Elements and

Principles of Arts
ANNALYN YEMA
 Elements and
Principles of Arts

Elements of Arts include the parts

and the structures while principles
include the concepts that affect
contents and message.
Elements
of Arts
Line
Form
Space
Texture
Shape
Color
Value
Line

A line in art is primarily a dot or series of dots. The dots form

a line, which can vary in thickness, color, and shape. A line is
a two-dimensional shape unless the artist gives it volume or
mass. If an artist uses multiple lines, it develops into a
drawing more recognizable than a line creating a form
resembling the outside of its shape.
 Examples and Illustrations

Example 1 Example 2 Example 3

 Form
Form gives shape to a piece of art, whether it is the constraints of a line
in a painting or the edge of the sculpture. The shape can be two-
dimensional, three-dimensional restricted to height and weight, or it can
be free-flowing. The form also is the expression of all the formal
elements of art in a piece of work.
 Space

Space is the area around the focal point of the art piece and
might be positive or negative, shallow or deep, open, or closed.
Space is the area around the art form; in the case of a building, it
is the area behind, over, inside, or next to the structure. The
space around a structure or other artwork gives the object its
shape. The children are spread across the picture, creating space
between each of them, the figures become unique.
 Texture
Texture can be rough or smooth to the touch,
imitating a particular feel or sensation. The texture is
also how your eye perceives a surface, whether it is
flat with little texture or displays variations on the
surface, imitating rock, wood, stone, fabric. Artists
added texture to buildings, landscapes, and portraits
with excellent brushwork and layers of paint, giving
the illusion of reality.
 Shape
The shape of the artwork can have many meanings.
The shape is defined as having some sort of outline
or boundary, whether the shape is two or three
dimensional. The shape can be geometric (known
shape) or organic (free form shape). Space and
shape go together in most artworks.
 Color

Color is the visual perception seen by the human eye. The modern color
wheel is designed to explain how color is arraigned and how colors
interact with each other. In the center of the color wheel, are the three
primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. The second circle is the secondary
colors, which are the two primary colors mixed. Red and blue mixed
together form purple, red, and yellow, form orange, and blue and
yellow, create green. The outer circle is the tertiary colors, the mixture of
a primary color with an adjacent secondary color.
Value

Value refers to how adding black or white to color changes

the shade of the original color, for example, in (1.26). The
addition of black or white to one color creates a darker or
lighter color giving artists gradations of one color for shading
or highlighting in a painting.
 Principles of Arts
Principles of Arts are what we used to organize the Elements of Arts

Emphasis
Balance Unity and Variety

Contrast Rhythm/Movement
Pattern

Proportion/Scale
 Balance
The balance in a piece of art refers to the
distribution of weight or the apparent
weight of the piece. Arches are built for
structural design and to hold the roof in
place, allowing for passage of people
below the arch and creating balance
visually and structurally.
 Contrast
Contrast is defined as the difference
in colors to create a piece of visual art.
For instance, black and white is a
known stark contrast and brings
vitality to a piece of art, or it can ruin
the art with too much contrast.
Contrast can also be subtle when
using monochromatic colors, giving
variety and unity the final piece of art.
 Emphasis
Emphasis can be color, unity, balance, or
any other principle or element of art used
to create a focal point. Artists will use
emphasis like placing a string of gold in a
field of dark purple. The color contrast
between the gold and dark purple causes
the gold lettering to pop out, becoming the
focal point.
 Rhythm/Movement
Rhythm in a piece of art denotes a type of
repetition used to either demonstrate
movement or expanse. For instance, in a
painting of waves crashing, a viewer will
automatically see the movement as the wave
finishes. The use of bold and directional
brushwork will also provide movement in a
painting.
 Proportion/Scale
Proportion is the relationship between items in a
painting, for example, between the sky and
mountains. If the sky is more than two-thirds of
the painting, it looks out of proportion. The scale in
art is similar to proportion, and if something is not
to scale, it can look odd. If there is a person in the
picture and their hands are too large for their
body, then it will look out of scale.
 Unity and Variety
In art, unity conveys a sense of completeness,
pleasure when viewing the art, and
cohesiveness to the art, and how the patterns
work together brings unity to the picture or
object. As the opposite of unity, variety should
provoke changes and awareness in the art
piece. Colors can provide unity when they are
in the same color groups, and a splash of red
can provide variety.
 Pattern
Pattern is the way something is organized and
repeated in its shape or form and can flow without
much structure in some random repetition.
Patterns might branch out similar to flowers on a
plant or form spirals and circles as a group of soap
bubbles or seem irregular in the cracked, dry mud.
All works of art have some sort of pattern even
though it may be hard to discern; the pattern will
form by the colors, the illustrations, the shape, or
numerous other art methods.
Thank You!
Reference:
Libretexts. (2021, January 26). 1.6: What Are the Elements of Art and
the Principles of Art? Retrieved from
https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Art/A_World_Perspective
_of_Art_Appreciation_(Gustlin_and_Gustlin)/01:_A_World_Perspec
tive_of_Art_Appreciation/1.06:_What_Are_the_Elements_of_Art_a
nd_the_Principles_of_Art#:~:text=The visual art terms
separate,volume, perspective, and depth.