The Ingredients For A Great Composition

The Ingredients for a great
Composition
The Elements of Art are the “tools” that artists use
to make art. There are 7 of them:
Line Value Texture

Shape Form Space Color
A line is a path that a point takes through
space. Lines can be thick, thin, dotted or
solid. They can make straight movements,
zig-zags, waves or curls.
They may be horizontal
vertical
diagonal
Horizontal Lines are generally restful, like the
horizon, where the sky meets land
Vertical lines seem to be reaching, so they may
seem inspirational like tall majestic trees or
church steeples
Diagonal lines tend to be disturbing. They
suggest decay or chaos like lightening or falling
trees
 Lines can convey emotion as well. They
may show excitement, anger, calmness,
tension, happiness and many other
feelings.Because of this, some are said to be
expressive.
Other lines that are very measured, geometric,
directional and angular are called
Constructive lines. They tend to appear to
be man-made because of their precision.
Shape is created when a line becomes
connected and encloses space. It is the
outline or outward appearance of
something. Shapes are 2 Dimensional (2-D)
which means there are 2 ways they can be
measured.
You can measure its HEIGHT and its WIDTH.
There are two basic types of shape.

Geometric shapes have smooth even edges
and are measurable. The include the square,
the circle, the triangle and the rectangle.
Organic shapes have more complicated edges
and are usually found in nature. Leaves,
flowers, ameba, etc.
A Form is a shape that has become 3-
Dimensional (3-D) Form has HEIGHT,
WIDTH and DEPTH--which is the 3rd
dimension.Depth shows the thickness of the
object. Forms are NOT flat like shapes are!
A triangle becomes a cone or a pyramid
A square becomes a cube

A rectangle can become a box or a cylinder
In order to turn a circle into a sphere, you

must shade it. You can’t add another side to
it!
Value is the lightness or darkness of a color.
Value makes objects appear more real
because it imitates natural light. When
showing value in a work of art, you will
need a LIGHT SOURCE.
A light source is the

place where the light is
coming from, the
darkest areas are
always on the opposite
side of the light.
In order to have a successful drawing, you will
need to show a full value range, which
means that there are very light areas, middle
tones, and very dark areas. This is a way of
giving a work of art Contrast.
In drawing value
can be added
several ways:
Cross-hatching is when you use irregular lengths
of
parallel lines
that cross over each
other diagonally. The
closer together the
lines are placed, the
darker the value.
Stippling is the use of dots to create shade.
This is
accomplished by
placing dots very
close together to
create dark values
and farther apart
to create lighter
values.
Soft shading is when you use your pencil to create
soft gradual movements from one value to the
next using full value range.
Color can add interest and reality to artwork.
The use of a 12-step color wheel will help us
understand color more effectively. When
light is reflected through a prism, colors can
be seen
These colors are: Red, Yellow, Orange, Green,

Indigo, Blue and Violet
Remember the anagram: ROY G BIV
A long time ago, artists decided that these
colors would be more useful to them if they
were placed in a wheel fashion. This became
known as the color wheel
There are 3 primary colors:
Red, Yellow and Blue
These colors are primary for 2 reasons:

1. They can’t be mixed to be made
2. They make all the other colors on the color
wheel
When you mix 2 primary colors together, you
get a secondary color. For example:
Red and Yellow=Orange
Red and Blue=Violet
Yellow and Blue= Green

When you mix a primary and a secondary color
together you get an intermediate (or tertiary)
color For example:
Red and Orange= Red-Orange

Yellow and Green=Yellow-Green
Blue and Green=Blue-Green
Red and Violet=Red-Violet
Yellow and Orange=Yellow-Orange
Blue and Violet=Blue-Violet
Color is divided into groups based on the way
they are placed on the color wheel:
3-4 colors “next-door-neighbors” to each other
creates an analogous color scheme
2 colors that are directly opposite each other
(going across the center) creates a
complimentary color scheme
A Split-Complimentary color scheme is a
complimentary color and the two colors on
either side of its compliment.
A Triadic color scheme uses 3 colors that are
equally spaced apart on the color wheel
When you use only one color plus its tints and
shades, you are using a monochromatic color
scheme
A tint is a color plus white

A shade is a color plus black
Colors can convey emotion and feelings too.
Have your ever felt “blue?”

Been “green’ with envy?
Called a “yellow” coward?
It is important that artists understand the effects

of color when they are trying to get the viewers
of their art to feel a particular way.
Warm colors are those that have Reds, Yellows
and Oranges. Warm colors seem to advance (or
come forward) in an artwork.
Cool colors are those that have Blues, Greens and

Violets. Cool colors seem to recede (or go back
into) an artwork.
Texture is the way the surface of an object actually
feels.
In the artistic world, we refer to two types of

texture---tactile and implied
Tactile (or Real) Texture is the way the surface
of an object actually feels. Examples would
be sandpaper, cotton balls, tree bark, puppy
fur, etc.
Implied Texture is the way the surface of an
object looks like it feels. This is the type of
texture that artists use when they draw and
paint. Textures may look rough, fuzzy,
gritty, or scruffy, but can’t actually be felt.
Space is basically divided into 3 parts: Foreground,
Middle Ground and Background
Generally, the background area is considered to be the

upper 1/3 of the picture plane. The middle ground
area is considered to be the middle 1/3 of the
picture plane. The foreground area is considered to
be the lower 1/3 of the picture plane.
Space can be shallow or deep depending on
what the artist wants to use. Shallow space
is used when the artist has objects very close
to the viewer.
Deep Space
may show
objects up
close but
objects are
shown far
away
too.
Positive and Negative space is a way that an
artwork is divided. When planning a work of
art, both areas must be examined so that they
balance one another. Drawing items running
off the page and zooming in on objects are
ways to create visual interest within a work.
Positive space is the
actual object(s) within
the artwork
Negative Space is the
area in and around the
objects. It is the
“background” and it
contributes to the
work of art---you can’t
have positive space
without negative space
Perspective is also a way of showing space in a
work of art. Perspective is when the artist
uses a vanishing point on the horizon and
then creates a sense of deep space by
showing objects getting progressively
smaller as they get closer to the vanishing
point.
Objects may overlap as well. When objects are
overlapped it is obvious that enough space
had to be in the picture to contain all the
objects that have been included
The Elements of Art are the “tools” that artists use
to make art. They are the basic “foundation” of
a good composition
Line Value Texture

Shape Form Space Color

The Ingredients For A Great Composition

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The Ingredients for a great

Line Value Texture

They may be horizontal

There are two basic types of shape.

A square becomes a cube

In order to turn a circle into a sphere, you

A light source is the

These colors are: Red, Yellow, Orange, Green,

These colors are primary for 2 reasons:

Red and Blue=Violet

Yellow and Blue= Green

Red and Orange= Red-Orange

A tint is a color plus white

Have your ever felt “blue?”

It is important that artists understand the effects

Cool colors are those that have Blues, Greens and

In the artistic world, we refer to two types of

Generally, the background area is considered to be the

Line Value Texture

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