LANGUAGE OF ART: ELEMENTS AND THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

I. Intended Learning Outcomes

In this Chapter, you will be able to:

1. compare and contrast the use of the different elements of art in art pieces;
2. identify the different kinds/variations of application among the elements of
art;
3. demonstrate how the elements of art are employed to change the values
and appreciation of art;
4. analyze the expressive characteristics and interpretations of the different
applications of the elements in works of art;
5. compare the applications of art principles to organize the elements of
artwork;
6. utilize principles of artwork in the creation and understanding of art; and
7. provide visual solutions to organizing cohesive art pieces.

II. Learning Contents

A. Elements of Art

1. Line Element

The perception of lines is some of the things we do every day. You see lines
along the roadside, in the corner of your rooms, in the guidelines of your notebook
sheets, etc. lines are even utilitarian that you use them when you write, when you
navigate through directions, slice your favorite meat or vegetables, etc. but most
importantly, lines are essential elements to art. Lines create art and they provide
the impression of path and movement along a space.

Nature of Line
Lines create the impression of movement. As such, when you see artworks
in lines, your eyes make a movement in following its direction or path. So, when
given a visual image, lines lead your eyes into several directions that allow you to
navigate the general space.
Lines can also be differentiated based on length and width. Lines can be
slim or thick depending on your approach. Essentially, lines provide a one-
dimensional theme to the piece of artwork. Dimension, in this regard, is the amount
of space the line takes up in a particular art. To make lines two-dimensional, they
need to have an impression of height and depth. Lines can also be drawn using
different media like pens or pencil, using sticks or even technological media. Even
solidly perceived objects like threads, wires, spiderwebs, tree trunks are configured

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to provide perceptions of lines. While all of them can be perceived as lines, they
differ in terms of the level of dimension they give to the viewers.
Some lines are even implied in application. When you perceive edges of
objects, there are essentially outlines but not intended to become explicit lines. So,
there may be approaches in the use of lines that intend to simulate the gestalt in
the human mind by interpreting implied lines as real. For example, when you see
a series of dots or dashes, stitches of sewn dress or a trail of footprints create
impressions of implied lines.

Types of Lines

a. Vertical lines – the movement

direction is upward or downward.
Common applications are upright
trees or standing body of humans,
buildings or infrastructures.
b. Horizontal lines – the movement
direction is from left to right or vice-
versa. Common applications are body
lying down and the horizon.

c. Diagonal lines – these are slanted

lines. They create an impression of
rising or falling. The Leaning Tower of
Pisa conveys a diagonal or slanted
line.
d. Zigzag lines – these are connected
combinations of diagonal lines. They
create angular perspectives of lines.
Common examples are thunders or
animated drawing of stars.
e. Curved lines – these are lines that do
not appear linear, hence, directions
are not clearly established. Examples
of which are the outline of clouds,
leaves and edges of flowers.
Fig. 1. Types of Lines
Source: agerart.com

Line and Value

Value is defined as the darkness or lightness of an object. Essentially, the
value of a line or the artwork in general may differ in terms of how much light the
surface absorbs and expresses light. The artwork may have a dark value with little
light reflection or light value with more light reflection. So, applying the line
principles to value, lines may have light or dark value, when pencils for example,
are pressed or rubbed harder on a sheet of paper. Artists use the technique called

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crosshatching to create darker themes or value. This is a technique using
crossed lines to create darker shades of a line. Different number types of pencils
can also be made to create different line values. Even using a crayon that stroked
a wall surface or sheet of paper may create broken lines or solid lines, respectively.

Fig. 2. Crosshatching technique

Source: Postman’s Knock

Expression of Lines
You may have known in basic fashion technique that wearing longitudinal
stripes can make you look slimmer than latitudinal ones. Hence, lines have
different capacities in terms of expression an idea or an emotion. Essentially, lines
speak a language that artists can comprehend.

a. Movement of line
Vertical and horizontal lines convey static and at rest impressions. It
may mean the lack of activity and stability. Artist may use them to show
dignity, formality, or stiffness. Horizontal lines, specifically, show the
feelings of prominence and solid foundation such as that of the ground or
floor. Horizontal lines provide foundation to vertical lines and it may provide
artistic impressions of strength. Sometimes, it portrays the feeling of
calmness or relax such as the horizontal lines created by the sea surface.

Curved lines, on the other hand, may show expression of relative

activity. This may depend on the amount of curve it makes. The less active
curve may indicate more calm or repetitive feelings. Spiral lines require you
to focus on a central point and may have the tendency to be hypnotic.

Diagonal lines are used by the artists to express the feelings of

instability, tension, or excitement. Their instability provides feelings of being
uneasy or discomfort. But their expression can be altered when done with
symmetry. For example, two diagonal lines that converge to create the roof
of a house may instead mean stability.

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 Zigzag lines have been used to create feelings of confusion. Due to
combinations of diagonal lines, they may evoke feelings of too much
excitement or anxiety.

b. Contour Lines

These are applications of lines to create

edges or ridges of an object. These provide a
certain degree of separation from one object to
another.

Fig 3. Example of Contour lines

Source: My Modern Met

c. Gesture Drawing

Gestures are usually expressive

movements which are intended to
capture motion, activity and the feeling
found in it. In artworks that emphasize the
lines of the hand, touching the face can
convey feelings of anxiety or worry. Or
hands raising that are emphasized by
lines can be done to manifest feelings of
excitement and activity.
Fig. 4. Example of gesture Drawing
Source: Concept Art Empire

d. Calligraphic Drawing
It is often associated with writing Asian characters usually with
Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai language. In their culture, writing is
not just about knowing the alphabet. For them writing is a process of
creating art using lines and different strokes to represent character
languages. In the Philippines, there
are different versions of baybayin
with different ethno-linguistic bases.
The Philippine calligraphy is rooted
on Indian, Sulawesi and Kawi, Indo,
Arabic, and Islamic writing arts.

Fig. 5. Example of Calligraphic Drawing

Source: Learn Calligraphy

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2. Shape, Form, and Space

The world may be considered as an art piece. It is a piece composed of

several shapes, sizes, forms, and even depth that are naturally existing in this
space. Understanding the nature and use of shape, forms and space, an art
piece may have an important meaning to express.

Shape
A shape conveys a defined two-dimensional area. It has an outline around
and it is recognizable through its form. In a sense, by just using an outline,
shapes can be formed. But shapes can be created without a boundary line. For
example, they can be created using a blot of yellow paint to create a circle like
the imagery of a sun. they are two-dimensional as well because of the flat
surface they create. You can see them in the shapes that are defined by the
floor tiles, TV screens, walls, table tops, etc. Usually, these are man-made
shapes.

Geometric Shapes

Shapes can either be geometric or

free-form. Geometric shapes are
accurately measured shapes, hence,
having mathematical bases. The
variations are square, rectangle,
triangle, circle, oval, trapezoid,
pentagon, hexagon, etc. they are used
to express feelings of uniformity and
organization. In a decorative sense,
they show balance and structure in
one’s perception. This may be apparent
in the shapes of flat television, long and
round tables, room doors, etc.

Fig. 6. Geometric shapes

Free-form Shapes
These are the types of shapes that are irregular in structure. They may be
characterized by some combinations of curves and angles. They are not
structural and man-made, per se. most of them are organically existing in
nature such as flowers, animals, humans, islands, trees, etc.

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 Forms
Forms are the three-dimensional aspects of spaces and shapes. While
shapes have length and width or diameter, a characterizing component of form
is its depth. Example, a box or a cube is a form. However, there is an inherent
relationship between shapes and forms. So, if you are presented with a box,
each side of the box is represented by a square or rectangle shape. Or when
you visit the Pyramids in Egypt, you will still be identifying shapes of triangle
along its sides.

Space
Space is an essential element to understanding art as it involves the outer
and inner spaces of an artwork. This refers to a hypothetical area in which the
subject of art and other elements of art operate. Like shapes and form, the
impression of space can be two- or three-dimensional. For example, with a
window as your subject of an art piece, it can provide a sense of two-dimension
as it portrays a flat representation. But this can become three-dimensional
when the window has been cleared and has shown a view of the outside. This
may be the mountains, the river, or the grasslands. In this sense, the space of
the art has expanded as different layers of areas are now included.

Expressive Qualities of Shape, Form, and Space

a. Outline and Surface

Outlines and variations in the surfaces may bring different kinds of messages.
For example, using free-form shapes may express the presence of life and fluidity.
These could also symbolize calmness and comfort.
Angular shapes, on the other hand, project the sharp and jagged realities of the
world. These could mean pain, anxiety, or tension. For example, you see broken
glasses in a picture, they may translate into vicarious interpretations of pain or hurt.
Geometric shapes may even suggest aspects of mechanical perfection. It
projects a certain sense of order and logic. In effect, they may tend to lack the
emotional accessibility to it. While they express those to viewers, the perceptions can
be more mental and ideal rather than affective.

b. Density
Density refers to the compactness of the object. Dense materials tend to be
solid and heavy looking. In sculptures, for example, dense materials may be difficult
to alter in terms of form unless technology or some machines are available.

c. Openness
Open shapes project open invitation. For example, if you draw an empty chair,
most viewers may tend to vicariously imagine sitting on that chair. If you see an art
piece with an open door, it may give you a sense of wonder of what could be inside
or behind the door. Closed shapes, on the other hand, project more solid and self-
contained field of perception. Closed doors and windows tend to be more restrictive

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 to interpretation. A person with folded arms tight to his body portrays emotion of
tension, mystery, and privacy.

d. Activity and stability

Active shapes are those that defy gravity such as slanting or falling or running
shapes. Movement in shapes can be done by portraying them on diagonal positions.
Static shapes, on the other hand, seem to be motionless and stable.

3. Color

What makes lines, shapes, forms, and space alive is through their colors. They are
apparent in making more variations to our perceptions such as the colors of flowers, the
sky, paint of walls, and even skin tones. Colors have the most powerful connection to
human nature and emotions. In fact, colors are used to describe emotions such as feeling
blue to describe sadness or green thumb to describe someone who is good with plants.
With the differences in colors around you, the way you appreciate colors may also vary.

Perception of Color

Color is one of the elements of art that is derived from light and the different
reflections of it. In psychophysics, you learned that colors are based on white light. When
such white light passes through a prism, it shall bend and create a prism or band of colors.
These colors are usually the representation of the rainbow. But these colors are not
coloring per se. These colors are waves that activate the color receptors of your eyes
called cones. So ripe mangoes may not be yellow after all, but the reflection of mangoes
activate the yellow receptors of the eyes. The rod receptors, on the other hand, receive
and process information of darkness and lightness. So the rods shall facilitate how colors
must be perceived depending on available light. Therefore, the way we perceive colors
depends upon the light that is reflected on each object.

Hence, there are three properties of colors that matter in this section. They are
called hue, value and intensity. These properties are even present in photography.

Hue
In the color spectrum, there is such a thing as primary colors namely, red, blue,
and yellow. They are also considered as primary hues. The secondary hues are made by
mixing two primary colors. There are also six intermediate or tertiary colors by mixing a
primary color with secondary color. To organize these colors or hues, the color spectrum
can be bent to create a color wheel that illustrates how the mixing is employed.

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 Fig. 7. Color Wheel

Value
Value describes the lightness and darkness of a color. There will be times that
certain color will seem to be darker to represent a darker or gloomier theme of the art
piece. Essentially, not all hues should have the same value within a space. Naturally,
yellow seems to be the lightest hue as it reflects the lightest and violet is the darker hue
as it reflects the least light. Black, white, and gray are considered neutral colors. White
light reflects colors while black absorbs all of it. Grey will reflect light depending on its
value. The darker it is, the more it absorbs, the less it reflects and vice versa.

Fig. 8. Value scale with 8 tones

To alter values, hues may be added with black or white. Tinting is the process of
producing a light value such as creating a bright sunny day with mixing white and blue to
the skies while shading is the process of producing a darker value such as mixing violet,
blue, gray, and black to create night skies.

Fig. 8. Illustration of Tint and Shade

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Intensity
Intensity refers to how bright and dull the use of hue is. If a certain surface of an
object reflects yellow light, then the surface projects intense and bright yellow. But if the
surface reflects other colors, yellow will be more subdued. Intensity can be high or low
density such that in bright and dull colors, respectively.

Complementary colors are those that are opposite to each other in the color wheel.
The complement of a hue may absorb all the light waves that the hue reflects. Example,
red and green are complements. In effect, green may absorb red waves and may reflect
the blue and yellow. This explains how some people will have conditions such as color
vision deficiency or color blindness. There may be tendencies for people to perceive
green as red or red as green.

Another consequence is when you mix a hue with its complement dulls the original
hue and lowers its intensity. The more complement you add, the duller the hue will appear.
Eventually, the hue will lose its original intensity and appear gray. But if you use a
dominant hue in a mixture, there will be more apparent manifestations of the dominant
hue such as coloring a dark violet night sky and mixing with small hues of blue, the more
dominant color will still be violet.

Fig. 9. Illustration of Color Intensity

Color schemes
Organizing colors are part of the planning phase in the creation of art. Making a
cohesive story or song is like identifying a color scheme appropriate to the story of the art
piece. Planning these colors according to a scheme will allow you to create a cohesive
piece of artwork.

a. Monochromatic Colors
This is a technique where only one color is used. Even the hue, tints, and
shade are consistent all throughout. With a limited option for colors, this provides
a strong and unifying expression to the art. However, this strategy may lessen the
variation quality of the work.

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b. Analogous Colors
In analogous colored artwork, the hues used are usually those that are side
by side in the color wheel and operate in a common hue. Examples are blue, blue-
green, blue-violet, and red. This could be limited to three hues to create unity
among the common color range.

4. Texture

Texture in art refers to how the subjects and objects of the piece feels if touched.
This is an essential component in creating the dynamics in the artwork by showing
that certain surfaces have different feels according to their nature. For example, you
may want to express a smooth texture on a flowing flat river painting compared to a
rough and rocky river painting.

With some artist confronted of different objects and subjects, textures are also a
way of representing them to the viewers. Food in paintings have different texture to
provide vicarious viewing among the audience. An ice cream painting, for example,
must project smooth and silky texture compared to pizza with different layers of
pepperoni, cheese, tomato sauce and crust.

Perceiving Texture
Texture is perceived through the senses. Tactile texture is the feeling derived out
of touching a specific object or art. In sculptures, for example, you can sense the type
of stone or wood that has been used in developing one. In fact, texture is considered
as one of the most useful cues for knowing the quality of quality of a sculpture.

Texture can be simulated or invented. In simulated textures, they tend to imitate

the real textures of an object. Like a craftsman or carpenter, he can make wood feel
like solid ground. Such as in-house construction, an engineered wood flooring can

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provide the texture of a concrete cemented floor. Invented textures do not represent
naturally existing surface qualities, but they are usually those that evoke non-objective
patterns.

Texture and Value

Art pieces may maximize the portrayal of texture by using value, that is when the
artist creates texture through light reflection and shadowing.

a. Rough and Smooth Texture

A crooked and uneven shadow may provide a rougher texture than formally
shaded ones. Casting shadows and accepting light provides impression of the
shape and eventually its texture. When you notice how certain objects produce
shadows, the different sizes and shapes determine the texture of your object.

b. Matte and Shiny Texture

A matte surface reflects soft and dull light while the shiny surface tends to
reflect light and project some spark or glow. Matte surfaces are usually apparent
in papers, denim, unfinished wood, or human skin. Shiny textures are usually those
that have highlights such as windows, water surface, or some car paints. Usually,
when shiny surfaces are exposed to light, they create glares. These textures can
be matte-rough, matte-smooth, shiny-rough, or shiny-smooth.

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The Criticism of Art and Judgment of Aesthetics

Finally, this module shall end with a more systematic approach in evaluating,
appreciating, and criticizing art. Being a critic, or the very least an audience, of art, means
that you need criteria or a set of standards to assess the artwork more effectively and
comprehensively. Consequently, the process of knowing these criteria will enhance the
vicarious aesthetic experience with art. This will make the experience more like a personal
immersion with the artist and narratives underlying the work.

Aesthetics is form of philosophy that intends to study the value and nature of art
while art criticism is the systematic approach of evaluating and assessing artworks. It is
generally composed of some steps that will be implemented as a viewer or critic of art.
Rosalinda Ragans recommended the following steps to be performed when doing
criticism and judgment.

Table 1. Steps in Evaluating Art

Descriptive Steps Questions you need to answer

Step 1. Description – You need to make a What do you see in the artwork?
list of the elements that are visible in the What are these images?
work. When was work created?
Where was the work created?
For whom is this work made? A specific
person or group of persons/audience?

Learning about the artist history may also

be necessary.
Step 2. Analysis – You may need to How is the work organized?
observe and identify the different What principles of design were applied in
applications of principles of design. You the artwork?
may also need to understand why these What are the artist’s individual style and
principles were applied in the first place techniques?
and may require certain comparisons with What are the distinct features of the
other work or artists. artwork that are characteristics of the
artist?
What is the rigor of implementation that the
artist chooses to portray?
How did the artist express certain
emotions and ideas in the artwork?
Step 3. Interpretation – In this step, What is the message of the art?
digging into the content is the hallmark of Why is the message relevant or
this process. You may need to examine important?
the message, rhetoric, or narrative of the What is the mood being conveyed in the
artwork. art?

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 How did the artist’s background influence
the creation of the art i.e. subject,
elements and principles and content?
What are the artist’s influences that paved
the way to the development of his art?
Step 4. Judgment – As a critic, you may What makes the artwork successful?
need to examine the artistic merit of the How is the work significant to the message
work. Merit is when the artist has it seeks to convey?
successfully accomplished the Does it serve an aesthetic and utilitarian
foundational and subjective components purpose?
of art. Is the artwork effective in communication
its meaning?

Aesthetics Theory

Steps three and four of art criticism may require not only your ability to describe
but also to think critically. Hence, aesthetics may be nuanced from some theories and
concepts. The following are the some of the foundational theories that can be used to
evaluate the success of artwork.

Table 2. Critical Analysis using other Theories

Theories for Description of Theory

Critical
Analysis
Imitationalism This theory is focused on critiquing the artwork based on the extent of
(Literal) realistic representation. As a critic, you must judge the qualities and
the details of the work that seeks to mimic reality. So as a critic, you
must be guided by the question “How well did the artist represent the
real – form for the subject?”
Formalism This theory is focused on evaluating the artwork’s rigor on design and
(Conventional) the application of principles. You may be guided by the question “How
did the artist organize the artwork into a cohesive representation?”
Emotionalism This theory refers to the expressive qualities of the artwork. You may
(Subjective) have to determine what feelings, moods, and emotions were aroused
or stimulated by the art. There may be subconscious materials that
can be extracted out by the forms and realistic representations that
need to be verbalized. You may be guided by the question “What were
the conscious and unconscious intentions of the artist in the creation
of his art?”

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Utilitarianism Sometimes product of art may not only be aesthetic. It may have
(Utility and utilitarian purpose as well. This theory is not essentially an aesthetic
Function) theory, but this may assist in interpreting artworks with functional
aspects. So, when confronted with functional arts, determining its
success is also the ability of the art to perform its function.

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