Chapter 5: Language of Arts: Elements and the Principles of Design

Learning Contents and Activities

A. Elements of Art

1. Line Element

The perception of lines is some of the things we do every day. You see lines along the roadside, in the
corner of your rooms, in the guidelines of your notebook, sheets, etc. Line are even utilitarian that you
use them when you write, when you navigate through directions, slice your favorite meat or vegetables,
etc. But most importantly, lines are essential elements to art. Lines create are essential elements to art.
Lines create art and they provide the impression of path and movement along a space.

Nature of Line

Lines create the impression of movement. As such, when you see art works with lines, your eyes make a
movement in following its direction or path. So when given a visual image, lines lead your eyes into
several directions that allow you to navigate the general space.

Lines can also be differentiated based on length and width. Lines can be slim or thick depending on your
approach. Essentially, lines provide a one-dimensional theme to the piece of work. Dimension, in this
regard, is the amount of space the line takes up in a particular art. To make lines two-dimensional, they
need have an impression of height and depth. Lines can also be drawn using different media like pens or
pencils, using sticks or even technological media. Even solid perceived objects like threads, wires, spider
webs, tree trunks are configured to provide perceptions of lines. While all of them can be perceived as
lines, they differ in terms of the level of dimension they give to the viewers.

Types of lines

Vertical Lines

Horizontal lines

Diagonal Lines

Zigzag Lines

Curved Lines

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Line and Value

Value is defined as the darkness or lightness of an object. Essentially, the value of line or the artwork in
general may differ in terms of how much light the surface absorbs and expresses light. The artwork may
have a dark value with little light reflection or light value with more light reflection. So, applying the line
principles to value, lines may have or dark value when pencils for example are pressed or rubbed harder
on a sheet of paper. Artists use the technique called crosshatching to create darker themes or value..
This is a technique using crossed line to create darker shades of a line. Different number types of pencils
can also be made to create different line values. Even using a crayon that stroked a wall surface or sheet
of paper may create broken lines or solid lines, respectively (Ragans, 2005).

Expressions of Lines

a. Movement of lines

Vertical and horizontal lines convey static and at rest impressions. It may mean the lack of activity and
stability. Artists may use them to show dignity, formality or stiffness. Horizontal lines, specially, show the
feelings of permanence and solid foundation such as that of the ground or floor. Horizontal lines provide
foundation to vertical lines and it may provide artistic impressions of strength. Sometimes, it portrays
the feeling of calmness or relax such as the horizontal lines created by the sea surface.

Curved lines, on the other hand, may show expression of relative activity. This may depend on the
amount of curve it makes. The less active curve may indicate more calm or repetitive feelings. Spiral
lines require you to focus, on a central point and may have the tendency to be hypnotic.

Diagonal lines are used by artists to express the feelings of instability, tension or excitement. Their
instability provide feelings of being uneasy or discomfort. But their expression can be altered when
down with symmetry. For example, two diagonal lines that converge to create the roof of a house may
instead mean stability.

Zigzag lines have been used to create feelings of confusion. Due to combinations of diagonal lines, they
may evoke feelings of too much excitement or anxiety.

b. Contour lines

These are applications of lines to create edges or ridges of an object. These provide a certain degree of
separation from one object to another.

c. Gesture Drawing

Gestures are usually expressive movements which are intended to capture motion, activity and the
feeling found in it. In artworks that emphasize the lines of the hand, touching the face can convey
feelings of anxiety or worry. Or hands raising that are emphasized by lines can be done to manifest
feelings of excitement and activity.

d. Calligraphic Drawing

Calligraphy means beautiful handwriting. It is often associated with writing Asian characters usually with
Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai language. In their culture, writing is not just about knowing the
alphabet. For them writing is a process of creating art using lines and different strokes to represent
character languages. In the Philippines, there are different ethno-linguistic bases. The Philippine
Calligraphy is rooted on Indian, Sulawesi and Kawi, Indo, Arabic and Islamic writing arts.

2. SHAPE, FORM AND SPACE

The world may be considered as an art piece. It is a piece composed of several shapes, sizes, forms and
even depth that are naturally existing in this space. Understanding the nature and use of shape, forms
and space, an art piece may have an important meaning to express (Regans, 2015)

Shape

A shape conveys a defined two-dimensional area. It has an outline around and it is recognizable through
its form in a sense, by just using an outline, shapes can be formed. But shapes can be created without a
boundary line. For example, they can be created using a blot of yellow paint to create a circle like the
imagery of a sun. They are two-dimensional, as well, because of the flat surface they create. You can see
them in the shapes that are defined by the floors tile, TV screens, walls, table tops etc. Usually, these are
man-made shapes (Ragans. 2005)

Geometric Shapes

Shapes can be defined as figure or area closed by a boundary which is created by combining
the specific amount of curves, points, and lines. Different geometric shapes are Triangle, Circle,
Square, etc.
Free-Form Shapes

These are the types of shapes that are irregular in structure. They may be characterized by
some combinations of curves and angles. They are not structural and man-made, per se. Most
of them are organically existing in nature such as flowers, animals, humans, islands, trees, etc.
(Ragans, 2005)

Forms

Forms are the three-dimensional aspects of space and shapes. While shapes have length and
width or diameter, a characterizing component of form is its depth. Example, a box or a cube is
a form. However there is an inherent relationship between shapes and forms. So, if you are
presented with a box, each side of a box is presented by a square or rectangular shape. Or
when you visit the pyramids in Egypt, you will still be identifying shapes of triangle along its
sides (Ragans, 2005)

Space
Space is an essential elements to understanding art as it involves the outer and inner spaces of
an artworks. This refers to hypothetical area in which the subject of an art and other elements of
an art operate. Like shapes and form, the impression of space can be two or three-dimensional.
For example, with a window as your subject of an art piece, it can provide a sense of two-
dimension as it portrays a flat representation. But this can become three-dimensional when the
window has been cleared and has shown a view of the outside. This may be the mountains, the
river, or the grasslands. In this sense, the shape of the art has expanded as different layers of
areas are now included (Ragan, 2005)

Positive and Negative Space

The shapes and forms of art are the positive space of an art. The empty spaces, on the other
hand, are the negative space. In Gestalt psychology, they are called figured ground,
respectively. The distinction between figure and grounds are essential as they may dictate
certain interpretations of art. One of the common issues that an artist is faced with is the
ambiguity of the figure which is the ground relationship. There may be instances where it would
be difficult to determine which is the figure and ground in a visual art. This may have happened
as artists themselves gave the same emphasis to figure and ground. In Gestalt psychology, they
may become visual and optical illusions that puzzle the viewer’s interpretations of an artwork
(Ragans, 2005)

Creating Shapes and Forms in Space

Shapes and forms can be naturally sourced or manufactured by humans. For instance, animals, humans,
flowers and mountains are examples of naturally occurring shapes. But there are shapes that are
manufactured by humans through hand crafts, machine-assisted or clay forms. But the challenge with
most artists is that they must create the shape and form to make them appear as real as possible.
Hence, artist must operate on illusions that provide meaning in a certain amount of art space.
Illusion of Form by Using the Principle of Value

While the meaning of lines can change by changing their value, shapes and form can also change their
meaning and expression by utilizing altered values. For example, to magnify an object, certain
techniques can be used such as employing light and dark values. This technique is called chiaroscuro. It
is an Italian word that means bright (chiaro) and dark (oscuro). Introduced during the renaissance
period, this technique magnifies and identifies shapes and forms clearly as the highlighted figure or
positive space of the art piece by shading the negative space darker (Ragans, 2005)

In some basic application of a cube for example, to present the cube as its form accurately there may be
a need to vary the shades of the square shapes surrounding it. Or in some application, to identify a
certainty of a life in humans, shadows surroundings him may give a sense of a real human form (Ragans,
2005)

Illusion of Depth using Gestalt Principles of Perception

Depth can be defined as relative distance. With several objects defining the artworks, it may be
necessary to give it some depth to visualize the story behind it. From the Gestalt principles of
perception, there are techniques that can be used to create the impression of depth (Ragans, 2005)

 Overlapping – The first object covers a second object. In effect, the first object becomes closer
or nearer to the viewer.
 Size – Large objects often are perceived to be nearer than the relatively smaller ones.
 Placements – Objects placed on the lower plane of the plane of the space create impression of
them being nearer. The more distant are those at the eye or top level of the space.

 Detail – Object with clearer details are usually nearer while those with finer and less details
seems to be father.
 Color – Brightly or vividly colored objects seems nearer than the dull ones.
 Converging Lines – As parallel lines move away from your point of view; they move closer to
the horizon which makes a perception of distance farther away from you. The farthest
convergence can be called the vanishing point (Ragans, 2005)

Expressive Qualities of Shapes, Form and Space

a. Outline and Surface

Outlines and variations in the surfaces may bring different kinds of messages. For example,
using free-form shapes may express the presence of life and fluidity. These could also symbolize
calmness and comfort. Especially, when the objects defined by the free-form shapes are those
coming from nature, the art can convey that sense of pleasantness and could even invite the
viewer to imagine himself or herself within the story of the art (Ragans, 2005)
Angular shapes, on the other hand, project the sharp and jagged realities of the world. These
could mean pain, anxiety, or tension. For example, you see a broken glasses in a picture. They
may translate into vicarious interpretations of pain or hurt (Ragan, 2005)
b. Outline and Sueface
Density refers to the compactness of the object. Dense materials tend to be solid and heavy
looking. In sculptures for example, dense materials may be difficult to alter in terms of form
unless technology or some machines are available. In two-dimensional art, density can be
expressed using different values such as shading and magnifying contour lines.
c. Openess
Open shapes project invitations. For example, if you draw an empty chair, most viewers may
tend to vicariously imagine sitting on that chair. If you see an art piece with an open door, it
may give you a sense of wonder of what could be inside or behind the door. Some handcrafted
art such as weaving even employ openness in their cloths. This allows then to look through the
fabric and experience the intricate weaving patterns of it.

c. Activity and Stability

Active shapes are those that defy gravity such as slanting or falling or running shapes. In Feng
Shui, eight (8) running. Horses are lucky in proper placement. To project running horses, the
sculpture or painter project the variations of movements by overlapping heads and feet. Some
heads should slant upward while some are moving down to show the movement. Activity can
also be shown through the angels of the feet and the flow of hair and tails among the horses.
Essentially movement in shape can be done by portraying them in diagonal positions Static
Shapes, on the other hand, seem to be motionless and stable.
The direction going through is horizontal. They tend to evoke calm and fixated feelings. It
projects quietness and stable peace. This could probably be the reason that houses tend to
have paintings decorated in their homes that evoke peace by using subjects in stable horizontal
positions such as landscapes (Ragans, 2005)
3. COLOR

What makes lines, shapes, forms, and space alive is through their colors. They are apparent in
making more variations to our perceptions such as the colors of flowers, the sky, paint of walls and
even skin tones. colors have the most powerful connection to human nature and emotions. In fact,
colors are used to describe emotions such as feeling blue to describe sadness or green minded to
describe thinking of sexual things or green thumb for someone who is good with plants or sunny
personality to describe the bright and fun character of a person. With the differences in colors around
you, the way you appreciate colors may also vary. In this section, you will learn to understand the
different properties and applications of colors and how to give meaning to them. (Please see color
rendition at the inside front cover.)

Perception of Color

Color is one of the elements of art that is derived from light and the different reflections of it. In
psychophysics, you learned that colors are based on white light. When such white light passes
through a prism, it shall bend and create a prism or band of colors. These colors are usually the
representation of the rainbow. But these colors are not coloring per se. These colors are waves
that activate the color receptors of your eyes called cones. So ripe mangoes may not be yellow
after all, but the reflection of mangoes activate the yellow receptors of the eyes. The rod
receptors, on the other hand, receive and process information of darkness and lightness. So the
rods shall facilitate how colors must be perceived depending on available light. Therefore, the
way we perceive colors depends upon the light that is reflected on each object. Hence, there are
three properties of colors that matter in this section. They are called hue, value and intensity.
These properties are even prèsent in photography. If you check your smart phones and their
camera settings, these properties can be altered as soon as you take a photo (Ragans 2005).

Hue

In the color spectrum, there is such a thing as primary colors namely, red, blue and yellow. They
are also considered as primary hues. The secondary hues are made by mixing two primary
colors. There are also six intermediate or tertiary colors by mixing a primary color with
secondary color. To organize these colors or hues, the color spectrum can be bent to create a
color wheel that illustrates how the mixing is employed (Ragans, 2005). (Please see color
rendition at the inside back cover.)
Value

Value Value describes the lightness and darkness of a color. There will be times that certain colors
will seem to be darker to represent a darker or gloomier theme of the art piece. Essentially, not all
hues should have the same value within a space. Naturally, yellow seems to be the lightest hue as it
reflects the lightest and violet is the darker hue as it reflects the least light. Black, white and gray are
considered neutral colors. White light reflects colors while black absorbs all of it. Grey will reflect
light depending on its value. The darker it is, the more it absorbs, the less it reflects and vice versa
(Ragans, 2005). To alter values, hues may be added with black or white. Tinting is the process of
producing a light value such as creating a bright sunny day with mixing white and blue to the skies
while shading is the process of producing a darker value
Intensity

Intensity refers to how bright or dull the use of hue is. If a certain surface of an object reflects yellow
light, then the surface projects intense and bright yellow. But if the surface reflects other colors,
yellow will be more subdued. Intensity can be high or low density such that in bright and dull colors,
respectively (Ragans, 2005).

Complementary colors are those that are opposite to each other in the color wheel. The complement
of a hue may absorb all the light waves that the hue reflects. Example, red and green are
complements. In effect, green may absorb red waves and may reflect the blue and yellow. This
explains how some people will have conditions such as color vision deficiency or color blindness.
There may be tendencies for people to perceive green as red or red as green. In some instances, those
with color vision deficiency may perceive green as blue or yellow due to distorted absorption and
reflection of lights (Ragans, (2005).

Another consequence is when you mix a hue with its complement, dulls the original hue and lowers
its intensity. The more complement you add, the duller the hue will appear. Eventually, the hue will
lose its original intensity and appear gray (Ragans, 2005).

But if you use a dominant hue in a mixture, there will be more apparent manifestations of the
dominant hue such as coloring a dark violet night sky and mixing with small hues of blue the more
dominant color will still be violet (Ragans, 2005)

Color Schemes