Theory of Art

Color

 Red, yellow, blue are called primary colors. These can be mixed to create all other colors but cannot
be made themselves.
 Secondary colors are orange, green and purple. Secondary colors are made by mixing two primary
colors. (Example- Blue and red make purple)
 Tertiary colors are the remaining colors in between, they are created by mixing a secondary color
and a primary color. Tertiary colors: red-purple, red-orange, blue-green, yellow-green, blue-purple,
and yellow orange.
 One-way colors are categorized are by their perceived temperature. Warm colors are on the red-
orange side and cool colors are on the blue side of the color wheel.
 Harmonies are color combinations that go well together. The big three are analogous colors which
are any three contiguous colors. Complementary colors are two colors that are opposite each other
(on the color wheel). Triadic colors are any three colors split into thirds. Three common color
modifications are tinting which is adding white to a color. Toning which is adding grey to a color. And
shading which is adding black to a color.

Line

 Line is one of the seven elements of art along with shape, color, texture, form, value, and space.
These seven elements are the building blocks of all art.
 Line is the path created when an object moves from one point to another.
 Lines can be horizontal, diagonal, vertical, straight, curved, or freeform. They can be thick or thin,
light, or dark.
 Lines can be dashed, dotted, rough, smooth, zigzag, implied.
 Every artist has a unique way of making lines, it’s one way of expressing their individual style. This
can be called art style; everyone has a different art style similar to how everyone has different
fingerprints.

Shapes

 When the beginning of a line connects with its own end, or intersects with another, a shape is
formed.
 In visual art, shapes are flat and are defined by their length and width. In other words they are two-
dimensional.
 Shapes fall into two categories, geometric or organic. Geometric shapes are commonly recognized
as squares, hexagons, rectangles, and circles. Organic shapes are freeform and often one of a kind
 Shapes inherit the qualities of the lines that were used to construct them.
 Each shape produce different feelings and association in the viewers.