Art Elements Flashcards
Texture
Texture
The texture is the quality of a surface, often corresponding to its tactile character, or what may be sensed by touch. Texture may be used, for example, in portraying fabrics. It can be explicitly rendered, or implied with other artistic elements such as lines, shading, and variation of color. It is also about the different patterns and types of lines and shading e.g.: rough, smooth, soft
Form
Form may be created by the forming of two or more shapes or as three-dimensional shapes (cube, pyramid, sphere, cylinder, etc.). It may be enhanced by tone, texture and color. Form is considered three-dimensional showing height, width and depth. Examples of these are sculpture, theater play and figurines. Form is the external appearance of a clearly defined area. Form could refer to 4th dimensional figures such as in computer generated design.
Space
Space is the area provided for a particular purpose. Space includes the background, foreground and middle ground. Space refers to the distances or areas around, between or within things. There are two types of space: positive and negative space. Positive space refers to the space of a shape representing the subject matter. Negative space refers to the space around and between the subject matter. Space is also defined as the distance between identifiable points or planes in a work of art.
Shape
Shape pertains to the use of areas in two dimensional space that can be defined by edges, setting one flat specific space apart from another. Shapes can be geometric (e.g.: square, circle, hexagon, etc.) or organic (such as the shape of a puddle, blob, leaf, boomerang, etc.) Shapes are defined by other elements of art: Space, Line, Texture, Value, Color, Form.
Color
Color pertains to the use of hue in artwork and design. Defined as primary colors (red, yellow, blue) which cannot be mixed in pigment from other hues, secondary colors (green, orange, violet) which are directly mixed from combinations of primary colors. Further combinations of primary and secondary colors create tertiary (and more) hues. Tint and Shade are references to adding variations in Value; other tertiary colors are derived by mixing either a primary or secondary color with a neutral color. e.g. Red + White = Pink. Color is the quality of an object or substance with respect to the one reflected by it, and usually determined visually by measurement of hue, saturation and brightness of the reflected light. in simple form, when light strikes an object with color, then, the color reflects back to your eye. More light means a higher intensity level of the color. The value and hue vary when light darkens or brightens.
Value
Value, or tone, refers to the use of light and dark, shade and highlight, in an artwork. Some people also refer the lightness and darkness in an artwork as tints (light) and shades (dark). Black-and-white photography depends entirely on value to define its subjects. Value is directly related to contrast. Value is the relative degree of lightness in the graphic work of art or painting.
Line
Line is defined as a mark that spans a distance between two points (or the path of a moving point), taking any form along the way. As an art element, line pertains to the use of various marks, outlines and implied lines in artwork and design, most often used to define shape in two-dimensional work. Implied line is the path that the viewer’s eye takes as it follows shapes, colors, and form along a path, but may not be continuous or physically connected, such as the line created by a dancer’s arms, torso, and legs when performing an arabesque. Line is an element of art that is simplest, most ancient, and most universal means for creating visual arts. A line is an identifiable path created by a point moving in space. It is one-dimensional and can vary in width, direction, and length. Lines often define the edges of a form. Lines can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, straight or curved, thick or thin. They lead your eye around the composition and can communicate information through their character and direction.
