The 7 Formal Elements of Art Design
Design in New Media I
Ms. Woerman
The 7 Formal Elements of Art Design
Line
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|Line is a record of vision and feeling. Line is a human invention which allows the ability to communicate what we see. |
|The path made by a moving point can be described as two basic line types: straight and curved. Line may also consist of actual marks that can be|
|drawn, or it can refer to the external edges of a shape or form. In paintings lines also occur by contrasts of light and shadow or through color|
|or shape. Whether seen or implied, line is unquestionably one of the artist's most articulate tools. It encloses or liberates space, expresses |
|feeling, conveys movement, suggests mass or volume and creates an image. It may be used evenly or in a modulated way to express a wide range of |
|qualities from fast to slow, from serene to frenetic, or rigid to relaxed. |
|Line in Graphic Design |
|Line art in computer graphics may have increased in popularity since line art uses vector graphics, which require significantly less computer |
|memory than raster graphics. |
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|Lines can be long or short, straight or curved. Lines can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. They create patterns. Lines in graphic design |
|can be solid, dashed, thick, thin, or of variable width. |
|Sometimes a designer uses a line alone to divide or unite elements on a page. Lines can denote direction of movement (as in diagonal lines and |
|arrows) or provide an anchor to hold elements on a page (such as lines at the top, bottom, or sides of a page). |
|You can use lines in conjunction with other elements of your design. One well-known example, the AT&T logo, is a pattern of thick and thin lines|
|arranged in a circular shape. |
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Design in New Media I
Ms. Woerman
Shape
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|Shape is an area that is contained within an implied line, or is seen and identified because of color or value changes. Shapes have two |
|dimensions, length and width, and can be geometric or organic. |
|Shapes are either positive or negative. The subject in a representational, or realistic, work is usually the positive shape, and the background |
|is the negative shape. In abstract or nonobjective art, positive shapes are usually central or featured elements; negative shapes surround them.|
|Abstraction often reduces things to their simplest shapes. |
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|All shapes can be described with two basic terms: geometric shapes (such as squares, triangles, or rectangles); and organic shapes (free-form or|
|curvilinear). Shapes in nature are usually organic: leaves, trees, mountains, clouds, animals, etc. |
|Like line, shape is an important element in both the rendering and seeing of art. It is used by the artist for three fundamental purposes: |
|1. To suggest or represent a physical form. |
|2. To achieve order, variety, and harmony in the composition. |
|3. To express different qualities of moods and feelings. The term shape refers to any area of a real or imagined object which is defined and |
|rendered by other elements such as line, texture, color, space or light. Shapes may be either organic, geometric, symmetrical, or |
|non-symmetrical or a combination of both symmetrical and non-symmetrical. Flat shapes may create the illusion of three dimensions on a two |
|dimensional surface and also appear on the surface of a three dimensional form. Unlike form, shape is actually two dimensional, possessing mass |
|but not volume. |
Design in New Media I
Ms. Woerman
Form
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|This term has multiple meanings and may be used in the following ways. |
|1. A verb meaning to shape or order as in " The ceramist formed the clay into a pot." |
|2. Organization or composition, as "The form of the work is elegant." |
|3. The illusionistic representation of a three dimensional form on a two dimensional surface. |
|4. A mold in which plaster or another material is poured. |
|5. A three dimensional solid or contained space. |
|For purposes here, the term form will be used to describe three dimensional solids and contained spaces. In this context, form has both |
|mass and volume, whereas, shape has only mass. To illustrate this, consider a flat piece of paper. It has two sides, each of which have |
|equal mass. When the same piece of paper is rolled into a cylinder, it possesses both mass and volume. |
Space
|Nothing exists without it. Space can be thought of as the distance or area around, between, above, below or within places. In art,|
|space can be described as either two dimensional or three dimensional. |
|The space in two dimensional artworks such as paintings, drawings, prints and photographs (flat space) is essentially limited to |
|height and width. While there is no actual depth or distance in such works, artists have created techniques to create the illusion|
|of depth or distance on these flat surfaces. The following represents some of those techniques: |
|a. |
|The most prominent of these techniques is the application of linear perspective. Through this application distant objects are |
|rendered proportionately smaller than closer ones. The determining factors of this space depends upon the horizon line and |
|vanishing points. |
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|b. |
|Another of the more prominent techniques is known as atmospheric perspective. This application renders distant objects and spaces |
|with less detail and intensity than closer objects. For example, the use of bluer colors for distant shapes can suggest space |
|between the viewer and the shapes. |
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|c. |
|The placement of objects can give the illusion of space. Distant shapes are higher and closer shapes are lower in the picture |
|plane. |
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|d. |
|Overlapping of objects on the picture plane can suggest space. |
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|Through the rendering of these techniques, the artist appears to destroy the flatness of the picture plane, transporting the |
|viewer into what appears to be a world of actual space. |
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|Three dimensional space is recognized as having height, width, depth, and is referred to as actual space. This would include |
|sculpture, furniture, architecture, ceramics and jewelry. In the setting of a three dimensional work of art the viewer can freely |
|move around and (in the case of architecture) through it. Three dimensional art may use both positive and negative space as a |
|means of revealing content and meaning. For example, in sculpture the spaces in and around the form can be described as negative |
|space. Whereas the form itself may be described as occupying a positive space. Another way to consider distinctions of positive |
|and negative space can be equated as the presence of physical material = positive; or in the absence of it = negative. The |
|consideration of how the artist uses both positive and negative space in the articulation of their expression is an important |
|factor. |
Texture
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|Texture can be both real and imagined. In two-dimensional artworks, the artist may produce a smooth or a rough surface in the |
|application of the medium. In the painting of Jan Van Eycks, The Marriage, the picture plane is mirror- smooth; nothing calls our |
|attention to the methods of paint application or the painted surface. Yet, the artist illusively creates a whole variety of |
|materials and textures through the application of delicate brush strokes and thin layers of oil paint. Conversely, in the painting|
|of Vincent Van Gogh, Wheat Field With Ravens, the paint application creates a consistently rough surface which draws attention to |
|the paint and its method of application. The high viscosity of the paint is apparent in this work and contributes significantly to|
|the aesthetic content of the painting. |
|Texture in sculpture is fundamentally important. It may vary from highly polished brass, as in the work of Constantine Brancusi's |
|Bird in Space; to that of Chinese bronzes during the Shang Dynasty. Although we can seldom touch or hold a sculpture, texture |
|often becomes an important clue to the material, its character, weight, and solidity. More importantly, the materials chosen by |
|the sculptor have a great deal to do with its aesthetic content and its expressive quality. |
Light
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|Primitive feelings about light and dark lie deep inside our subconscious. Light in our culture expresses goodness, intelligence, |
|clarity and completeness. Darkness is just the opposite, expressing mystery, ignorance, evil and emptiness. The contrast between |
|dark and light not only describes space and defines forms in art, it also conveys feelings, drama and a psychological as well as |
|an aesthetic dynamic. |
|Artists often want to create a three dimensional illusion on a two dimensional surface. One of the ways this can be done is by |
|rendering the effects of light and shadow as they fall on solid forms. A form that is lit by a single light source will be |
|brightest when it is closest to the source, while other forms will diminish in intensity as they recede from the light source. |
|Aspects of the forms, blocked from the light, will cast shadows. Perhaps nowhere is this effect more dramatic than in the work of |
|the Italian artist Caravaggio. This effect, called chiaroscuro, makes the forms and figures come alive through the dramatic |
|contrasting values of light and dark. |
|The effects of light are vitally important to our understanding and appreciation of the three dimensional art forms of sculpture |
|and architecture. Light and shadow define the forms of both sculpture and architecture. In Gaston Lachaise's sculpture, Standing |
|Woman, light striking the figure most directly creates highlights. As the contours of the forms curve away the reflected light |
|becomes dimmer making the surface change in contrast and tonal value. These strong value contrasts allow the viewer to witness the|
|drama of the figure swelling and receding back into space. Furthermore, in the work of Frank Gherys, the University of Minnesota |
|Gallery, light falling on the strong angular, geometric forms and shapes of the building heightens our sense of its structural |
|composition and its drama. |
Color
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|Color is the most emotional element of art. Our awareness of color is conditioned by our environment, our culture and our retinal |
|physiology. But color also effects us intuitively, arousing our most primitive instincts. It effects our emotions directly, |
|conditioning our moods, thoughts, actions and even our health. In previous centuries color was termed the sensual part of art |
|because it attacked emotions directly and had no boundaries or rules. Today terms like "seeing red" and "feeling blue" are part of|
|contemporary language. |
|For the artist color is most usually the light reflected from a surface; however, it may be generated from an electric source, |
|white light (sunlight) or even fire. Whatever the source, the color will have a certain hue, intensity and value. Hue is the named|
|color such as red or blue. Intensity refers to the purity of the color. Value refers to the amount of black or white mixed into |
|the pure color. The intensity of the color is proportionately reduced by the amount of black or white mixed into the color. The |
|quality or degree of the intensity can be referred to as tint or shade. |
|Sir Isaac Newton, the British scientist who discovered the color spectrum in the 17th century, turned it into the color wheel. |
|This circular color spectrum best describes our perception of and the continuous flow of colors, while it establishes opposites |
|across the diameters. The colors directly opposite of each other provide the greatest color contrast. They are called the |
|complimentary colors. In this way, the primary red is directly opposite the secondary green, which contains the primaries of red |
|yellow and blue. When placed near one another they accent each other, making the other appear more vivid. The color wheel enables |
|us to see colors that are similar; they lie next to each other. |
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