Resources

art elements

colour
Hue, value and intensity are the makn characteristics of colour. Colour is a visual sensation and can be represented realistically or artists can deliberately alter colour for emotional or subliminal effects. Harmonious colours are similar and are close together on the colour wheel. Complementary colour schemes, such as red-green, purple-yellow, are opposite on the colour wheel and produce vibrant, clashing effects.

form
While shape is two-dimensional, form is three-dimensional

line
A mark made by (eg) a pointed tool, brush, pencil or pen. It is often defined as a ‘moving dot’. A line has several uses and meanings in art. It may be the meeting edge between shapes or it may divide space. If repeated, it can make patterns, define a shape (outline), indicate mood or be used to created texture and tone. By varying a line’s width and direction an artist can create movement or weight and suggest emotions. A jagged, bold dark line can suggest anger; a gently curved line can suggest calm and happiness. Every line has a thickness, direction and rhythm. It is the most commonly used art element.

movement
Movement can be actual, as in video and installations, or created, as in the illusion of speed or activity created in an artwork. Diagonal direction and repetition are two easy ways to suggest movement. They can be used to direct viewers around the artwork, often to a focal point. Movement can be created with line, colour edges or shapes.

shape
An area contained within an implied line, or defined by a change in colour or tone. Shapes have two dimensions: width and breadth. They an be free-form and organic (asymmetrical) or geometric in nature (symmetrical)

sound
Can be heard as noise, words or music and is usually found in contemporary art, such as videos. It may be a component of installations or multimedia or interactive works. It is used to add meaning, mood and involve the audience on another level than just the visual.

space
In a painting, space is the illusion tat creates a sense of depth. It can be the area around or between objects or shapes. In a sculpture or designed object, it is an actual area of air (negative space) defined by its part or full enclosure (positive space).

surface
The outer face or outward appearance. A painting may have a rough surface through the use of impasto or may be created by layering of paint. Collage can also add interest to an artwork’s surface. A sculpture can have a rough textural surface of stone or a highly polished smooth surface.

texture
The surface quality, from smooth to rough, that can either be felt or observed. Texture can be simulated or actual. Application of paint with a dry brush suggests roughness while heavy application of paint mixed with impasto can create raised ridges of actual texture. A surface is said to be tactile if it makes you want to touch it.

tone
The degree of lightness or darkness. Tone can increase a sense of reality or three-dimensionality, or it can add a sense of drama if tonal contrast is used. Some words to describe tone include: harsh, subtle, gradual, dramatic, chiarocuro.

art principles

abstraction
Non-representational art, separate or apart from reality.

balance
The distribution of visual weight in a work of art.

composition
The arrangement of subject matter and the organization of art elements within an artwork.

contrast
Differences in tone, colour, texture, shapes and other ele3ments, used to draw attention or to make the work dramatic. For example, the strongest contrast is that of white with black. Colours opposite to each other on the colour wheel are also contrasting, eg red / green etc.

cropping
Cutting down or selecting a particular part of a whole image; usually in photography to focus on a particular area of an image for emphasis. Cropping can be an effective tool when making decisions about composition. eg Degas used cropping effectively to make dynamic compositions.

distortion
Put out of place, twist or change the usual perspective.

emphasis
Used to create dominance, to draw attention to or focus on something; enlarge or make more obvious.

harmony
An agreement of aspects within an artwork; a pleasing arrangement or combination; congruity, a feeling of rightness or balance in an artwork

juxtaposition
Placement of often unrelated or contrasting elements in close proximity within the same composition to create a new meaning, eg Surrealist artists such as Dali, Magritte etc often used this device.

pattern
Use of art elements in planned repetition to enhance the surface or add a decorative effect.

proportion
Comparison or relationship of parts, the connection between parts and the whole, particularly with reference to the human body; one part compared with another; the ratio or comparative sizes of objects

relationships
How one thing interacts / reacts near another

repetition
Replicate or copy an art element again and again, for example, a repetition of line can cause a pattern, or suggest movement, a time sequence, or can be used, as in Andy Warhol’s art, to suggest mass production.

rhythm
The repetition of visual elements creating a sense of movement (as in musical beats); movement in a pattern, the relationship of parts to the whole. Different types of rhythm include flowing, regular, alternating, progressive and random.

scale
Relative size of one part to another; comparison of sizes as in a ratio, often to show perspective – eg the receding scale of telegraph poles create a sense of distance.

sequence
The following of one thing after another, the order or series; can help to create a narrative or cumulative emotional effect.

symmetry / asymmetry
Symmetry is where each side is equal, or corresponding in size and shape (mirror image); assynnetry is where sides are unbalanced, not equal nor the same

tension / Release
Tensionis the feeling of excitement, pressure, or forces fulling against each other release is the feeling of going away, a relaxation of tension (can relate to emotions or art elements and is often employed in film)

unity
The oneness or cohesive quality, a feeling of completeness, often creating a sense of balance, calm or harmony in an artwork.

variation
To create slight differences or alter the rate of change, eg a drawing is more expressive if variation is used in the thickness of the lines. Variation in tones when painting an object produces a greater sense of solidity.