Elements of design Visual Elements of Form
Line A continued point An edge A contour A separation of areas
Line: physical characteristics Measurement –Width, length, long, short, thick, thin Type –Straight –Curved –Angular Direction –Different from type. Angular type moving along a curved direction. –Helps control movement of the viewer’s eye Location –Placement of line relevant to the picture plane Character –Related to the medium used –Emotional quality, personality
Stripe Song J. Seeley 1981 Print, photo silk screen 22 x 30 in
Shape A line enclosed in an area Any visually perceived area of: –Value, color, texture or line (or combination) Types: –Biomorphic –Rectilinear
Shape: uses Achieve order, harmony and variety Create the Illusion of Space Extend visual interest
Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada from Lone Pine California Ansel Adams 1944 Photograph
Value Relationship of one part to another with respect to Light and Dark All other elements (color, line, texture, shape) must contain value contrast in order to be visible.
Value: uses Describes surface –Sudden contrast: angular –Even gradation: curved Expression –Chiaroscuro use of contrasting lights and darks, illusion of vast space surrounding object. –emotion
St. John the Baptist Michelangelo da Caravaggio 1604 oil on canvas
Texture Surface character of a material. Activates both visual and tactile senses. Degree to which the surface is broken up. –Distinct lights and darks: rough –Less broken appearance: glossy
Texture: types Actual: true to the medium that is used. Build up of paint, application of another object on the surface. Simulated: Surface that looks real but is not. Abstract: hint of original texture but changed. Invented: created not to reference the subject, but use within composition at the creation of the artist.
Self-Portrait with Felt Hat Vincent Van Gogh Oil on canvas 44 x 37.5 cm
Aspens, Northern New Mexico Ansel Adams 1958 Photograph 24 x 36 in
Olive Trees in a Mountain Landscape Vincent van Gogh 1889 Reed pen and ink over pencil on paper.
Three women Fernand Leger 1921 oil on canvas
Margaret Bourke White Chrysler Building, NY 1931
Margaret Bourke White Refugee Camp, Dehli 1947
Alfred Sieiglitz Hands and Thimble, 1918
Man Ray
Alfred Stieglitz Snapshot in Paris, 1911
Edward Weston
Dorothea Lange Towards Los Angeles, California
Eliot Porter
Joe Nishizawa Deep Inside the japanese Underground
Resources Art Fundamentals Theory and Practice, Ocvirk, Sinson, Wigg, Bone