The 7 elements of art are all important to artistic creation. There are a variety of elements of art definitions that will place a greater or lesser value on one or another of these elements, but the truth is that all of them can have equal importance in the art world. While all elements are important, not all of them will be used in every piece. Here are a few elements of art examples that show how each one can be used in a work of art:
- A painting is likely to use space, color, and line, but may be less concerned with form and texture.
- A sculpture uses form, space, and texture, and sometimes other elements as well.
- A pencil drawing uses line, value, and shape, but probably does not use color or form.
In order to understand what each of these terms means, it is essential to look at them in more detail.
Elements of Art: Line
A line is one of the simplest elements of art. Lines are marks upon paper or canvas. They can be horizontal, vertical, curved, or any other shape. Art forms that use lines include drawings, paintings, and other two-dimensional art forms. Even a few sparing lines can create an interesting and meaningful work of art, which is one of the reasons why artists often spend so much time doing line work as practice. Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Degas are just a few famous artists who have used lines to create expressive graphite drawings.
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Elements of Art: Shape
Connecting lines together to enclose some areas is called shape. Shapes are often organic, meaning that they follow the kinds of shapes that one might find in nature and are more or less irregular. Some artists also use geometric shapes, which are the genre of shapes one might find in a mathematics textbook. Most drawings that use lines will also use shapes. Artists who used distinctive, often geometric shapes include Wassily Kandinsky, Henri Matisse, and Piet Mondrian.
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Elements of Art: Space
Space is an interesting element in art. It is the variation of size and shape in the elements of a drawing or painting. Often, this serves to create the illusion of depth on a flat canvas. One way to create the illusion of depth is to have objects on the canvas overlap. Painters who do not use space in their work often create paintings that look as though they are flat or exist on a single plane, which can itself be a valuable and well-considered choice. Some artists have used space to create an unusually developed depth of field in a piece or to alter how people will perceive a work of art depending on the angle from which they view it. Such artists include JMW Turner and Gustave Caillebotte. Hieronymous Bosch used space to confuse the eye and make it difficult to know what the scale of an image was meant to be.
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Elements of Art: Value
Value is a way of talking about light and darkness in art. White is considered the lightest value, while black is the darkest value. Value is often arranged on a scale from light to dark. Artists often use value to create contrast and to draw viewers' eyes to specific points in a work of art. While virtually any work of art will have the element of value in some capacity, some artists make more deliberate use of it than others, creating images in which light and darkness are foundational elements of visual perception. Joseph Wright of Derby, Caravaggio, and Gerrit van Honthorst all created paintings with widely differing values. The interplay of light and shadow in art is sometimes known as Chiaroscuro.
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Elements of Art: Form
Form is an element of art that is applicable exclusively to sculptures and other three-dimensional artwork. The form of an artwork is the three-dimensional space that it takes up. How big is it? How solid is it? Does it move? All of these are questions that one might ask about artistic form. Some works of art have variable form, particularly if they are sculptures that are intended to change over time. Artists have a great deal of leeway when it comes to form. Artists who have used form creatively in their sculptures include Theo Jansen, Marco Cianfanelli, and Willard Wigan.
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Elements of Art: Texture
Whether or not it is permissible to touch an artwork, texture is still an element that requires some consideration in many instances. As with form, this element is especially prevalent in sculpture, though it has its place in painting as well. The texture of a work of art is its tactile quality. What would it be like to touch it? Is it all a single texture, or are there many textures that make up one work of art? Texture can be real or implied, meaning that a work of art can have the texture that it appears to have or can have an illusory texture. Artists often use textures that are visually interesting even when they do not intend to allow audiences to touch a work of art; texture can be visible without actually being touched. Some artists also use texture deceptively, creating art that looks like one medium but is made from another. Examples of texture in art include work by Patricia Piccinini, Deborah Butterfield, and Vincent Van Gogh.
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Elements of Art: Color
Color is probably what many people first think of when asked to name an element of art. The use of color is, of course, vital to the creation of a great many works of art in many different mediums. Many artists use color to realistically recreate images from real life. Others use color to shock audiences, to evoke particular emotional states, or to create impressionistic rather than realistic works. While color is nearly ubiquitous in painting, some artists' use of color is particularly vital to their craft. Such artists include Mark Rothko, Keith Haring, and Georgia O'Keeffe.
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