The Elements of Art

Prepared by:
Romar D. Castillo
Ellie Evonne Serano
Angelbert Salarzon
Marie Ellaine Delos Santos
Janelle Joyce Dinong
The 7 Elements of Art
The Ingredients for a great
Composition
What are the elements of art?
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
Line
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.
Expressive Lines tend to be found in nature
and are very organic
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
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.
The 2 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.
Form
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!
Turning Shapes into Forms
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
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:
Ways value can be added:
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
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
Color Wheel
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
Yellow and Blue= Green

Red and Blue=Violet
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 Schemes
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 have temperatures
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
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
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 in Review
The Elements of Art are the “tools” that artists use
to make art. They are the basic “foundation” of
a good composition

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What are the 7 elements of art?

What are the differences between geometric and organic shapes?

Prepared by:

Line Value Texture

You can measure its HEIGHT and its WIDTH.

A square becomes a cube

In order to turn a circle into a sphere, you must shade

These colors are: Red, Yellow, Orange,

These colors are primary for 2 reasons:

Yellow and Blue= Green

Have your ever felt “blue?”

It is important that artists understand the effects of color

Cool colors are those that have Blues,

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