Elements and Principles of Design

Transcription

1 Elements and Principles of Design All visual art can be described with the vocabulary of the basic elements and principles of design. The elements of design can be conceived as the building blocks of art, the simplest elements without which we cannot imagine two or three dimensional art works existing. While not all art works will make use of all the elements of design, every art work will display at least some of them. If the elements are our alphabet or our basic vocabulary, the principles of design comprise our syntax and our grammar. They describe the various ways in which art works can be organized and composed, and the ways in which the elements of design are arranged. Elements of design: line, shape, value, form, texture, space, pattern, color, and light line: not always the shortest distance between two points, but certainly a path between two points. (A line can be thought of as a point in motion.) The boundary between a line and a shape is sometimes ambiguous, as lines at least in actual artistic practice, if not in geometric logic take up some amount of space: the distinction between a thick line and a thin shape may be blurry. Line quality the character of line is a major concern in many varieties of visual art. Lines may be flowing, angular, arabesque, nervous, confident you come up with an adjective, chances are that somewhere there s a line to match. In analyzing art, one often refers to the lines of a composition even in cases where these are not, literally, lines on the surface of an image. In this case, the term refers to the major axes of the image and to the way one s attention is drawn in particular directions that is, along certain lines. (Direction and/or motion could be considered principles of design, and they relate to the opposition between static and dynamic compositions. An image with no strong sense of direction or motion will tend to strike us as static.)

2 shape: a flat, contained area defined by more or less clear boundaries. A line which loops back around to meet itself and thus encloses a given area defines a shape. Shapes can be defined by many different types of boundaries; in fact, one shape can be bounded on one side by a line and elsewhere simply by a contrast between light and dark values, or by a color contrast. Because our perceptual systems tend to recognize shapes whenever they can, and tend to recognize certain types of shapes, we often perceive shapes even when some parts of the shape have no defined boundary whatsoever. A distinction is often made between organic and geometric shapes.

3 value: or tone, the lightness or darkness of an area. Value often refers to a grayscale ranging from black to white with a range of grays in between. When applied to color, the term often implies a translation of color into a grayscale equivalent. Thus, yellow becomes a light gray, navy blue a dark gray. form: a three-dimensional object or thing (in reality or as sculpture) or the illusion of a threedimensional object or thing. While shapes are flat, forms appear to have solidity and mass. The illusion of form in 2-D representations results, generally, from shading: the application of value. In order to effectively generate the illusion of form,m shading must relate to some degree to the way light behaves as it falls on objects. That is, there must be some logic and consistency to the application of various values to a shape to lead us to perceive a form. texture: surface qualities of a real or represented object (or of material) relating specifically to the sense of touch. Texture can be subdivided into two types: physical texture and visual

4 texture. In 2-D art, texture is often conveyed illusionistically, through patterns of light and dark. This is visual texture. When, on the other hand, we consider the rough surface of a painting with a heavily built-up paint surface, we are dealing with physical texture. space: the three dimensional world, or an illusionistic representation of it, in which we can speak of one object (or form) existing in front of or behind, above or below, or to the left or right, of another. In 2-D art, the perception of space is generated primarily by the overlapping of shapes and/or forms, the recession of objects (that is, more distant objects appear smaller and sit higher up on the picture plane), linear perspective (e.g., the convergence of parallel lines as they recede in space), and atmospheric perspective (e.g., the bluer and less distinct appearance of distant mountains in many landscape paintings). 2-D art can generate spatial illusions and perceptions even in the absence of intentional representation. For instance, in a completely non-representational painting consisting simply of two patches of color, one might may well seem to hover in space in front of the other.

5 pattern: closely related to repetition, pattern represents an orderly repetition of units in such a way that the viewer tends to be aware of the order. Many patterns derive from a few simple underlying types of grid: a great variety of patterns is possible by changing the characteristics of a few variables. Note that not all repetition leads to the creation of an obvious pattern, but, on the other hand, it is hard to conceive of a pattern which does not spring from repetition. color: a complex phenomenon in both the real and perceptual worlds, relating to the fact that light of different wavelengths will generate different visual perceptions. Humans perceive only a tiny portion of the electromagnetic spectrum of radiation with their eyes. (We perceive infrared radiation as heat, but have no visual perception of it.) That tiny portion can be divided into the spectrum of visual light, ranging from red through orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet (ROY G. BIV providing a handy mnemonic device). (Many people can t really distinguish between the blue and the indigo of a rainbow. On the other hand, we can identify many more spectral colors than these: hues between those listed, such as various blue-greens (turquoise), orange-yellows, and so on.)

6 Many theories of color, color relationships, color mixing, and color perception have developed over the centuries. While there seems to be some inherent logic to color phenomena e.g., the fact that additive and subtractive primaries work and we can predictably mix some colors (the (subtractive) secondary colors orange, purple, and green) from others (the (subtractive) primary colors red, yellow and blue)from others, color is also closely associated with the subjective and the emotional. In art, and in culture generally, colors also often take on or are given symbolic meanings. Some color vocabulary widely used: - color wheel: an orderly, logical representation or model of the various colors, intended to clarify some of the relationships between colors - complementary colors: colors lying opposite each other on a tradition color wheel. In an additive system of color mixing (as when projecting beams of colored light), two complementary colors produce white light when blended. Working in a subtractive system, as when mixing pigments together (and keeping in mind that each added pigment will subtract more white light from the mix), two complementary colors will produce a dark, muddy color, or black. - analogous colors: lie next or very near to each other on the color wheel, and appear very similar. A color scheme with a number of analogous colors and one or two contrasting colors can be very effective and harmonious. - saturation, intensity, and hue are three terms which can, jointly, be used to describe and specify any color whatsoever. Saturation refers to how much white, black, or gray there is in a particular color. The spectral colors ROYGBIV are considered to be fully saturated. Pink, a tint of red created through the addition of white, is less saturated than a spectral red. A shade of red, created by adding black to the pure hue, is also less saturated than a spectral red. Intensity refers to the brightness or darkness of a particular color: some colors, such as red and green, have very similar intensities (or luminosities: the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably) and will translate into very similar gray tones. Hue refers to the precise location of a color on the color wheel of fully saturated colors (that is, colors with no black or white in them). Our generally-used color names, such as blue, red, orange, and so on, are all names of hues. Over the years, many artists and scientists (first among these, Isaac Newton) have devised models of color relationships. Among prominent recent models are the Munsell color space diagrams:

7 light: is the electromagnetic energy which reveals the visible world to us. Without light, neither form nor texture can be perceived by the eye. The light which falls on objects can vary in a number of ways: how focused or diffused it is (more focused specular light will cast more sharply defined shadows), how intense it is, its color, and its angle of incidence (light which falls at a sharper angle e.g., early morning or late afternoon sunlight on a landscape will accentuate the textures of the objects on which it falls). Light in art works is usually represented light, but some non-representational art works still manage to convey a sense of light, and in some art works, actual light is an element. (For instance, an architect may employ special materials in a building for their ability to gather and reflect light in certain ways.) The various qualities of light in reality and in art works relate directly to many of the other elements and principles of design. For instance, a collection of objects lit from behind will appear silhouetted: their shapes are emphasized. The same collection of objects with a combination of more frontal and top lighting might appear as fullydimensional forms with a great deal of mass. Patterns of light and shadow and shadow shapes themselves can be extremely strong elements in a composition.

8 Principles of design: balance, harmony, unity, variety, repetition, contrast, emphasis (focal point), economy, proportion, scale, and movement balance: a sense that the distribution of visual weight in a work of art is stable. The issues of balance and stability are not always as simple as one might imagine. In general, dark shapes or forms possess more visual weight than light/bright ones, but much depends upon context the surrounding colors, values, textures, and so on and the placement within the composition. A small pink circle surrounded by light red-orange will not stand out nearly so much as the same circle on a dark background. Similarly, a dark shape at the top of a composition which seems unsupported and ready to fall will affect the balance of the image differently than will the same shape centered like a bull s eye. In the first instance, the shape will have greater visual weight. While it is hard to linger long on an image which is imbalanced, an image or art work which is too obviously balanced (e.g., having perfect symmetry) may strike us as static and lifeless. Again, our attention may wander. Dynamic balance engages the viewer in feeling the various forces at work in composition.

9 harmony: the result of various elements in an art work seeming to belong together. It is quite common to speak of color harmony: certain color combinations strike our eyes as being harmonious, much in the way that certain chords in music sound consonant or harmonious, while others strike us as discordant. harmony can relate to the inter-relationships between any of the other design elements as well.

10 unity: a singleness of effect. A mandala provides perhaps the ultimate example of visual unity, both in its visual organization and in its intent the purpose of a mandala being to concentrate and focus the mind. In a strongly unified work of art, details are generally subordinated to the whole. In many paintings from the renaissance on, strong use of linear perspective leads our eyes to a central focus of action and attention and creates a sense of unity involving both the meaning and the visual organization of the image. variety: can be of any or all of the elements of design. Interestingly, a strong feeling of variety can be achieved in cases where, in fact, there is much repetition. For instance, a still life of many different types of flowers creates an impression of great variety through contrasts of color, shape, and structure of the plants. But, upon reflection, we realize that these flower forms actually have a great deal in common.

11 A work of art in which there is tremendous variety with regard to several elements of design may easily become chaotic, although careful organization helps. For example, a painting may contain twenty colors and have no semblance of a color scheme. A painting with seventy different colors may actually appear more organized, depending upon the degree of variety of those colors (e.g., what if thirty of them are very closely related browns and ochers?) and the manner in which colors are set against one another. repetition: again, can be of any or all of the elements of design. Repetition sometimes relates quite directly to the rendering of space, as noted in the discussion of that design element: The same or similar shapes or forms repeated at different sizes can, depending upon their arrangement in space, lead to a strong perception of space. It is important to note, along these lines, that there are cases where we will read or perceive different shapes to be, in fact, the same repeated shape. When we see a perspective image of a tiled (e.g., checkerboard) floor, the tiles in the image are rectangles of various shapes, owing to the distortions of perspective. (From an overhead, or plan, view, we might see that all the tiles are identical squares.) But, perhaps because of our (intuitive?) perceptual awareness of linear perspective, we see these shapes as repetitions of one basic shape. If we perceived them, instead, as a collection of parallelograms of various odd and different design, our sense of the perspective and of the space would dissolve. Repetition at certain scales at the scale where we have difficulty perceiving the individual units may not be perceived as such. For instance, tiny repeated brushstrokes may be perceived simply as the texture of a field, and the repeated parallel lines of hatching blend into a smooth value. Repeated elements tend to draw our eye along in a rhythmic way. Many artists consider rhythm to be a principle of design. It is closely related to repetition and variety.

12 contrast: can be of any or all of the elements of design, although it most commonly refers to value contrast and the juxtaposition of dark and light. Just as a value contrast attracts our eye, so too will other contrasts, such as those between textures and shapes. emphasis: a sense that special visual stress is being laid upon a certain area or element. Emphasis is closely related to the idea of focal points. A focal point is an area of an art work or composition to which our eyes and attention seem to be drawn by the very structure of the piece and/or by the characteristics of what is in that area. As noted under line, a composition may draw our eyes along certain paths (or lines ). This relates to the existence of certain patterns of emphasis, as our eyes are led along from one contrast to another to another. Generally, we will notice the greatest visual contrasts first, and will proceed to weaker contrasts in turn. Some artists would call this principle of design dominance. A form or shape which stand out from a number of forms or shapes by virtue of its being the biggest or being the only one having a contrasting color will tend to dominate the composition, attracting our attention. An art work with no dominant element(s) will tend to seem dull and uninteresting.

13 economy: refers to the degree to which every part of an artwork is essential to the whole. If, in studying a composition, you come to feel that it would be much more compelling were it to be cropped a great deal, you probably believe that the composition is not very economical in its present form. proportion: refers to the relative size of parts of a whole, and also to the relative dimensions of an art work. (In the latter case, we might speak of the format of the art work: is it strongly horizontal or vertical, for example.) Some artists, such as El Greco, Giacometti, and Picasso, have used the distortion of proportions e.g., the elongation of human figures as an expressive element in their works. scale: refers to the relative size of different elements in an art work (and in reality). Scale relates strongly to the element of space. For instance, landscape photographers and painters often include human figures in their works in part to give the viewer a sense of just how vast a scene is being depicted. Scale also refers to the size of an art work. A critic might say of a particular artist: S/he is now working at a much larger scale.

14 movement: relates to the element of line in the sense of direction (refer to that section of the elements of design) and to the principle of rhythm. Movement in an art work may be actual, as in the case of kinetic sculpture. More commonly, though, an art work generates a sense of movement or motion through the dynamic rhythm of its forms and their arrangement. As tonal and other contrasts lead our eyes through an artwork, we get a sense of movement. Diagonal directions are particularly associated with visual movement. Some art works create a sense of movement by means of other means, such as unusual uses of color and line (as in certain Impressionist works and works of Optical Art). There are some optical illusions which create a very strong sensation of movement by exploiting certain features of our perceptual systems.