In art, there are specific elements or building blocks that artists use to help take us on a visual journey. These elements are central to the overall look and feel of a work of art. Sometimes these elements are chosen specifically by the artist to draw our eye or emphasise a particular part of an artwork.
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The elements of art are the basic components that artists use to create a work of art. The elements provide the tools to help structure an artwork, from the arrangement of the subject matter on a canvas to the balance of form in a sculpture. So let’s take a look at the seven elements with seven famous examples.
Line
Line refers to the continuous mark made on a surface by a moving point. Artists use lines in painting for example to draw the viewer’s eye across the canvas. This creates a sensation of movement and dynamism within the picture. Lines describe an outline and come in different forms including horizontal, vertical and diagonal to contour, actual and implied. A clear example of a horizontal line in a painting is the horizon. For example in the surrealist work by Salvador Dalì called The Forgotten Horizon.
Shape
Lines give rise to shapes in art. And shape refers to the two-dimensional area that is defined by a boundary, whether line or colour. Like lines, shapes add a layer of dynamism to pictures and draw the viewer in. In Mondrian’s Composition B (No.II) with Red 1935 you can see clear examples of the way line and colour give life to shape.
Form
Form refers to the three-dimensional object created by the combination of shapes. In Cubist painter Pablo Picasso’s, "Three Musicians", 1921, you can see how the combination of shapes and colour creates a sense of depth in the painting.
Space
Space refers to the area around, between, and within objects. Space affects the perspective which creates a broader dimension between background and foreground. Picasso used space to heighten the cramped space and to render his subjects in a monumental form in Les Demoiselles D’Avignon.
Value
In art, value refers to the lightness or darkness of a colour. The seventeenth-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer in A Girl Reading a Letter plays with the natural light that sweeps through the window rendering a realistic play of light that creates a contrast with the exterior and interior of the environment.
Colour
Colour refers to the hue, saturation, and brightness of an object. Artist and painter Carla Accardi used bold, saturated colour in her works to enrich her pictures with luminous hues.
Texture
The surface quality of an object, such as rough or smooth is called texture. In Jackson Pollock’s action painting, he achieved a rich and rough surface due to the volume of paint he applied to his large-scale canvasses.
Artists combine and manipulate these elements to achieve the desired visual impact. In fact, it is the very act of finding a balance between these elements that contributes to achieving a signature style.
The way in which artists distribute elements in the composition helps them create harmonious works. Alongside balance, artists also need to consider proportion in terms of size, quantity, or degree. From balancing the amount of positive and negative space (the interplay between warm and cool colours) to considering size and composition.
Cover image: Vincent Van Gogh, Notte Stellata, 1889. Courtesy of Google Arts & Culture
Written by Kooness.
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