THE PRINCIPLES & ELEMENTS OF

ART
THE ELEMENTS OF DESIGN

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LINE
Josef Albers, White Line Squares (Series II), XIV (1966)
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), Pesadilla (Nightmare), ca. 1816-20.
Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452–May 2, 1519), Anatomical Drawings, ca. 1485 and
1510–15
Gene Davis, Apricot Ripple (1968), screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art
Museum, Bequest of Florence Coulson Davis, 2002.26.23.
Bridget Riley, Op Art (1961-1964)
SHAPE
Piet Mondrian, Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow
(1930), 59,5 cm × 59,5 cm (23.4 in × 23.4 in)
Wassily Kadinsky, Black Lines (1913)
Wassily Kadinsky, Composition 8 (1923)
Wassily Kadinsky, Several Circles (1926)
Paul Sérusier, The Talisman (1888), 27 cm x 22 cm
FORM
VALUE ●
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COLOUR ●
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TEXTURE

Culture Series-The Family , oil on canvas, 2005, 6'10''x8'5''

Anselm Kiefer, Ash flower, 1983-97
SPACE
 Eadward Muybridge, Sallie Gardner at a Gallop, 1878
THE CATHEDRAL,Auguste Rodin 1908
Maurice Lambert,Head of a Woman exhibited 1938
THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNS

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BALANCE refers to the sense of distribution of perceived visual
weights that offset one another.
● Symmetrical balance is achieved by arranging
elements on either side of the center of a composition
in an equally weighted manner.
● Asymmetrical balance, the two sides are not
identical, but differ from one another.
● Radial balance is any type of balance based on a
circle with its design extending.
Symmetrical Balance
“The Last Supper” by Italian Renaissance painter
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE

Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" (1889)

"Target With Four Faces" (1955) by the American painter Jasper
Johns.
CONTRAST

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Claude Monet, Juan-Les-Pins, 1888
EMPHASIS Its is the part of an artwork that catches the
attention of the viewer or it stress a certain
area.
Albert Bierstadt, Sunrise on the Matterhorn, after 1875
The Great Black Woodpecker by Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1892-94)
PATTERN repetition of shape or form. It is an
underlying structure that organizes
surfaces or structures in a consistent,
regular manner.
● Natural Pattern
● Man-made pattern
UNITY It refers to the coherence of an artwork
by using similar elements and placing
them together in way that it shows
completeness or wholeness.

Unity is use in artwork through

● Shape/Form
● Color
● Texture
● Line
● Style
● Architecture
Anastasia Zakharova
MOVEMENT the design element that operates in the
fourth dimension - time. It is the process
of relocation of objects in space over
time.
Hokusai, The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, 1829-32
RHYTHM can be described as timed movement
through space; an easy, connected path
along which the eye follows a regular
arrangement of motifs.
RHYTHM

● REPETITION is the use of patterning.

● ALTERATION is an instance of patterning in which a sequence
of repeating motifs is presented in turn
RHYTHM

● GRADATION
employs a series of motifs

patterned to relate to one

another
 TYPES OF RHYTHM
1. Random rhythm – Repeating elements with no specific regular
interval creates random rhythms.
2. Regular rhythm – Like the beating of a heart, the regular rhythm
follows the same intervals over and over again.
3. Alternating rhythm – You can repeat more than one element in a
design. In an alternating design, you use a 1-2-1-2-1-2 pattern.
4. Flowing rhythm – A flowing rhythm shows the repeated elements
following bends, curves, and undulations.
 TYPES OF RHYTHM
5. Progressive rhythm - changing one characteristic of a motif as we
repeat it.
 TYPES OF RHYTHM
1. Random Rhythm
 TYPES OF RHYTHM
2. Regular Rhythm
 TYPES OF RHYTHM
3. Alternating Rhythm
 TYPES OF RHYTHM
3. Flowing rhythm
 TYPES OF RHYTHM
3. Progressive rhythm
REFERENCES

● https://artclasscurator.com/artworks-that-show-balance/

● https://drawpaintacademy.com/contrast/

● https://artclasscurator.com/artworks-that-show-emphasis/
● https://www.sophia.org/tutorials/design-in-art-emphasis-variety-and-unity
REFERENCES

●https://artclasscurator.com/examples-of-unity-in-art/

● https://www.sophia.org/tutorials/elements-of-art-movement-and-time

● https://artclasscurator.com/rhythm-in-art-examples/