Shape

Art Element

Elements of Art: Shape

• One element of art

• The building blocks of structure

• An area that stands out from space around it because of a defined or implied boundary

Type of Shapes

• Representational Shapes

• Subjective or imagined

• Objective or observable

• Non-Representational Shapes

• Organic or round

• Rectilinear or straight lined

• Geometric

StarsCalder

Types of Shapes

• Suggested shapes

• Not exact borders

• The mind completes the shape or fills in the blanks

• Amorphous shapes

• Vague borders

• Undetermined in exactness

Use of Shape

• To suggest form

• To provide visual content

• To create mass, volume

• To create depth (planes in space) or shapes in the third dimension

• To define figure and ground

Figure / Ground

• Foreground vs. background

• Positive space vs. Negative space

Art Deco

Early 20th Century

geometric shapes

abstraction & economization

Icon Systems

international

cross-culture

representational

1967 / 1968 Mexico

International style

swiss inspired

geometric layouts

mid 20th Century

Max Bill, 1945, exhibition poster

Pattern

• Patterns are repeating sequences – random or precisely spaced

• Pattern relies upon symmetry and/or asymmetry, and tessellation

Pattern Design

Creating a repeating motif: four basic symmetries

Pattern Design

Creating a repeating motif: four basic symmetries

Chuck Close

Self-Portrait

2002

Jonathan Smith

Spiraling Hands

Art Nouveau

rhythmic pattern

Arthur Mackmurdo 1883Cover Design

Art Nouveau

rhythmic pattern

1896