Tuesday, 15 January 2013

the formal elements of life drawing

The art elements are the visual components that go together to form any work of art. To develop a more thorough understanding of artistic composition, one must lean how to examine and utilize the various art elements.
The Art Element of Line
Line is one of the most basic art elements. Lines can be used for different purposes within a work of art.
Contour lines can be used to define the border of a shape. These lines are also often referred to as outlines.
A line can also express emotion and character based on how heavy or light, scratchy or smooth, angular or curvy it appears. Different types of line express different emotive qualities. Combining lines in a series can also give the impression of texture.
Lines can also be used to create shadows in a drawn image. Cross-Hatching is a shading method in which intersecting lines are drawn in a close proximity to express a dark value.
The Art Element of Shape
A shape is a two-dimensional element with a definable border.
Geometric shapes have angles and straight lines and have an industrial feel. Organic shapes are curvy and free-form and have a more natural feel to them.
The Art Element of Value
Value refers to the lightness or darkness of an item within a work of art. The idea of value can be applied to colorful works of art and works of art that use only shades of black and white.
Most photo-realistic artworks will employ a variety of values within the work to express the idea of light and shadow moving across a form.
Some more expressive artworks will use value to convey emotion or direct the eye to a focal point. Darker values have more visual weight than lighter values and the eye will always be pulled to those areas with darker values.
The Art Element of Texture
The element of texture applies to how an object feels or appears to feel.
Texture can be either implied or actual. Implied texture expresses the idea of how a surface might feel. For example, a painting of a blanket might convey the idea that the blanket is soft. Actual texture, on the other hand, is texture that can actually be felt. For example, a ceramic bowl might feature a carved texture that could be felt when holding that bowl.
The Art Element of Form
form is an art term that is only applied to those artworks that are 3D, such as sculpture and pottery
Forms, much like shapes, can be geometric or organic. Geometric forms have hard lines and edges. Organic forms are curvy and more free-form.
The Art Element of Colour
Colour refers to the visual perception of light being reflected from a surface of an artwork. In the most basic classification, colours can be divided into three groups: primary, secondary and tertiary.
Primary colours are those colours from which all other colours are created. Yellow, blue and red are primary colours.
Secondary colours are created when two primary colours are combined in equal parts. Green, purple and orange are secondary colours.
Tertiary colours are created by combining a primary colour with a secondary colour. Red-orange is an example of a tertiary colour created by combining red and orange.
A colour at its strongest value is known as a hue. When white is added to a hue, it becomes a tint. When black is added to a hue, it becomes a shade.
The Art Element of Space
Space refers to how the artist fills the surface on which a work of art is created. It can also refer to the expression of depth within a work of art. When talking about a three-dimensional object, space is the actual volume that is taken up by the artwork.
Space can be either positive or negative. Positive space is that which is being taken up by the subjects in a work of art. In a three-dimensional artwork, any physical object takes up positive space.
Negative space is usually composed of white space within a two-dimensional object. In three-dimensional works, negative space can be empty space that is trapped within positive space of a sculpture. For example a circular sculpture with a hole in centre would have negative space in that centre area.

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