Art Making: Elements and Principles of Art

The Elements of Art
The seven elements of art are color, texture, shape, form, line, space, and value.

Color has three characteristics: hue (such as red, yellow, or green), intensity (how bright or dull the color is), and value (how light or dark the color is).
Colors can be divided into primary, secondary, and tertiary on a color wheel, where the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue, and the secondary colors are the result of two primary colors mixed together (red and yellow make orange, red and blue make violet, and yellow and blue make green). The tertiary colors are those in between the primary and secondary colors, such as blue-green or red-orange.
Colors opposite each other on the color wheel are considered complementary. Examples include red and green or blue and orange.
Texture is how something feels, or appears to feel, and it can be real or implied. Examples of textures include smooth, rough, or bumpy. A real texture is one you can actually feel, whereas an implied texture is two-dimensional yet appears to have texture.
Shapes are categorized as geometric or organic. Geometric shapes include named mathematical shapes such as circles, ovals, squares, and triangles. Organic shapes are asymmetrical and are often found in nature.
Form is used in three-dimensional art such as sculpture, and it describes the shape of the artwork.
A line is used to define a shape, and it is the path between two points. A line can be straight, curved, broken, implied, or free-form. Lines can be used to create movement or to lead the viewer's eye around the artwork.
Space can refer to the foreground, middle ground, and background of an artwork. It can also refer to the positive and negative space created by the artist. Positive space is the subject of the artwork, and negative space is the area that surrounds it. An artist can create the illusion of three-dimensional space within an artwork.
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Value is the lightness or darkness of a color. An artist can use value to provide visual interest in an artwork, to create a mood, or to draw the viewer's eye to a certain focal point. Contrast is the difference in value or the difference in the lightness and darkness.

Principles of Design: The principles of design include balance, contrast, movement, emphasis, pattern, rhythm, and unity. An artist can use multiple principles of design in their artwork, or they can focus primarily on one principle.

Balance is how an artwork attains visual stability by peoper use of artistic elements such as line, texture, color, and form in the creation of artworks.

Contrast is when an artwork's elements are juxtaposed against each other to create interesting differences. This could include a difference in warm and cool colors or a difference between organic and geometric shapes.
Movement is using the elements to lead the viewer throughout the piece. One example is a repetition of shapes that moves the viewer's eye through the artwork.
Emphasis creates a focal point in the artwork by using a bold color, asymmetrical balance, or a strong contrast. Pattern and rhythm consist of a repetition of elements.
Pattern is repeating elements in the same order, whereas rhythm is repeating elements without a specific order.
Unity is harmony throughout the artwork created by elements working together. This can be achieved by a repetition of an element, similarity of elements, or even a rhythm of elements.

The Relationship Between Elements and Principles of Design
The elements of art are the building blocks of visual art, and the principles of design are ways to organize these elements of art. An artist can use multiple elements and principles in their artwork, or they can focus primarily on certain elements and principles. By using the principles of design to organize the elements of art, the artist can decide what the focal point of the artwork is and where they want to lead viewers' eyes. An artist can use the principles of design to arrange the elements of art in their artwork, and they can use the terminology of these elements and principles to explain their artistic decisions. They can also use them to analyze another artists' artwork. The elements of art and principles of design are both sets of established criteria that are used to objectively judge artwork rather than using personal preferences.
Many of the elements of art and principles of design can be found in two- and three-dimensional artwork. Texture can be real on a three-dimensional work, whereas it will be implied on a two-dimensional work. A marble statue might be smooth, whereas a steel sculpture could have a rough texture. Space in a two-dimensional work will be created by how the artist uses the elements and principles to arrange the artwork and even to create a foreground, middle ground, and background. Space in a sculpture or three-dimensional work is how the artist uses the space in three dimensions.
In three-dimensional artwork, form has width, depth, and height. The form can be viewed either from all sides, which would make the sculpture in-the-round, or it can be viewed from one side, which is a relief work (built from a solid background). Form describes the shape of the artwork.

Applications of Principles of Design

Two-Dimensional Artwork
This painting, Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue (1927), is by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian. It is a product of the de Stijl art movement, which began in Holland. He eliminated any representational forms in his artwork and pared it down to a few elements.
The main elements of art used in this painting are color, line, and shape.
Mondrian used planes of pure color in this painting, separated by thick black lines. Here you see the primary colors - red, yellow, and blue - along with black and white. He used black lines to create geometric shapes throughout the canvas. The geometric shapes and the parallel and perpendicular lines give the work a solid and stable feel. Mondrian placed the planes of color in an asymmetrical way and balanced them with panes of white.

Three-Dimensional Artwork

This sculpture is titled Embrace IV, by Emilia Glaser. The main elements evident in this sculpture are color, value, shape, line, and texture. The sculpture is mainly one color of red-orange, with a darker value of the color on part of the sculpture and a different color and value for the base. This use of warm color can invoke a feeling of happiness or excitement, and it can draw the viewer closer to the sculpture. The sculpture appears to be a combination of different shapes, and strong lines visually separate the borders of these shapes. The lines have mostly upward movement, giving the sculpture a strong, uplifting feel. The sculpture appears to have a rough and bumpy texture, which in this case would be real texture because it is a texture that could actually be felt. 

The Starry Night
This painting is called The Starry Night (1889) by Vincent van Gogh. The artist used several principles of design, including contrast, emphasis, balance, and movement. There is contrast in the values used throughout the painting - the darker blues and grays and the lighter whites and yellows. There is also a contrast of warm (yellow) and cool (blue) colors, in which the warm colors advance and the cool colors recede in the artwork. The bright yellow moon in the top right shows emphasis, being the largest portion of this light value and the brightest color in the painting. The large dark shape on the left of the painting is visually balanced by the smaller, bright moon and glow on the right. Van Gogh's brushstrokes look like wind blowing through the sky, and they provide movement in the painting, which leads the viewer's eye around the artwork.

This sculpture by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen is called  Screwarch  (1978–1984). It appears to be an oversized screw, bending to create an arch. The main principles of design evident in this sculpture are balance, pattern, contrast, and movement. The sculpture is asymmetrically balanced, being much visually heavier at the thicker end on the left. The threads of the screw show a repeating spiraling pattern, which follows the arch to the pointed end on the right. The larger, bulkier end of the screw is smooth and sharply contrasts with the rest of the screw, which tapers slowly to a point and has a spiraling pattern and texture. The sculpture shows movement with its arched form, leading the viewer.

Organic Shapes: The elements of art and principles of design can all be found in nature, but it is likely that you will find more organic shapes than geometric.

The natural environment contains many textures, such as rough bark, smooth petals, or gritty sand. Many colors and values can be found throughout landscapes, as well as a depth of space and varied forms of plants, trees, and rocks. Bright flowers contrast against dark leaves, providing a focal point or emphasis against the green. Wind creates movement in the natural world, and the repetition of plants or trees creates rhythm. The edges of objects in nature can create implied lines between each other, and lines can be found in the veins of a leaf. The repetition of greens throughout a spring scene or reds and oranges in a fall scene can create unity throughout the landscape.

Composition: Composition is how an artwork is organized, and the principles of design help an artist decide how to arrange the elements of art in their artwork. An artist can use the principles of design to decide what will stand out in their artwork and where they will lead the viewer.