LESSON ONE The Elements of Art

Vocabulary■ elements of art■ principles of art■ unity■ color■ intensity■ value■ line■ axis line■ texture■ shape■ form■ space

DiscoverAfter completing this lesson,

you will be able to:■ Discuss the importance of know-

ing the language of art.■ Identify the elements of art.

orks of art are unique arrangements of the obvious and the not soobvious. In order to understand any art object, you must be willing

to go beyond the obvious and examine the not so obvious as well. You needto know what to look for; you must understand the language of art. Art hasa language of its own: words that refer to the visual elements, or basic parts,and the principles, the various ways of putting these parts together.

Elements and Principles of ArtOne of the most important things to look for in works of art is the way

those works have been designed, or planned. This involves knowing whatthe elements and principles of art are and how they are used to createart objects.

The elements of art are the basic components, or building blocks: color,value, line, texture, shape, form, and space. Artists use the elements of artto express their ideas. These elements are not the media the artist uses—paint or clay or stone, for example—but the visual vocabulary used bythe artist.

The principles of art are the different ways the elements can be used ina work of art: balance, emphasis, harmony, variety, gradation, movement,rhythm, and proportion.

We can make a comparison with writers who must do more than justselect and randomly arrange words if they are to communicate their ideasto others. The elements of art can be compared to words. How writersorganize those words is similar to using the principles of art. Writers formphrases, sentences, and paragraphs. Then they must carefully arrangethese into meaningful sequences. The words must be organized so thatreaders can understand and appreciate their ideas.

UnityWhen organizing their works of art, artists use the principles of

balance, emphasis, harmony, variety, gradation, movement, rhythm,and proportion. They select and use these art principles to arrange theelements. In this way, they are able to achieve unity in their works. Unityis the look and feel of wholeness or oneness in a work of art. In workswhere unity is evident, the elements and principles work together.Where unity is lacking, the works may look disorganized, incomplete,or confusing.

When artists recognize that a color, a shape, or some other elementdoes not contribute to unity in a work, they eliminate or change it. Artistsstrive to make their works appealing to viewers, and few people are will-ing to view and respond favorably to disorganized works of art.

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LESSON ONE

The Elements of Art

StyleArtworks owe much of their uniqueness to

the ways artists have used the elements andprinciples. No doubt you have heard peopletalk about an artist’s “style.” More often thannot, they are referring to the special way anartist uses the elements and principles to orga-nize a work. Just as there are different styles inwriting, there are different ways to achieveunity in painting, sculpture, or architecture.

Some artists deliberately select and orga-nize the elements using the principles. Theseartists are not satisfied until a certain combi-nation of elements and principles looks rightto them. Other artists choose to use the ele-ments of art in a more spontaneous or intu-itive manner. They do not make deliberatedecisions regarding the principles of art.Rather, these artists instinctively select andorganize the art elements in their works.

The Elements of ArtPeople looking at a painting or other work of

art often stop looking once they have examinedthe subject matter. They recognize the people,objects, and events shown, but they pay littleattention to the elements of art to create thepeople, objects, and events. They overlook the

fact that a painting is made up of colors,values, lines, textures, shapes, and spaces(Figure 2.2).

In a realistic landscape painting, for exam-ple, the art elements are combined to look liketrees, hills, fields, and sky. Although you mayadmire the realistic scene, you should notlimit your attention to the subject matteralone. If you do, you might miss other impor-tant and interesting things, such as the man-ner in which the elements of art are used tocreate that realistic scene. If the subject matterin a painting is not apparent, you should beprepared to examine what is shown in termsof color, value, line, texture, shape, and space.

You are already familiar with the elements ofart, even if you have never taken an art courseor read a book about art. Imagine that, in aphone conversation, you are listening to adescription of an object. Could you guess whatthat object is after hearing a description thatincludes the following list of art elements?

• It has height, width, and depth and occu-pies actual space.

• Abrupt changes in light and dark valuesindicate that it is made up of flat planes atright angles to each other.

• It is a flat, three-dimensional form withsix sides.

Chapter 2 Developing a Visual Vocabulary 27

■ FIGURE 2.2Works of art like this one are made upof the elements ofcolor, value, line, tex-ture, shape, form,and space. Can youidentify the differentcolors, lines, shapes,and forms in thispainting?

Thomas Hart Benton. TheSources of Country Music.1975. Acrylic on canvas.1.8 ! 3 m (6 ! 10"). TheCountry Music Hall of fameand Museum, Nashville,Tennessee. © T.H. Bentonand R.P. Benton,Testamentary Trusts/UMBBank Trustee/Licensed byVAGA, New York, NY.

• It is rectangular in shape when vieweddirectly from any side or from the top orbottom.

• Three sides are a rich, leather-browncolor; the remaining three sides are white.

• Three sides are hard and smooth in tex-ture; this contrasts with the fine ridgedtexture of the remaining three sides.

• The three sides with the ridged texture aremade up of a series of thin, parallel lines.

Did you correctly identify the object asa book?

There can be problems of interpretation withany language; this seems to be especially truewith a visual language. When you use the termline, for example, you want to be sure that theperson to whom you are talking has the sameunderstanding of the term as you do. If thisbond of understanding is missing, confusionwill occur. In order to avoid confusion and mis-understanding, each of the elements of art isdefined and examined in this chapter.

ColorColor is an element made up of three dis-

tinct qualities: hue, intensity, and value.When talking about a color or the differencesbetween two or more colors, you can refer toany one or all of these qualities.

HueHue refers to the name of a color. The term

is used to point out the difference between ablue and a green, or a red and a yellow.Imagine that you have gone into a departmentstore and have asked to see a selection of bluesweaters. The word blue should be a clearenough description for the salesperson toknow what color you have in mind. Examplesof 12 different hues are shown in the ColorWheel in Figure 2.4.

IntensityNow assume that, while checking the

store’s stock of sweaters, the salesperson dis-covers a variety of blue sweaters in your size.Some seem to be a brighter, purer blue thanothers. This is a color’s intensity, or quality ofbrightness and purity.

When a hue is strong and bright, it is said tobe high in intensity. When that same color isfaint and dull, it is said to be low in intensity.Perhaps the salesperson brings out a selectionof blue sweaters for you to see. Unsure whichyou like best, you arrange them on the counterin a row, from those that are the brightest tothose that are the dullest. The differences incolor intensity of these sweaters might resemblethe range of intensities shown in Figure 2.3.

Value in ColorThe salesperson now brings out more blue

sweaters. Some of these sweaters are darkerand some are lighter than those you havejust seen. You arrange this second group ofsweaters in a row from darkest to lightest.Your awareness of the lightness and darknessof the blues means that you have recognizedthe differences in their color values.

When describing a hue, the term valuerefers to that hue’s lightness or darkness.Value changes are often obtained by addingblack or white to a particular hue. Thevalue chart in Figure 2.3 shows the range ofdark and light values created when variousamounts of black and white were added toblue. The differences in color value that you

28 Unit One Creating and Understanding Art

Values of Blue

Shade Tint

■ FIGURE 2.3 Value and Intensity Scale

Intensities of Blue

High Intensity Low Intensity


Notice the three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.These are called primary colors because they aremixed to make all the other colors, but they cannot bemade by mixing the other colors.

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Adding more red to the combination of red and yellow produces a red-orange. Adding more yellowproduces a yellow-orange. Red-orange and yellow-orange are examples of intermediate colors. By vary-ing the amounts of the two primary colors used, it is possible to create a number of these intermediatehues, or tertiary colors. Both terms, intermediate andtertiary, refer to the colors found between the primaryand secondary colors.

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Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheelare called complementary colors. Thus, red and greenare complementary colors. These hues are opposites ina more fundamental way, however: There is no greenhue in red, and no red hue in green.

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The addition of only a small amount of a hue’s com-plement lowers its intensity. In other words, a greencan be made to look less green—and move by degreescloser and closer to a neutral tone—by the addition ofits complement, red.

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Colors that are next to each other on the color wheeland are closely related are called analogous colors.Examples of analogous colors are blue, blue-green,and green.

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The secondary colors, orange, green, and violet, arelocated midway between the primary colors on thewheel. Each of the secondary colors is made by mix-ing two primary colors. Orange is made by mixing redand yellow; green, by mixing blue and yellow; andviolet, by mixing blue and red.

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Yellow-Green

INTERMEDIATEYellow

PRIMARY

Yel

low

-Ora

nge

INTER

MEDIA

TE

Orange

SECONDARY

Red-Orange

INTERMEDIATE

Red

PRIMARY

Red-Violet

INTERMEDIATE

Violet

SECONDARY B

lue-

Vio

let

INTER

MEDIA

TE

BluePRIMARY

Blue-Green

INTERMEDIATE

Green

SECONDARY

ANALOGOUS

Complementary

■ FIGURE 2.4 Color Wheel

n understanding of color isaided by the use of a color wheel.

AThe Color Wheel in Art

found in the sweaters might resemble therange of color values shown in this chart.

The terms warm and cool are applied tocertain colors on the color wheel. Cool colorsare often associated with water and sky.These are colors that contain blue and greenand appear on the side of the wheel oppositethe warm colors. Warm colors are often asso-ciated with fire and sun. These are colors thatcontain red and yellow and appear on the sideof the wheel opposite the cool colors. Coolcolors appear to recede in space, whereaswarm colors seem to advance.

Over the centuries, artists have used colorin many different ways. Some have tried toreproduce exactly the colors of the objectsthey have painted. Others have freely changedcolors in order to emphasize a certain feeling

or mood. For example, notice how Americanartist Jasper Johns uses contrasting, comple-mentary colors to create a dynamic compo-sition without emphasis on subject matter(Figure 2.5). The sudden and unexpectedchanges of color from blue areas to areas ofyellow, orange, and red lead the eye in a livelydance across the surface of his painting. Theartist’s main concern was color and the emo-tional impact of sudden changes in color.

ValueSometimes value is an important element in

works of art even though color appears to beabsent. This is the case with drawings, wood-cuts, lithographs, and photographs. It is true,too, with most sculpture and architecture.


■ FIGURE 2.5 Notice how the loose and colorful brushwork and sudden changes of huecontribute to this painting’s feeling of energy. Why do you think the artist made thispainting look so flat?

Jasper Johns. Map. 1961. Oil on canvas. 198.2 ! 312.7 cm (78 ! 1231⁄8#). Collection, Museum of Modern Art, NewYork, New York. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Scull. © Jasper Johns/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.

Abrupt or gradual changes in value canadd greatly to the visual effect of these artforms. Abrupt value changes can suggestplanes, or flat surfaces at various angles toeach other. Gradual value changes can indi-cate concave or convex surfaces. They cando even more, however. Changes in valuecan help the artist express an idea. Many ofRené Magritte’s pictures display the surprisingand often disturbing placement of ordinaryobjects in unexpected settings. In TheListening Room, he made use of gradual valuechange to paint an apple so huge that it fillsan entire room (Figure 2.6). The gradual

change from light to dark value makes theapple appear round, solid, and more real. Theresult is a picture that playfully challenges theviewer to question its possible meaning.

LineLine is an element that is difficult to

describe, although most people know what itis and can easily think of several ways to cre-ate it. Perhaps the simplest way to define lineis to refer to it as a continuous mark made onsome surface by a moving point. The marksmade by a ballpoint pen moving across a


■ FIGURE 2.6 Notice how the gradual change in value emphasizes the round formof the giant apple. Can you identify abrupt changes of value in this painting as well?What idea do you think the artist was trying to express with this work?

Rene Magritte. The Listening Room. 1952. Oil on canvas. 45 ! 55 cm (173⁄4 ! 212⁄3#). The Museum of ModernArt, New York, New York. Photothètique R. Magritte-ADAGP/Art Resource, NY. ©2004 Herscovici, Brussels/Artist Rights Society (ARS), NY.

sheet of paper are lines. So are the marksmade on canvas by a moving paintbrush, orthe marks made by the sculptor’s finger mov-ing across a clay surface.

Artists use several different types of line intheir works to identify and describe objectsand their movements. Different effects areobtained by using these different types of line.

Emphasizing LineOne type of line is used to show the edges,

or contours, of an object. This is called acontour line. Such a line is familiar to anyonewho has tried to draw. It is, in fact, one of themost common forms of line used by children.When children pick up pencils or crayons todraw, they use lines to create figures, houses,trees, and flowers. Usually, children drawthese objects in outline form.

Artists often use contour lines in much thesame way to identify and describe objects in

their drawings and paintings. They do thiseven though they know that these outlinesare not actually a part of the real object. Thecontour line separates the object from thebackground and from other objects in thesame work.

Some artists place great importance oncontours or outlines. They use them as a wayof adding interest or unity to their paintings.The works created by such artists are fre-quently called linear. Notice, for example,how the French artist Marie Laurencin (law-rahn-san) has used black outlines to add clar-ity and interest to her portrait of a womanwearing a hat (Figure 2.7). Because of theseoutlines, every object is clearly defined andstands out on its own. More importantly, theblack outlines add a decorative accent thatincreases the picture’s appeal.

De-emphasizing LineSome artists try to eliminate or conceal the

outline of objects in their pictures. The termpainterly is often used when describing worksby these artists. Claude Monet (kload mow-nay) was such an artist, and you can see whywhen you look at his paintings of haystacks(Figures 21.14 and 21.15, page 481). Monetwas interested in recording the fleeting effectof light on the various surfaces of objects. Heused short brush strokes to create a shimmer-ing effect in which the contour lines seem todisappear.

Line and SculptureThe terms linear and painterly are not

reserved only for discussions about paintings.They are also applied to sculptures. HenryMoore, for example, used a continuous flow-ing contour line in his sculpture of a standingfigure (Figure 2.8).

Terms such as linear and painterly can helpyou see more clearly a particular quality foundin works of art. Thus, when a painting or sculp-ture is described as linear, you know immedi-ately that the element of line has been stressed.The word linear produces a mental image quitedifferent from the image that comes to mindwhen a work is described as painterly.


■ FIGURE 2.7 The black outlines help define the shapesin this portrait. How would the impact of the painting bedifferent without the use of these lines?

Marie Laurencin. Woman with Hat (Femme au Chapeau). 1911. Oil on canvas.35 ! 26 cm (133⁄4 ! 101⁄4#). The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas. TheJohn A. Jones and Audrey Jones Beck Collection.

Line and MovementIn addition to defining objects in works of art,

line can also suggest movement. This movementmight be horizontal, vertical, diagonal, or curved.Certain feelings or sensations are associated witheach of these movements.

Vertical, or straight up and down, suggestsstrength and stability. Horizontal, or from side toside, suggests calmness. Diagonal suggests tension.Curved suggests a flowing movement. Sometimes thefeelings suggested by the lines in a picture can influ-ence your reactions to it. The lines in one picturemay help you feel calm and relaxed (Figure 21.9,page 474), whereas the lines in another may create atense and uneasy feeling (Figure 19.9, page 427).

An axis line, an imaginary line that is tracedthrough an object or several objects in a picture, canbe helpful when you are trying to identify movementand the direction of movement in a work of art. Itcan show you whether the object or objects havebeen organized in a particular direction. For exam-ple, examine the painting by John Biggers inFigure 2.9. Use your finger to trace the movementand direction of the walking figures. Notice thatyour finger moves in a gentle curve from the figureat the far left to the smallest figure at the top right,emphasizing the direction in which the women arewalking. The axis line is the line your finger wouldhave made if it had left a mark on the picture. Thisis the way you can trace the direction of movementin a work of art.


■ FIGURE 2.8Notice how thesculptor has usedthe element ofline in this work.Describe themovement yourhand would makeif you could tracearound this sculp-ture. Does itchange directionsuddenly or movein a smooth, flow-ing manner?

Henry Moore. LargeInterior Form. 1953,cast 1981. Bronze. 5 ! 1.4 ! 1.4 m (195 ! 561⁄4 ! 561⁄4#).The Nelson-AtkinsMuseum of Art,Kansas City, Missouri.The Hall FamilyFoundationCollection.

■ FIGURE 2.9 The axis line in this painting begins at the far leftwith the largest figure and moves back into space through theremaining figures. It ends with the smallest figure in the distance.In what way does this axis line aid the viewer? What other art element helps emphasize a sense of movement in this work?

John Biggers. Climbing Higher Mountains. 1986. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 101.6 ! 91.4 cm (40 ! 36#). Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Virginia.

Some artworks make use of a single axisline; others make use of several. In a workwith more than one axis line, you shoulddetermine how the lines relate to one another.For example, in Figure 2.10 four axis linescombine to form a large W that ties the vari-ous parts of the picture together while point-ing out the most important figures. Observehow two diagonal axis lines are used toarrange the figures at either side of the paint-ing. These join two other diagonal axis linesthat lead upward to complete the W. At thecenter point are the Christ child and Hismother. Even though they are not the largestfigures in the work, they are the most impor-tant. The artist has skillfully used axis linesto guide your eye to them.

Axis lines can be as important in sculptureand architecture as they are in painting. They

can help you recognize the rigid, vertical poseof one sculpture (Figure 8.15, page 178) or theactive, twisting pose of another (Figure 8.18,page 182). In architecture, axis lines can alsohelp you define the principal vertical empha-sis of one building or the horizontal emphasisof another.

TextureWhenever you talk about the surface qual-

ity, or “feel,” of an object, you are discussingits texture. Texture is the element of artthat refers to the way things feel, or look asif they might feel if touched. In painting,some works have an overall smooth surfacein which even the marks of the paintbrushhave been carefully concealed. There are notextural “barriers” or “distractions” to get in


■ FIGURE 2.10 The religious figures in this painting are dressed in garments of theartist’s own time. In addition to the axis lines discussed, can you find other actual lines,both diagonal and vertical, that direct attention to the main figures?

Sandro Botticelli. The Adoration of the Magi. c. 1481–82. Tempera on wood. Approx. 70.1 3 104.1 cm (275⁄8 ! 41#).National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Board of Trustees, Andrew W. Mellon Collection.

the way as your eyes sweep over the smooth,glossy surface.

Other paintings have a more uneven surface.This is the case when a heavy application ofpaint produces a rough texture that you sensewith your eyes and feel with your fingers. Bothtypes of painting are examples of actual texturebecause you actually feel the smooth surface ofone and the rough surface of the other.

There are many paintings, however, inwhich the surface is smooth to the touchbut the sensation of different textures is sug-gested by the way the artist painted someareas. In her portrait of the ill-fated Frenchqueen, Marie Antoinette and Her Children(Figure 2.11), the artist Marie-Louise-Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun painted a wide rangeof different textures. There is a distinctive“feel” to the different materials used for the

garments. Other kinds of textures are noted inthe heavy woven carpet, the wooden furni-ture, and the smooth, soft skin of the figures.Yet, if you were to pass your fingers lightlyover this painting, you would find that it issmooth all over. When painters try to makedifferent objects look rough or smooth, theyare using a technique known as simulated, or artificial, texture.

Another, similar example of texture isseen in a portrait of the Princess de Broglie(Figure 2.11a). The artist, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, obviously delighted inpainting as accurately as possible a range ofsimulated textures. The rich satin and laceof the woman’s gown gives a sense that youmight hear the rustle of fabric as she moves.Compare this to the soft skin, and brocadeof the chair.


■ FIGURE 2.11 The artist, known for her beauty,wit, and charm, enjoyed a close personal relationshipwith Queen Marie Antoinette and painted her manytimes. How many different textures can you identifyin this painting? What does this painting tell youabout the queen?

Marie-Louise-Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. Marie-Antoinette, Queenof France, with Her Children. 1789. Oil on canvas. 271 ! 195 cm(1062⁄3 ! 763⁄4#). Réunion des Musées Nationaux /Art Resource, NY.

■ FIGURE 2.11a Notice the variety of simulatedtextures in this painting. What other elements ofart did the artist use to add variety to the manysurfaces?

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Princesse de Broglie. 1853. Oil oncanvas. 121.3 ! 90.8 cm (473⁄4 ! 353⁄4#). The Metropolitan Museumof Art, New York, New York. Robert Lehman Collection, 1975.(1975.1.186)

Texture and SculptureBecause three-dimensional forms seem to

invite touch, texture is especially importantto sculptors. They recognize the urge to toucha sculptured surface and often encouragethis by providing rich textural effects. Joséde Creeft creates obvious contrasts in roughand smooth textures in his sculpture of TheCloud (Figure 2.12). These different texturesare emphasized by the effect of light playingacross the surface of the work.

Sculptors recognize that wood, marble, andbronze all have unique textural qualities. Theymust keep this textural quality in mind whenchoosing the material for a particular work.

Shape and FormThe term shape refers to a two-dimensional

area clearly set off by one or more of the othervisual elements, such as color, value, line,

texture, and space. Shapes are flat. They arelimited to only two dimensions: length andwidth. This two-dimensional character ofshape distinguishes it from form, which hasdepth as well as length and width. Thus, aform is an object with three dimensions.

Shapes can be created deliberately in draw-ing and painting by joining a single continu-ous line or several lines to enclose an area.For example, when two parallel horizontallines are joined to two parallel vertical lines,a square or rectangular shape is made.

Usually, when you try to visualize a shape,the first thing that comes to mind is an areasurrounded by lines. Yet line is not alwaysneeded to create shapes. Many shapes areformed in a more indirect manner without theaid of lines. When an artist paints an area of apicture with a particular color, a shape is cre-ated. An artist can also create shape by isolat-ing or setting off an area that is texturallydifferent from its surroundings.


■ FIGURE 2.12 Notice how lightemphasizes the textures in this three-dimensional piece. What other elementof art has been used to provide variety?

José de Creeft. The Cloud. 1939. Greenstone.42.5 ! 31.4 ! 25.4 cm (163⁄4 ! 123⁄8 ! 10#).Collection of Whitney Museum of AmericanArt, New York, New York. Purchase. 41.17a–b.© Estate of José de Creeft/Licensed by VAGA,New York, New York.

Many painters have tried to create the illu-sion of solid, three-dimensional forms intheir works. Frequently, the look of solidityand depth is achieved by painting shapeswith light and dark values. For example, acircular shape can be made to look three-dimensional by gradually changing its valuefrom light to dark. This technique can beused to reproduce the effect of light on thesurface of a round object. When combinedwith a dark shadow cast by the round object,the desired three-dimensional effect is cre-ated (Figure 2.13).

Because it possesses the added dimensionof depth, a form can be thought of as a shapein three dimensions. You cannot actually feelaround a form in a painting, but you are ableto do so with the forms found in sculptureand architecture.

Mass and VolumeTwo important features of form are mass

and volume. Mass refers to the outside sizeand bulk of a form, and volume refers to thespace within a form.

Any discussion of the mass of a sculptureor building uses the vocabulary of solid geom-etry. This allows you to describe more clearlya three-dimensional work as resembling acube, a sphere, a pyramid, a cylinder, or acone. This does not mean that a sculpture or abuilding must be solid. You can also describea contemporary sculpture made of transparentplastic and wire as having mass and resem-bling a sphere, cylinder, or cone.

The term volume is used during discussionsof interior space. In architecture, volume refersto the space within a building. This insidespace is determined by the exterior mass of the

building. Sometimes volume can be small andconfining, as in a tiny chapel. At other times itcan be huge and expansive, as in an enormouscathedral. You should not limit your concernfor volume to buildings alone, however. Youcan also refer to the volumes created betweenand within sculptural masses.

Occasionally, it is helpful to describe asculpture or a building in terms of its shape aswell as its form. For example, you might beconcerned with the two-dimensional outlineor silhouette of a sculpture or building seenfrom a fixed position. In this way, a sculpturemay offer several interesting shapes as youwalk around it and view it from differentangles. A building that looks small and squarewhen viewed directly from the front mightprove to be large and rectangular whenviewed from one side.


■ FIGURE 2.13 You might feel that you couldpick up one of the oranges in this painting. Howdid the artist make the flat shapes look likeround, three-dimensional forms?

Luis Meléndez. Still Life with Oranges, Jars, and Boxes of Sweets.c. 1760–65. Oil on canvas. 48.2 ! 35.3 cm (19 ! 137⁄8#). KimbellArt Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.

SpaceSpace can be thought of as the distance or

area between, around, above, below, or withinthings. In art, space is an element that can beeither three-dimensional or two-dimensional.

Three-dimensional space, which hasheight, width, and depth, is known as actual

space. It is the type of space found in artforms that are three-dimensional such assculpture, ceramics, and architecture. Forexample, if you could study José de Creeft’ssculpture of The Cloud (Figure 2.12, page 36)in its museum setting, you would be able tomove about freely in the space that surroundsthe sculpture. You could see the way this


CREATING THE ILLUSION OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL SPACE

Giorgione created a sense of three-dimensional space by using the techniques below:

LOOKING Closely ➤

• Size. Distant shapes are made smaller;closer shapes are made larger.

• Placement. The shapes within thework overlap, suggesting that some arein front of others. Distant shapes areplaced higher in the picture; closershapes are placed lower.

• Detail. Distant shapes are shown withless detail; closer shapes are shownwith greater detail.

• Color. Distant shapes are colored withhues that are duller and appear bluerto suggest the layers of atmospherebetween the viewer and those shapes.

• Line. The horizontal lines of shapes(buildings and other objects) areslanted to make them appear to extendback into space.

■ FIGURE 2.14 Giorgione.

The Adoration of the Shepherds.

c. 1505–10. Oil on panel. Approx.

91 ! 111 cm (353⁄4 ! 431⁄2#). National

Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Board of Trustees, Samuel H. Kress

Collection.

work changes when viewed from differentpositions. The work presents not onlydifferent shapes, but different images andmeanings as well. From one angle, the sculp-ture resembles a cloud. From a second, itchanges to look like a woman. From a third, itappears to be a mother and child. The workdoes more than just occupy space. Certainlyan understanding of this sculpture would beincomplete for a viewer who insisted onexamining it from a single point of view.

Architecture is an art form devoted to theenclosure of space. To truly appreciate this artform, you must carefully consider the way inwhich space is treated in different structures.

Unlike three-dimensional works of art, thespace in flat, two-dimensional works is limitedto height and width. There is no actual depth ordistance in such works. Despite this, artists havedevised several techniques to create the illusionof depth or distance on flat or nearly flat sur-faces. Many of these techniques were used byGiorgione (jor-joh-nay) when he painted TheAdoration of the Shepherds (Figure 2.14).

With these techniques, the flatness of the pic-ture plane seems to be destroyed. The viewer is

transported into what appears to be a world ofactual space, atmosphere, and three-dimen-sional forms. Giorgione’s picture may be an illu-sion, but it is a very convincing one.

Working with theElements

Typically, artists are faced with the challengeof considering several elements with each stepthey take in creating a work of art. They can-not, for example, work effectively with colorwithout considering other elements. They real-ize that the selection and application of onehue in one part of a painting will have animpact on the hues, shapes, lines, and texturesused in other parts of the work.

Some artists respond to this challenge ina deliberate, thoughtful manner, whereasothers are more spontaneous and intuitive.To understand and appreciate artists’ variousresponses, you need not only to be familiarwith the elements of art, but also to under-stand how the principles of art are used toorganize those elements.

Chapter 2 39Visit art.glencoe.com for study tools and review activities.

Reviewing Art Facts1. Recall List the seven elements of art.2. Describe Give an example of an anal-

ogous color scheme.3. Explain What is the benefit of identi-

fying the axis line in a work of art?4. Identify Name four techniques

artists can use to create the illusion of three-dimensional space in a two-dimensional work of art.

Working with Elements and Principles Combining ele-ments and principles has endless variations that make thecreation of art an exciting and wonderful challenge for theartist. In any time period or any place, the artist is alwaysworking with these basic tools and rules.

Activity Choose five elements and create a design usingsimple art materials. Evaluate your design to determinehow you used the tools of balance, emphasis, harmony,variety, gradation, movement/rhythm, and proportion.Display your design and describe how you used the principles in creating your design.

LESSON ONE REVIEW

Documents

LESSON ONE The Elements of Art