The Seven Elements of Art

Ms. Hanson/ART 1

Definition of The Elements of Art

• The elements of art are a commonly used group of aspects of a work of art used in teaching and analysis, in combination with the principles of art.

LINE

• Line is an element of art which refers to the continuous mark made on some surface by a moving point.

• It may be two dimensional, like a pencil mark on a paper or it may be three dimensional wire) or implied( the edge of a shape or form) often it is a outline, contour or silhouette.

Pencil drawing Wire sculpture

TRAIN YOUR BRAIN: COMPARE AND CONTRAST a line drawing and a wire sculpture.

Different Types of Lines

Contour Line Drawing

Contour drawing shows the outline of the subject, and not the volume or mass of an object

SHAPE & FORM

Shapes have two dimensions—height and width—and are usually defined by lines.

Forms exist in three dimensions, with height, width, and depth.

COLOR

• Light reflected off objects. • Color has three main characteristics: hue

(red, green, blue, etc.), value (how light or dark it is), and intensity (how bright or dull it is).

• Colors can be described as warm (red, yellow) or cool (blue, gray), depending on which end of the color spectrum they fall.

SPACE• Real space is three-dimensional. Space in a

work of art refers to a feeling of depth or three dimensions.

• The feeling of space in a drawing or painting is always an illusion.

SPACE• The area around the primary objects in a

work of art is known as negative space, while the space occupied by the primary objects is known as positive space.

• *TRAIN YOUR BRAIN…• In this picture which is the

positive space and which is the negative space?

TEXTURE• The surface quality of an object that we

sense through touch. • All objects have a physical texture. Artists

can also convey texture visually in two dimensions.

VALUE

• value means light and dark• value is often described visually by a scale

with varying shades of gray arranged between black and white.

• Colors also have value too.

VALUE

• TRAIN YOUR BRAIN…Since colors have values too, what would a light value of red be called?What would a dark value

Of blue be called?