materials and objects, and different forms of the same thing. Contrasts of values, textures, and colors also provide variety.

DOMINANCE (EMPHASIS):

When one element appears to be more important or attracts the most attention, we say it is dominant. An element may dominate because it is different from everything else. The dominant element or form is usually a focal point in a composition. Most, but not all, compositions have a focal point or “center of interest.”

RHYTHM AND MOVEMENT:

When you think of rhythm, you may think of the beat in music or the movements of a dancer. A painting also has rhythm and movement. Controlled repetition of shapes and lines, or the alternation of light and dark areas, creates a sense of movement. This is called rhythm. There are three methods for creating rhythm:

1) Rhythm can be created by repeating the same element, such as a shape or a figure, with little or no variation.

2) Rhythm can be created by repeating two or more elements on an alternating basis, such as circle-square, circle-square.

3) Rhythm can be created by progressive repetition, in which an element changes gradually from large to small, dark to light, and so on.

Most artworks contain more than one kind of rhythm.

BALANCE:

Balance is a feeling of equilibrium among all the parts of a composition. Balance in an artwork may be symmetrical, approximately symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial. It may be formal or informal.

SCALE AND PROPORTION:

Scale and proportion are similar terms with a slightly different emphasis. Scale refers to size. Proportion refers to relative size, size measured against other elements or against some mental norm or standard.