THE LANGUAGE OF ART

THE VISUAL ELEMENTS

LEARNING OUTCOMES

 Demonstrate understanding of the creative process, elements of art, and

principles of design.
THE VISUAL ELEMENTS

 Line
 Shape
 Light
 Color
 Texture
 Space
LINE

 is a path traced by a moving point.

 It serves as a basic building block around which an art form is
constructed and, by itself, has the capacity to evoke thought and emotion.
 It is an element of infinite potential, capable of conveying a wide variety
of emotions and meanings.
SHAPE

 It is a two-dimensional form that occupies an area with identifiable

boundaries. These boundaries may be created by line, a shift in texture,
or a shift in color.
GEOMETRIC

 They are formed by straight lines or

curved ones that progress evenly.
Squares, rectangles, triangles, and
circles are all examples of this kind
of two-dimensional shape.

Composition with Yellow, Blue, and Red, Piet Mondrian, 1937–42, oil on canvas
ORGANIC

 These shapes and

masses are irregular and
evoke the living forms of
nature. They are formed
by uneven curves.

Franz Marc, Die grossen blauen Pferde (The Large Blue Horses),1911.
IMPLIED

 Artists used implied shapes to create a sense

of order, so that we perceive a work of art as a
unified and harmonious whole.

Raphael. The Madonna of the Meadows. 1505. Oil on panel

LIGHT

 It reveals the material world to our eyes in a way that helps us

understand forms and spatial relationships.
 Light makes it possible for us to see points, lines, shapes, and textures.
VALUE

 it indicates the degree of luminosity—that is, the presence or

absence of light.
CHIAROSCURO

 It is the gradual shifting from light to dark through a successive gradation

of tones across a curved surface.
 It can give objects portrayed on a flat surface a rounded, three-
dimensional appearance.
COLOR

 It is derived from light, whether natural, like sunlight, or artificial, like

fluorescent light. Without light there can be no color.
 Color in works of art can also trigger strong emotional responses in the
observer.
COLOR PROPERTIES

 Any color has three properties.They are called hue, value, and intensity.
 Hue is the name of the color according to the categories of the color
wheel—green or red or blue-violet.
VALUE

 refers to relative lightness or darkness.

INTENSITY

 also called chroma or saturation—refers to

the relative purity of a color. It is strength of
the color’s hue.
COLOR HARMONIES

 is the selective use of two or more colors in a single composition.

 Monochromatic harmonies are composed of variations on the same
hue, often with differences of value and intensity. A painting all in reds,
pinks, and maroons would be considered to have a monochromatic
harmony.
COLOR HARMONIES

 Complementary harmonies involve colors directly opposite each

other on the color wheel, such as red and green. Complementaries
“react” with each other more vividly than with other colors, and thus
areas of complementary color placed next to or even near each other
make both hues appear more intense.
ANALOGOUS COLORS

 Colors that are adjacent to each other on

the color wheel
TEXTURE

 Texture refers to surface quality—a perception of smooth or rough, flat

or bumpy, fine or coarse.
 Actual/Tactile texture consists of physical surface variations that can
be perceived by the sense of touch.
 Visual texture is illusionary.
SPACE

 It is the field of action on which all artists work.

 It is a dynamic visual element that interacts with the lines and shapes and
colors and textures of a work of art to give them definition.
IMPLIED SPACE: SUGGESTING DEPTH IN TWO DIMENSIONS

 Picture plane - In two-dimensional art forms, it is the actual space of the work
itself, which we tend to see all at once. It is the boundary that defines and limits the
space in which an artist works.
 Perspective is the technical means by which we perceive distance in painting, the
means by which we are made to see the position of objects in space.
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE

 Objects become smaller as they recede into the distance. Parallel lines
below eye level seem to rise to a vanishing point on the horizon, while
those above eye level seem to descend to the vanishing point.
FORESHORTENING

 is a term of linear perspective applied mainly

to the human figure. It refers to the visual
effect or optical illusion that an object or
distance appears shorter than it actually is
because it is angled toward the viewer.
ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE

 Objects become fainter in the distance due to the effect of the

atmosphere. Objects become lighter in color and hazier in outline as
they approach the horizon.
THE LANGUAGE OF ART
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
DESIGN

 is the act of organizing the visual elements to effect a desired aesthetic in

a work of art.
UNITY AND VARIETY

 Unity is the quality of overall cohesion within an artwork.

 Variety is the element of difference within an artwork.
BALANCE

 Balance in an artwork results from placing the elements so that their

visual weights seem evenly distributed.
 Weight generally means the amount of attention an element commands
from the viewer.
BALANCE

 In sculpture and architecture, actual weight, or

the physical weight of materials in pounds, has an
important effect in the design.
 Artists achieve visual balance in compositions by
one of three means—symmetrical balance,
asymmetrical balance, or radial balance.

Isamu Noguchi. Red Cube. 1968. Steel painted red.

SYMMETRICAL

 the implied center of gravity is the vertical

axis. Forms on either side of the axis
correspond to one another in size, shape, and
placement.

Georgia O’Keeffe. Deer’s Skull with Pedernal. 1936. Oil on canvas,

ASYMMETRICAL

 It is achieved by the careful distribution of

uneven elements.

Gustav Klimt. Death and Life. 1915.

RADIAL BALANCE

 Results when all the elements in the

composition visually radiate outward from a
central point.

North transept rose window, Chartres Cathedral, 1235

EMPHASIS

 It focuses the viewer’s attention on one or more

parts of a composition by accentuating certain
shapes, intensifying value, etc.
 Focal points are specific parts of the work that
seize and hold the viewer’s interest.

Joseph the Carpenter, Georges de la Tour, 1645, Oil on canvas

SCALE AND PROPORTION

 Scale is the word we use to describe the dimensions of an art object in

relation to the original object that it depicts or in relation to the objects
around it.
PROPORTION

 refers to the size of one part in relation to

another within a work of art, or the size of
one part in relation to the whole.

The Family, Alice Neel, 1970, oil on canvas

RHYTHM

 Is the repetition of carefully placed elements separated by intervals.

PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

 Unity and Variety

 Balance
 Emphasis
 Scale and Proportion
 Rhythm