The Elements and Principles of Art

For Drawing
The Elements of Art

1. Line
2. Shape
3. Form
4. Space
5. Texture
6. Value
7. Color
LINE
Lines in art can serve as patterns, focal points,
and/or guides for visual movement.

They can be organic (curvilinear or natural), geometric (straight),

or even implied (not literally there).

• When we say “lines” we are generally looking for physical (straight or curved…)
lines/divisions of space
from point A to point B.

• When we say “line” we may instead be referring to the direction(s) ones eye moves across
the surface of a space.
LINE

Bridget Riley
LINE

Bridget Riley
LINE

Bridget Riley OP ART

LINE

Julie Mehretu
LINE

Julie Mehretu
LINE

Julie Mehretu
SHAPE
Shapes are flat, two-dimensional objects without shading or value.
Circles, Squares, Rectangles, and Triangles are the most basic shapes.

• True shapes are harder to experience in a 3D environment or depiction of

such an environment (they become forms!),
as nearly all objects have physical dimensions.

• Shapes are perhaps most easily recognized in 2D abstract space. . .

SHAPE

Ellsworth Kelly
SHAPE

Ellsworth Kelly
SHAPE

Ellsworth Kelly
SHAPE

Mona Marzouk
SHAPE

Mona Marzouk
SHAPE

Mona Marzouk
FORM
Forms are
three-dimensional objects
shaded with value,
such as cubes, spheres,
pyramids, and any number of
natural/organic forms.
2D Square (shape) vs. 3D Cube (form)
Human Shape vs. Human Form

Michelangelo’s David, 1501-1504

FORM

Robert Rauschenberg
FORM

Robert Rauschenberg
FORM

Robert Rauschenberg
FORM

Leonardo da Vinci
FORM

Leonardo da Vinci
FORM

Leonardo da Vinci
SPACE
Space is all of the area in the composition (and how it is used).

• The object or subject of the picture is generally described as positive space, while
all the space surrounding it is negative space.

• Space in a composition can be very tight and up-close, or it can spread out to give
a sense of foreground, mid-ground, and background.
SPACE

Edgar Degas
SPACE

Edgar Degas
SPACE

Edgar Degas
SPACE

Wassily Kandinsky
SPACE

Wassily Kandinsky
SPACE

Wassily Kandinsky
SPACE

Yishai Jusidman
SPACE

Yishai Jusidman
SPACE

Yishai Jusidman