VISUAL ELEMENTS & PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

Two-dimensional: picture surface that can be also covered with lines, shapes, textures and other aspects of visual form.

Two-dimensional art consists of paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs, which differ from each other primarily in the technique of their execution.

Three-dimensional: Three-dimensional media occupies space defined through the dimensions of height, width and depth.

It includes sculpture, installation and performance art, decorative art, and product design

Line

A line is an extension of a point.

Characteristics of a line:

• Active or static

• Aggressive or passive

• Sensual or mechanical

• Can indicate directions

• Define boundaries of shapes and spaces

• Imply volumes or solid masses

• Suggest motion or emotion

• Can form patterns and textures

Lee Friedlander. Bismarck, North Dakota. 2002. Photograph

ShapeShape refers to the expanse within the outline of a two- dimensional area or within the outer boundaries of a three-dimensional object.

• Geometric shape: such as circles, triangles and squares

• Organic shapes: irregular, often curing or founded and seem more relaxed and informal than geometric shapes.

• When a shape appears on a picture plan (the flat picture surface)- the dominate shapes are referred to as figures or positives shapes; background areas are ground or negative shapes.

• Fundamental aspect of perception it allows us to sort out and interpret what we see. Because we are conditioned to see only objects and not the spaces between them and around them. M.C. Escher. Sky and Water I. 1938. Woodcut.

MassA three-dimensional area is called mass: the physical bulk of a solid body of material.

Fernando Botero- created a bronze horse of immense mass for a public monument in Mexico. The bulging legs and neck are intensified by the horse’s short backbone, bringing the four legs together like strong pillars.

The mass of this horse goes far beyond what mere muscle could produce, giving the body an inflated look.

Fernando Botero. The Horse. 2008. Bronze. Monterrey, Mexico.

SpaceSpace: indefinable. Simply put: it’s the empty space around us.

Linear perspective: system used to depict the way objects in space appear to the eye. Developed during the Italian Renaissance.

Note* objects appear smaller when seen at a distance than when viewed close up.

Vanishing Point: The place where parallel lines meet up at in space.

Horizon: the place where land and sky appear to meet.

One-point perspective: all the major receding “lines” of the subject are actually parallel and meet at one vanishing point.

Raphael. The School of Athens. 1508. Fresco

Light Everything we see is made from light!

Sunlight, or natural light, although perceived as white, actually contains all the colors of light that make up the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The source, color, intensity, and direction of light greatly affect the way things appear; as light changes, surfaces illuminated by it also appear to change. Daniel Chester French. Lincoln Memorial.

1911-1922

Color Artists and interior designers have long understood how color can dramatically affect moods, feelings, and emotions.

It is a powerful communication tool and can be used to signal action, influence mood, and cause physiological reactions.

Certain colors have been associated with increased blood pressure, increased metabolism, and eyestrain.

People surrounded by expanses of solid orange or red for long periods often experience nervousness and raised blood pressure

Blue has calming effects

Color to create hunger?

Color preferences is one way we express ourselves!

Color Wheel

Primary: Red, Blue & Yellow

Secondary- Violet, Orange and Green

Tertiary- Blue Violet, Red-Violet and Yellow-Orange, Red-Orange, Yellow-Green, Blue-Green

Color schemes Color groupings that provide distinct

color harmonies are called color schemes.

Complementary: color schemes emphasize two hues directly opposite of each other on the color wheel, such as red and green.

When complementary colors are placed side by side they contrast strongly and intensify each other!

*the complements yellow and violet provide the strongest value contrast possible!

-Monkey Puzzle contains various examples of several complementary pairs, all in one exuberant disk. In some cases the complementary pair is one of the bodies; in others the pair includes the surrounding stripe. The black background further heightens the impact!

Keith Haring. Monkey Puzzle. 1988. Acyrlic on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. La Celestina. 1904

Henri Matisse.L’Atelier Rouge1911

Honoré Daumier . The Third-Class Carriage.1862-64

Jean-Honoré Fragonard The Swing, 1767

Claude Monet.Twilight, Venice1908

Edward HopperNighthawks1942

Texture Refers to the tactile qualities of surfaces, or to the visual representation of those qualities.

Actual textures are those we can feel by touching, such as polished marble, wood, sand, or swirls of thick paint.

Simulated (or implied) textures are those created to look like something other than paint on a flat surface. Meret Oppenheim. Object (Breakfast in Fur) 1936.

Jeff Koons.Balloon Dog (Blue)1994-2000

Yue MinjunGoldfish2007

Antonio CanovaPsyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss1787

Ying Yong Liang.

Charles WhitePreacher1952

Pablo PicassoThree Musicians1921

Wassily KandinskyComposition VIII 1928

Animal chart• Bristol board (1-2 sheets)

• Tracing paper- I will provide

• Pencil/pen/thin black permanent marker

• Ruler

• eraser

• 2-3 images of the same animal in different poses. (include a profile and head)

• Images should be NO larger than 5 x 3 inches as to fit in your squares! Bring various sizes for more experimenting

• Journals

• Color Wheel