Elements of Art

Color: Creates mood, indicates distance, provides a light source, and describes objects. Color has 3 basic characteristics:

• Hue—the color, a wavelength in the spectrum, a pigment;
• Value—tone or shade, the lightness or darkness;
• Chroma—intensity.

Line: Creates outline, detail, shading, and movement. Lines also control the direction and speed of the movement of the viewer’s eyes. There are 5 basic lines:

• Vertical—stable lines, which keep the eyes still;
• Horizontal—restful, quiet lines;
• Diagonal—action lines, giving a feeling of movement;
• Contour—outlines;
• Implied—illusion of lines created by the edge of one shape against another shape or color.

Shape and Form: A 2-D object (having height and width) is called a shape. A 3-D object (a shape on a flat surface having not only height and width but also the appearance of depth, an illusion created by shading) is called a form.

Space: The illusion of depth (also called perspective). Suggested by the combination of value, hue, overlap, placement, and line. Negative space is the area between and around objects, which are positive space. Together, negative and positive space give a sense of depth. (See Spatial Clues in the Glossary of Terms.)

Texture: How an artwork’s surface feels to the touch. Texture can be either actual or visual.