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Herro people! I've been giving this much thought and have decided to include along with our "Common Misconceptions" series a series based in the basic art elements followed by the principals of design. There are seven basic art elements as follows:

Line
Form
Shape
Value
Space
Color
Texture

The purpose of knowing this list and understanding each element is to help you make good decisions compositionally as well as help you with formal analysis. Formal analysis is an identification of the basic art elements in a work of art which is useful in critique and also understanding the artist's choices in composition. Ideally, a piece that we would call "successful" would have each of the seven elements here present in some way, as well as the principles of design. A lot of our choices in art making can be either arbitrary or intuitive. Neither are inherently bad, but making choices that have a sound base in these elements will help you with some of the compositional conundrums we artists face. To begin, we will explore line.

Line can be defined as a point moving through space. A line can be both visible and implied. Lines are one dimensional in form and can lead the eye throughout a composition. A line can vary in weight and direction. Here are some works that are composed primarily with line:

Aside from being a vehicle for the forms in an image, line can move you through the work to pull you in and push you out. Here are some images that use line to direct the viewer's eye.

Notice how the beams and cables from the ship frame the action in the dead center of the composition but also pull you in from every direction. Also notice that the right side of the composition is not as crowded by line to avoid a claustrophobic, and cluttered feeling. This piece is also a good example of implied line. Implied line can most easily be described as a line that isn't there. Your eye will continue the borders of the shape. The woman's arms and skirt, as well as parts of the ship are shapes that exist within an implied line. Here's are some more pieces that use line to direct the viewer's gaze:

There are two strong diagonals in this painting which pull into the figure.

This piece has a literal line beginning with the sword of the character at the lower left that weaves through the image and ends on the axe handle at the lower right.

Here's another example of a strong diagonal directing the composition. The placement of the shovel also calls attention to the background which wouldn't be as obvious without the extra cue. In addition to being a compositional device, line can also be used to study the form of objects as seen below in these contour line studies:

I hope this brief cross-section of the element of line will help you out in all of your art adventures! The next blog will cover form.

Xadrea

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body div#devskin0 hr { }

Herro people! I've been giving this much thought and have decided to include along with our "Common Misconceptions" series a series based in the basic art elements followed by the principals of design. There are seven basic art elements as follows:

Line
Form
Shape
Value
Space
Color
Texture

The purpose of knowing this list and understanding each element is to help you make good decisions compositionally as well as help you with formal analysis. Formal analysis is an identification of the basic art elements in a work of art which is useful in critique and also understanding the artist's choices in composition. Ideally, a piece that we would call "successful" would have each of the seven elements here present in some way, as well as the principles of design. A lot of our choices in art making can be either arbitrary or intuitive. Neither are inherently bad, but making choices that have a sound base in these elements will help you with some of the compositional conundrums we artists face. To begin, we will explore line.

Line can be defined as a point moving through space. A line can be both visible and implied. Lines are one dimensional in form and can lead the eye throughout a composition. A line can vary in weight and direction. Here are some works that are composed primarily with line:

Aside from being a vehicle for the forms in an image, line can move you through the work to pull you in and push you out. Here are some images that use line to direct the viewer's eye.

Notice how the beams and cables from the ship frame the action in the dead center of the composition but also pull you in from every direction. Also notice that the right side of the composition is not as crowded by line to avoid a claustrophobic, and cluttered feeling. This piece is also a good example of implied line. Implied line can most easily be described as a line that isn't there. Your eye will continue the borders of the shape. The woman's arms and skirt, as well as parts of the ship are shapes that exist within an implied line. Here's are some more pieces that use line to direct the viewer's gaze:

There are two strong diagonals in this painting which pull into the figure.

This piece has a literal line beginning with the sword of the character at the lower left that weaves through the image and ends on the axe handle at the lower right.

Here's another example of a strong diagonal directing the composition. The placement of the shovel also calls attention to the background which wouldn't be as obvious without the extra cue. In addition to being a compositional device, line can also be used to study the form of objects as seen below in these contour line studies:

I hope this brief cross-section of the element of line will help you out in all of your art adventures! The next blog will cover form.

Xadrea