Formal Qualities Developed from the 20th century art movement ‘Formalism’, which emphasized compositional elements such as color, line, shape, form, pattern and texture rather than realism, context, and content.

Formalist Art + Architecture

Elements and Definitions Line - Lines can be vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or curved. Lines can be short or tall, can be thick or thin. Lines can lead you away, or move you forward in an image. Pattern – Basically repeating shapes and elements that can be isolated via careful composition from the world around us. Shape - shape is one of the principal elements of identification and in art is defined by its’ 2 dimensional from. For example the shadow of a person falling on a white wall. Form - Form is basically a three-dimensional shape, and is best accentuated by side lighting since the difference between light and shadow gives a better illustration of depth. Texture - Capturing texture is mostly based on one element – light. Texture is accentuated by light cutting across the surface of an object at an acute angle. Colour - Colour is characterized by attributes such as value, hue, and saturation. Colours, and how they’re arranged, can either make or break a shot, sending out different messages and having an important visual weight and impact on a photograph.

Line

Texture

Pattern

Colour

Form

Shape