Elements
and
Principles
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of Art
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
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After going through this module, you
are expected to:
1. Recall the national artists of the philippines and their artworks;
2. Illustrate the elements and principles of art;
3. evaluate the artworks of national artists of the philippines and
other contemporary art forms based on the elements and
principles of arts; and
4. Appreciate contemporary art forms based on the elements
and principles of arts
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ELEMENTS
OF ART
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1.LINE
An element of art that is used to define shape, contours,
and outlines, also to suggest mass and volume. It may
be a continuous mark made on a surface with a pointed
tool or implied by the edges of shapes and forms. Line
may come in two characteristics: form – curved, dotted,
or broken lines; and direction – vertical, horizontal, or
diagonal lines. Different characteristics of lines may
convey different meanings:
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a) Horizontal Line creates an impression of serenity and perfect
stability.
b) Vertical Line creates an impression of strength and perfect
stability.
c) Diagonal Line creates an impression of action.
d) Curved Line creates an impression of gradual change of
direction.
e) Circular Line creates an impression of abrupt change of direction.
Moreover, lines can be classified into different types:
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a) Outlines are made by the edge of an object or its silhouette.
b) Contour Lines describe the shape of an object and the interior
detail.
c) Expressive Lines catch the movement and gestures of an active
figure.
d) Sketch Lines capture the appearance of an object or impression
of a place.
e) Calligraphic Lines are the elegant handwriting or lettering done by
hand.
f) Implied Lines are lines that are not actually drawn but created by a
group of objects seen from a distance.
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2.SHAPE
Shape is an area that is enclosed by a line or
lines. Shapes are two dimensional figures with
height and width. There are different kinds of
shapes and these are geometric shapes,
organic shapes, positive shapes, negative
shapes, static shapes, and dynamic shapes.
a) Geometric
z Shapes are circles, squares, rectangles,
triangles, and other geometric shapes.
b) Organic Shapes are shapes found in nature and are free
flowing, informal and irregular (abstract shapes).
c) Positive Shapes are the solid forms in a design.
d) Negative Shapes are the space around the positive shape.
e) Static Shapes are shapes that appears stable and resting.
f) Dynamic Shapes are shapes that appears moving and
active.
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3.COLOR
Colors are the way we see light reflected from a surface or
refracted through a prism. Colors we see in nature are
reflections of light on the surfaces around us. We can
classify colors into primary colors, secondary colors,
tertiary colors, analogous colors, complementary
colors, monochromatic colors, warm colors, and cool
colorscolors, complementary colors, monochromatic
colors, warm colors, and cool colors
a) Primary
z colors are red, blue, and yellow.
b) Secondary colors are the resulting colors when the two of
the primary colors are mix. The secondary colors are purple,
green, and orange.
c) Tertiary colors are the resulting colors when two of the
primary and/or secondary colors are mix. The tertiary colors
are amber, vermilion, magenta, violet, teal, and chartreuse.
d) Analogous Colors are colors that lie nest to each other
based on the color wheel. Example of analogous colors are
yellow, orange, and red.
e) Complementary colors are colors that are opposite to
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each other based on the color wheel. Examples of
complementary colors are red and green, blue and orange,
and purple and yellow.
f) Monochromatic Colors are several values of one color.
g) Warm colors are colors that give the feeling of warmth.
The warm colors are yellow, amber, orange, vermilion, red,
and magenta.
h) Cool colors are colors that give the feeling of coolness.
The cool colors are purple, violet, blue, teal, green, and
chartreuse.
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4.SPACE
Space refers to distances or areas
around, between or within components of
a piece and refers to the arrangement of
objects on the picture plane (two-
dimensional). In visual arts, space may
either be positive space or negative
space.
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4.SPACE
Positive space refers to a part which is
enclosed in a shape. Meanwhile, negative
space refers to the opposite part which the
shape is enclosing. Moreover, perspective is
a technical means by which we perceive
distance in painting, by which we are made
to see the position of objects in space.
In one-point
z perspective, we perceive that the position
of objects meets at one point on the horizontal line.
) In two-point
z perspective, we perceive that the position
of objects meets at two points on the horizontal line.
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5. TEXTURE
Texture is the element that
appeals to our sense of feel on
things rough or smooth, bumpy or
slippery. It is the character of the
surface of an artwork.
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5. TEXTURE
a)Real texture is the actual texture of an object.
Artist may create real texture in art to give it
visual interest or evoke a feeling.
b)Implied texture made a piece of art to look like
a certain texture. Like a drawing of a tree trunk
may look rough but in fact it is just a smooth
piece of paper.
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6.VALUE
Value pertains to the lightness or
darkness of a color in a given
artwork. Value can be changed by
adding white or black to a color and
these described as tint and shade.
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6.VALUE
a) Tint pertains to the
lightness of a color.
b) Shade pertains to the
darkness of a color.
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7. FORM
Form is the three-
dimensionality of an object.
It has dimensions of height,
width, and length.
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PRINCIPLES
OF ART
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1.RHYTHM
This refers to the
repetition of certain
elements to produce a
pattern.
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2.MOVEMENT
Movement is the illusion
of motion in a painting,
sculpture, or design.
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3.BALANCE
Balance refers to the visual weight in a
picture. It refers to the even distribution of
positions of elements in an artwork. The
principle of balance can be symmetrical or
asymmetrical.
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3.BALANCE
a) Symmetrical balance refers to
an artwork wherein its both sides has
the same elements in the same
position.
b) Asymmetrical balance refers to
an artwork wherein it is balance
through the contrast or differences of
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4.PROPORTION
Proportion refers to
the relationships of the
size of objects in a
body of work.
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5.CONTRAST
This principle shows differences
between elements of art in an
artwork. It shows how stronger
each element of art in relation
to one another.
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6.VARIETY
This principle of art refers
to the diversity or the
different elements used in
an artwork to make it more
interesting.
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7.EMPHASIS
Emphasis refers to the
greater impact or
highlight given to a
certain element in an
artwork.
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8.HARMONY
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This principle of art refers
to the unity of an artwork. It
is about the arrangement of
the related elements that
makes an artwork to be
viewed as a whole.
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ACTIVITY 3-ELEMENTS
AND PRINCIPLES OF ART
1. In doing the activity, you should illustrate
four elements of art and four principles of
art based on your understanding about the
lesson. The four elements of art that you will
illustrate are line, color, shape, and space;
while the four principles of art that you will
illustrate are rhythm, contrast, harmony, and
balance.
2. The materials needed in this activity are
pencil, coloring materials, markers, erasure,
z ACTIVITY 3-ELEMENTS
AND PRINCIPLES OF ART
3. You will use the provided activity
sheet with indicated borderline.
4. The upper four sections on the
provided bond paper correspond to
the four elements of art, while the
lower four sections correspond to the
four principles of art that you will
illustrate.
z ACTIVITY 4-
COMPLEMENTARY
COLORS
Using two complementary
colors from the color wheel,
draw and color a butterfly.
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