ELEMENTS OF ART
COLOR
There must be light to see color. We have primary colors: RED, BLUE and YELLOW. We also have secondary colors: ORANGE, PURPLE and GREEN. We have complementary colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel.
LINE
A line is a mark made by a pointed tool such as as brush, pen or stick. It can be straight or curved. It can be thick or thin. People can draw or paint lines or they can be found in nature.
VALUE
Value refers to dark and light. Drawings and paintings are made up of dark, light and middle value areas.
TEXTURE
Refers to the way something feels. IMPLIED TEXTURE is a way to make a smooth surface look textured. You can create this by line, shading or cross- hatching. ACTUAL TEXTURE refers to the feel of an object that has an actual raised surface.
SHAPE
A shape is a flat enclosed area that has 2 dimensions-length and width. Shapes can be geometric or abstract. Artits can make shapes or they can be found in nature.
SPACE
Space can be positive or negative. POSITIVE SPACE is the area a image or sculpture fills up. NEGATIVE SPACE is the empty area around an image or sculpture.
FORM
Form is a 3-diminsional object that takes up space.
PRINCIPALS OF DESIGN
BALANCE
BALANCE CAN BE SYMETRICAL, WHICH IS THE SAME ON BOTH SIDES OF A PICTURE, OR ASYMETRICAL WHICH IS DIFFERENT ON EACH SIDE OF A PICTURE.
MOVEMENT
WE SEE MOVEMENT IN A PAINTING WHEN ALL SHAPES OR LINES GO TO ONE FOCAL AREA.
RHYTHM
RHYTHM ORGANIZES SPACE. YOU CAN HAVE REGULAR OR IRREGULAR RHYTHM. ARCHITECTS USE RHYTHM WHEN DESIGNING BUILDINGS. THINK OF THE WAY THEY DESIGN WINDOWS, DOORS, FLOORS AND THE SPACES INBETWEEN.
CONTRAST
ADDS EXCITIMENT TO THE PAINTING OR DRAWING.
EMPHASIS
THIS IS THE FOCAL POINT OR CONTRAST AREA OF A PAINTING OR DRAWING.
UNITY
PATTERN
Students in grades 4th-8th will learn the meaning of these terms and how they relate to all art forms.