Elements of Art Article and Questions (2024)

Directions:
Read the following article and answer these questions:

• What are the three properties of color?
• What message do vertical lines send to a viewer? What message do diagonal lines send?
• What is the difference between shape and form?
• What is the difference between the positive and negative area in a work of art?
• Define texture.

Success Criteria

• Neat, clean handwriting.
• Complete Sentences and Paragraphs
• Questions are NOT included.

​
***Note to see the images you need to use your PJ***

The Elements of Art
Art is a powerful language. Through it, artists communicate thoughts, ideas and feelings. Like most languages, the language of art has it own special vocabulary. Unlike other vocabularies, however, the vocabulary of art is not made up of words. Rather, it is made up of visual elements. The visual elements include color, line, shape, form, space, and texture.
Color
Have you ever notice it is harder to see colors when the light is dim? Color relies on light. In fact, color is what the eyes see when light is reflected off an object.
Color has three properties, or traits. These are:

• Hue. Hue is the name of a color such as red, blue or yellow. Hues are arranged in a circular format on a color wheel. Red, yellow and blue are primary hues. They are equally spaced on the color wheel. (See figure 1-1) Look at the picture in figure 1-2.
  
  • How many different hues, or colors, can you find in this work?
    
  • Which ones can you name?
    
• Value. Value is the lightness or darkness of a hue. The value of a hue can be changed by adding white or black.
  
  • Can you point out different values of any one color in the picture in figure 1-2.
    
• Intensity. Intensity is the brightness or dullness of a hue. Pure hues are high-intensity colors. Hull hues are low-intensity colors.
  
  • Which objects in figure 1-2 would you describe as high in intensity?
    
  • Which would describe as low in intensity?
    

Colors can be combined to produce many interesting and striking results. Artist make use of different types of color schemes to create different effects. Following are some of the color schemes that trained artists use:

• Monochromatic (mahn-uh-kroh-mat-ik) Color Scheme. This schemes uses different values of a single hue. For example, dark green, medium green, and light green make a monochromatic scheme.
  
• Analogous (un-nal-uh-gus) Color Scheme. This scheme uses colors that are side by side on the color wheel and share a hue. Look at the color wheel in Figure 1-1.
  
  • What colors share the hue red?
    
• Warm or Cool Color Scheme. Warm color schemes- with red, yellow and orange colors- remind us of the sun and warmth. Artist use blue, green and violet- cool color schemes- to make us think of cool items such as ice or grass.
  

Line
An element of art that can be used to send different messages to viewers is a line. Line is defined as the path of a moving point through space. You can lines on paper or scratch a line in wet clay with a tool. Lines can be seen in your environment, such as the web of a spider or the railing on a staircase.
There are five main kinds of lines:

• Horizontal lines, which run parallel to the ground, appear to be at rest.
  
• Vertical Lines- lines that run up and down- seem to show dignity, formality and strength.
  
• Diagonal, or slanting, lines signal action and excitement.
  
• Zigzag lines, which are made from combined diagonal lines, can create a feeling of confusion or suggest action.
  
• Curved lines express movement in a graceful, flowing way.
  

Look again at Figure 1-2. How many different lines can you find? In directions do these lines go?
In art, line quality and line variation influence the viewers reaction to a work of art. Line quality is the unique character of the line. It can be affected by the tool or medium used to produce the mark or by the particular motion of the artist’s hand. Line variation describes the thickness or thinness, lightness or darkness of a line.
Shape and Form
Every object- a cloud, a house, a pebble has a shape. Shape is an element of art that refers to an area clearly set off by one or more of the other elements of art. Shaper are limited by two dimensions-length and width.

• Geometric. Geometric shapes look as though they were made with a ruler or drawing tool. The square, the circle, triangle, the rectangle and the oval are the five basic geometric shapes. Look at the painting in Figure 1-3. Can you find any geometric shapes?
  
• Organic. Also called “free-form”, organic shapes are not regular or even. Their outlines may be curves or angular or a combination of both, to make free form shapes. Organic shapes, such as clouds and pebbles are usually found in nature. Can you find any organic shapes in figure 1-3?
  

Like shapes, forms have length and width. Forms also have a third dimension, depth. Form is an element of art that refers to an object with three dimensions. With forms found in works of art, such as sculpture and architecture, you can actually experience the three dimensions by walking around or into the works.
Space
All objects take up space. Space is an element of art that refers to the distance between, around, above, below and within things. Which objects in Figure 1-3 appear closest to you? Which seem to be farther back in space?
In both two- and three-dimensional works of art, the shapes or forms are called the positive area. The empty spaces between the shapes are called negative spaces. The relationship between the positive and negative space will affect how the artwork is interpreted.
Texture
Run your fingers over the top of your desk or work table. You are feeling the surface texture. Texture is an element of art that refers to the way things feel, or look as they might feel, if touched. Imagine you could the objects in the picture in Figure 1-2, which of them do you think would feel smooth? Do any of them look rough or uneven?