WHAT ARE ELEMENTS OF ART?
Elements of art are the basic properties
of a work of art that may be perceived
through the senses. In a painting, for
instance, the properties that may be
perceived through our senses are
texture, form, shape, color, line and value
(tone). Other elements, for instance
sound and time, may be perceived in
other art forms such as music and
video. The way the elements of an
artwork relate to each other and are
organized in the artwork are referred to
as the
principles of art
TYPES OF ELEMENTS OF ART
Below are seven major elements of art:
(1)LINE: A path created by a moving
point, mark or object. It is a dot that t
akes a walk. Line can be straight,
swirly, wavy, jagged, dotted, dashed,
broken, thick, thin, zig zag, diagonal,
vertical, horizontal, curved, bold,
parallel or perpendicular.
(2)SHAPE: A two-dimensional (2D), flat
enclosed area. When a line crosses over
itself it creates a shape. Examples
of shapes could be geometric,
organic/natural, irregular, circle,
square, rectangle, diamond, oval,
crescent, heart, triangle, octagon.
(3)COLOUR: The element of art derived
from reflected or absorbed light. Color
adds interest and mood to a work of art.
It is also referred to as “Hue”. The
primary colors are red, yellow and blue.
The secondary colors are created by
mixing the primary colors. They are
purple (violet), orange and green.
(4)TEXTURE: How something feels or
looks like it would feel if you could touch
it. There are two kinds of texture: Real
(how something actually feels, such as a
sculpture) and Implied (when an artist
paints or draws a texture but it is
artificial).
(5)FORM: Objects having three
dimensions (3D), or height, width, and
depth. You can walk around a form.
Examples of form can include cubes,
cylinders, and spheres.
(6)VALUE: The lightness or darkness of
an object. The degree of lightness
or darkness. The effect of light and
shade in a picture. Value vocabulary
includes tint (adding white to make
something lighter), shade (adding
black to make something darker) and
hue (the true color). Shadow,
highlight, and light source are also
some vocabulary words to consider
with this element of art.
(7)SPACE: The element of art that refers
to the emptiness or area around or
within objects. Positive space refers to
the part of the artwork that takes up
space. Negative space is the area
around that object. This element of art
also refers to the “parts” of the
picture Foreground, Middleground
and Background!
( By Eruvwavwe Precious)