Elements of Art
The surface quality of an object. The way an object looks like it feels. In drawing, it’s the little intricate lines, dots, values, and shading added to shapes and forms to make them appear more lifelike and realistic and three-dimensional. (The tree in this drawing is so detailed that I can almost feel the _____ of the tree bark.)
Texture
A specific part of a design that draws in the viewer’s attention; the part of the design that stands out from the rest. The first thing you notice in a piece because it is different from everything else around it.
Emphasis/Focal Point
The act of intentionally repeating an element in a design. This can help establish unity and emphasis, and can guide the viewer's eye through a design, reinforce themes, and establishes a visual flow. (the artist’s use of _____ is evident in this piece through his repeated use of this shape).
Repetition
When only one color is used in a piece, along with the neutrals of black, white, and gray.
A style of art that does not try to represent objects, people, scenes, or any other recognizable things. It is a non-representational form of art which focuses only on shapes, lines, colors, & textures, as well as how those elements are arranged and balanced.
Abstract Art
The degree of darkness or lightness of a shade. How light or dark something appears.
When elements depict a sense of motion and direct the viewer’s eye to other areas of the design (example: trees and grass and clouds all curving to the left, appearing to blow in the wind, which creates a sense of _____).
Movement
When elements (line, shape, and color) are repeated in a consistent arrangement. (example: checkerboard, repeating shapes, etc.) Use of this design technique creates a sense of rhythm, movement, harmony, unity, and overall visual appeal within a work of art.
Pattern
A particular variety of color. A specific color out of the color spectrum. (Example: ‘I’m going to mix blue and green together to get more of a turquoise ___.’)
Hue
The area between, behind, around, and within the shapes, objects, and other components of a design. (There is a lot of empty ____ in this painting which makes it appear very light and airy).
Space
An enclosed space, made by lines or by changes in color or value. A line that closes in on itself creates a _____.
Shape
the arrangement of visual weight of elements in a design so that there isn’t an area of the composition that looks lopsided or incomplete. There are three main types of this term: Symmetrical, Asymmetrical, and Radial. (the left side of the drawing has just as much going on in it as the right side, which creates a sense of ______).
Balance
When one or more elements have a difference in size to create a sense of scale, distance, and/or depth (the toddler standing next to the Eiffel Tower creates a sense of _____).
Proportion
Red, Yellow, and Blue. The three basic colors that are used to make all hues. These colors are the foundation for all other colors. You cannot mix any two colors together to make a primary color.
Primary Colors
The illusion of three-dimensional space or distance in a two-dimensional work of art. (the way the mountains get pale and less detailed in the distance gives this painting an overall sense of _____).
Depth
A mark with greater length than width, used to define edges and to direct the viewer’s eye to other areas of the composition. Shapes and other forms are made up of these. (I’m going to draw a ____ from the left side of the drawing to the right to connect the two opposite ends).
Line
When opposite elements are arranged together, it creates _______. This term most commonly refers to the ratio of dark and light values, but can also apply to colors (warm vs. cool), textures (rough vs. smooth), and lines/shapes (straight vs. curved). When a piece has duality and opposition, and contains opposing extremes which makes a work of art appear dramatic, striking, and engaging.
Contrast
When many different types of elements are present in a piece to create different areas of interest. The inclusion of differing, diverse elements like different colors/shapes/textures to create interest, complexity, and contrast within a work, preventing monotony while engaging the viewer. (example: there is an overwhelming ______ of colors in this painting).
Variety
Orange, Green, and Purple. These colors are made by mixing two primary colors together. (red and yellow make orange | yellow and blue make green | blue and red make purple.
Secondary Colors
A specific point on the horizon line where parallel lines appear to converge and meet, creating the illusion of depth, distance, and three-dimensionality
Vanishing Point Perspective
The variables that you have control over in a work of visual art (line, shape, value, texture, color, space)
The Elements of Art
A sense of harmony and completion with the elements in a design. When a design contains more similarities than differences, and the elements in the piece are arranged intentionally to create a cohesive, harmonious, and complete whole. When a piece feels intentional and well-structured, contributing to a singular message or theme rather than a collection of scattered, unrelated elements.
Unity
A group of terms/techniques relating to how the Elements of Art (line, shape, value, texture, color, space) are arranged in a piece. The way the elements fill up the page, what they’re doing in the design, and how they all interact and come together to create visual interest.
is an early 1900s art movement that changed how artists show objects and space. It is an art style which challenged the idea that art must imitate how the eye sees reality. Instead of painting a subject from one viewpoint, artists of this style break it into geometric shapes (cubes, cones, planes) and show multiple angles at once. The result looks fragmented and abstracted
Cubism
When objects in the background are rendered with less detail and colored with cooler colors (or shaded with lighter values) which creates a blurred appearance, mimicking the natural way that atmospheric conditions make faraway objects appear.
Atmospheric Perspective