A piece of artwork is made of different components or parts, called elements of art. When an artist combines them, he creates a unique piece of art. If we want to create one, we can not start without understanding them. In this lesson, we will learn what are the elements of art and what each of them represents.
The components or parts used in the creation of the artwork, that can be defined and isolated are called elements of art. They include line, shape, form, color, texture, space, and value.
The line is probably the most fundamental of the elements. It is usually the starting point for creating artwork. The line is an element of art defined by a point moving in space. Lines are used to creating shape, pattern, texture, space, movement, and optical illusion. There are many different lines: vertical, horizontal, diagonal, zigzag, or curved. They can be any width or texture.
In visual arts, the shape is flat, two-dimensional design, created through lines, textures, and colors. The shape has a height and width. It can have different values of color that can be used to make it appear three-dimensional. There are different types of shapes an artist can use. They include geometric shapes, like the circle, triangle, square, etc, as well as, organic, freeform, or natural shapes.
If a shape in art is its two-dimensionality, the form in art is its three-dimensionality. A form is a three-dimensional object with a volume of height, width, and depth. Forms include cubes, spheres, and cylinders. The form is often used in sculptures. A form can be geometric or organic.
When light strikes an object and it is reflected in the eye, color is present. Color is an element consisting of hues, of which there are three properties:
Colors can be primary ( red, yellow, blue) or secondary ( orange, green, purple), and warm (orange, red, yellow), or cool (blue, purple, green).
Another element of art is texture. All objects have a physical texture. The texture is used to describe the surface quality of the work (smooth or rough, hard or soft, etc.). The textures are created by using patterns. The surface quality can be tactile (real), seen through sculptures, or strictly visual (implied) that describes how the eye perceives the texture based on visual cues.
There are different types of spaces an artist can achieve for different effects. There can be positive space (areas of the work with a subject), and negative space (space without a subject). Also, open and closed space (in three-dimensional art, like sculptures). Open spaces are empty, and closed spaces contain physical sculptural elements.
The lights and darks of color within a work of art is a value. Value is a basic element of art that refers to the gradual change of lightness or darkness of a color. The difference in values is often called contrast. That references the lightest (white) and darkest (black) tones of a work of art, with an infinite number of grey variants in between.
