ARTS 7
Prepared by: MA. ELOISA T. RAMOS, LPT
The Elements AND
PRINCIPLES of Arts in Arts
and Crafts of HIGHLANDS
AND LOWLANDS LUZON
Elements of Arts
The elements of art are the building blocks of all art.
Every artwork or art piece created comprises one or
more elements.
Line
A mark drawn by any tool that marks as it moves
across a surface. Lines can be: long or short, thick or
thin, rough or smooth, dotted, broken or solid.
Line
They can make straight movements, zig-zags, waves
or curls. They may be horizontal, vertical, and
diagonal.
Zigzag Wave and Curls Horizontal lines Vertical lines
Line
Other lines which can be measured, geometric,
directional and angular are called constructive
lines. They tend to appear to be man-made
because of their precision
Expressive lines are found in nature and are very
organic.
shape
Shape is created when a line becomes connected
and encloses space. It is the outline or outward
appearance of something. Shapes are 2
Dimensional (2-D) which means you can measure
its height and its width.
2 basic types of
shapes
Geometric shapes have smooth even edges and are
measurable such as square, circle, triangle, and
rectangle.
2 basic types of
shapes
Organic shapes have more complicated edges and
are usually found in nature. .
form
A Form is a shape that is 3- Dimensional (3-D)
that has height, width, and depth.
color
Color can add interest and reality to artwork.
These colors are: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green,
Blue, Indigo and Violet (ROY G BIV).
3 primary colors
RED YELLOW BLUE
These colors are primary for 2 reasons:
They cannot be formed from other mixed colors
They make all the other colors on the color wheel
When you mix 2 primary colors together,
you get a secondary color.
For example:
When you mix a primary and a secondary
color together you get an intermediate color.
For example:
Color schemes
Color is divided into groups based on the
way they are placed on the color wheel:
3-4 colors “next-door-neighbors” to
each other create an analogous color
scheme
2 colors that are directly opposite each
other (going across the center) create a
complementary color scheme
A split-complementary color scheme is
a harmony of color and that features a
base color and two colors on either side of
its complement.
A Triadic color scheme uses 3 colors
that are equally spaced apart on the color
wheel
Colors have temperatures. It is important that you
understand the effects of color in every art piece.
Colors can convey emotion and feelings too.
Warm colors are those that have Reds, Yellows
and Oranges. Warm colors seem to advance (or
come forward) in an artwork.
Colors have temperatures. It is important that you
understand the effects of color in every art piece.
Colors can convey emotion and feelings too.
Warm colors are those that have Reds, Yellows
and Oranges. Warm colors seem to advance (or
come forward) in an artwork.
Cool colors are those that have Blues, Greens and
Violets. Cool colors seem to recede (or go back into)
an artwork.
Color can be described by its Properties: Hue,
Intensity, Value
Hue is the actual color, or the
identity of a color. Intensity is the
brightness or dullness of a color
VALUE
Value is the lightness or darkness of a
color. Value makes objects appear more
real because it imitates natural light. When
showing value in a work of art, you will
need a light source. A light source is the
place where the light is coming from, the
darkest areas are always on the opposite
side of the light.
Color VALUE
When you use only one color plus its tints and
shades, you are using a monochromatic color scheme.
A tint is a color plus white. A shade is a color plus black
TEXTURE
Texture is the way the surface of an object actually
feels. In the artistic world, we refer to two types of
texture – tactile and implied.
Tactile or real texture is the way the
surface of an object actually feels
Implied Texture is the way the surface
of an object looks like it feels. This is
the type of texture that artists use when
they draw and paint.
SPACE
The distance around, between, above, below, and within
an object.
Positive and Negative space is a way that an artwork is
divided. Space is basically divided into 3 parts:
Foreground, Middle Ground and Background.
Perspective is also a way of showing space in a work of art.
Perspective is when the artist uses a vanishing point on the
horizon and then creates a sense of deep space by showing
objects getting progressively smaller as they get closer to the
vanishing point. Objects may overlap as well. When objects are
overlapped it is obvious that enough space had to be in the
picture to contain all the objects that have been included.
Space can be shallow or deep depending on
what the artist wants to use.
Shallow space is used when the artist has
objects very close to the viewer.
Deep Space may show objects up close but
objects are shown far away too
PRINCIPLE of Arts
The elements of art are the building blocks of all art.
Every artwork or art piece created comprises one or
more elements.
PATTERN
refers to the visual arrangement of elements (line,
shape, color, etc...) that is alternated or with a
repetitive form or sequence.
The illustration shows that
there are alternated and
repetitive form or sequence of
two briefcases and two lips.
BALANCE
is the way the elements are arranged symmetrically
or asymmetrically to create a feeling of stability or
impression of equality in weight in an artwork.
You can see in the illustration that there is a big
rectangle on the left side and a group of six small
rectangles on the right side. You will notice that the
size of a big rectangle on the left is equal to the
size of the grouped small rectangles on the right.
SYMMETRICAL BALANCE
An artwork illustrates symmetrical balance when the
parts of an image are organized so that one side
mirrors the other.
This is an image of a lung. You will
notice that the left side of the lung
mirrors the right side of the lung.
ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE
Asymmetrical balance is illustrated in an artwork
when one side of a composition does not reflect the
design of the other.
You can see in the illustration the image of
a finger print. You will notice that the left
side of the finger print does not mirror its
right side because they have different designs
RADIAL BALANCE
Radial balance is any type of balance based on a
circle with its design extending from center.
You can see in the illustration the image of
fireworks. You will notice that the fireworks start
with a single spark at the beginning and then it
continuously sparks creating an extending design
from the center.
EMPHASIS
Emphasis shows the focal point of an image or when
one area or thing stands out the most and gets a special
attention.
This illustration shows the group of red birds and a
blue owl at the middle. It is clear that the blue owl
stands out the most because of its difference. Emphasis
can be achieved through color, contrast, location or
placement of elements, size, repetition and etc. that
makes an image as the focal point of the design.
CONTRAST
Contrast has a large difference among different elements of
designs that create visual interest. It is a comparison of different
elements of design in order to highlight their differences
You can see on the illustration the two happy face icons
that show contrast using dark and light values. The first
happy face icon uses white color as a base then uses black
color to highlight the circumference of the face, eyes and
mouth while the second happy face icon uses black as a
base and uses white to highlight the eyes Illustration of
Contrast and mouth.
CONTRAST
Contrast has a large difference among different elements of
designs that create visual interest. It is a comparison of different
elements of design in order to highlight their differences
Now look at the second illustration of
two stones. Can you see the difference?
They are different in terms of texture
(rough and smooth)
RHYTHM AND MOVEMENT
Rhythm and movement is a repetition of elements
that focuses the eye of the viewers direct to the image
that produce the look and feel of movement.
Look at the illustration on the right. You
can see that the clouds make your eyes
follow its spiral movement that gives the
illusion to move. Now look at the trees.
Can you see the movement?
HARMONY
refers to the arrangement of elements that give the
viewer the feeling on how well all the visual elements
work together as a whole.
The illustration shows different images
or icons with different colors. You can
see or feel that there is a good harmony
among them
UNITY
When all the elements and principles work together
to create a pleasing image it defines unity.
You can see in the illustration that there
is a group of stars with different sizes and
arrangement. There is no pattern but you
can see the unity among the stars that work
together to create a pleasant piece
VARIETY
Variety is the use of different elements in an image
that has differences and change to increase the visual
interest of the work.
There are different elements used in the
illustration with different principles that
make the viewers see all the parts of the
artwork
SCALE
It is the relationship between images in terms of size or
measurement, number or amount, visual weight and so on
including the connection between parts of a whole.
