Chapter Four
Elements of Design
The elements of design are the
basic ingredients that we use to create a work of visual art. Every work
of visual art, whether it is a drawing, painting, photograph, print, craft, or sculpture,
is made from these ingredients. There are only these seven, no more.
·
Line: Contour, outline,
implied, cross-hatching, stippling
·
Shape:
Positive and negative
·
Form, also
called "mass": Actual and implied
·
Space:
Positive and negative, actual and implied, linear perspective, atmospheric
perspective, foreshortening
·
Texture: Actual
and implied (visual)
·
Light and
value
·
Color:
Color Spectrum, primary, secondary, tertiary, complementary, neutral, cool,
warm, analogous, hue, value, tint, shade, intensity or saturation, color
harmony, monochromatic, triadic, emotional effects, color and light, color and
pigment
|
The Biglin Bros. Racing Oil Thomas Eakins (Example of implied lines) |
The Scream Tempera, oil Edvard Munch (Use of colors to create a mood) |
Sunday Afternoon… Oil Georges Seurat (Cool vs. warm colors) |
Bacchus and Arianne Oil Titian (use of Complementary colors) |
|
Oil Albert Bierstadt (Atmospheric perspective) |
The Last Supper Oil and tempera on plaster Leonardo da Vinci (linear perspective) |
Nocturne in Blue and Gold Oil James Whistler (Use of Color to create a mood) |
Egyptian tomb painting (warm colors) |
|
Example of color wheel
project with intensity scale |
Beam of light through a prism |
Rainbow Red is the longest wave-length, and is always on
the outside of the circle. Violet is the shortest, and is always on the
inside. |
How color performs in light. When mixing paint, the
results are much different. |
|
Example of cross-hatching to achieve shading. |
Example of cross-hatching in an etching. |
|
Virgin With St. Anne Charcoal and white chalk Leonardo da Vinci (Use of light and dark to create the illusion of
form) |
|
The Raft of the Medusa Oil Eugene Gericault (Implied line) |
Acrylic Sculpture Frederick Hart (Use of light to show form) |
Death in the Sickroom Oil Edvard Munch (Complementary colors) |
The Scream Tempera and Oil Edvard Munch (Use of warm, intense colors to create a mood) |
|
The Dead Mother Oil Edvard Munch (Complementary colors) |
The Sick Child Oil Edvard Munch (value, complementary colors) |
Photograph of the universe. An example of the ultimate space. |
Embarkation
for Oil Jean-Antoine Watteau (Implied line) |
|
Nocturne in Blue and Gold Oil James Abbott McNeal Whistler (Use of cool colors to create a mood) |
Self-Portrait Pastel Leonardo da Vinci (Use of lines to create the illusion of form) |
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