ELEMENTS & PRINCIPLES OF FINE ART A Handy-Dandy Floral Chart The visual components of line, shape, form, value, space, color, texture, and depth. LINE Well, you know what a line is. But it s important! Even though it s technically just a point moving in space in a work of art, a line can evoke all kinds of emotion and intrigue. For example, a straight line might feel sharp, rigid, and demanding. A curved line might feel soft and organic. LINE IN To translate line into floral design, think about it this way: Ranunculus and poppies tend to have wavy stems and floppy heads. Lisianthus and tuberoses tend to stand up straighter. Lines in an arrangement say everything straight stems usually feel modern, minimalistic, or stiff. Curvy stems will often create a more romantic, gardenesque appearance. Also, the line is usually the highest point in an arrangement. That s important to note because the highest point tends to guide the shape and form which we ll get into next! SHAPE A few things to know about shape: Shape is two-dimensional and flat. Meaning it has to do with height and width. Think: triangles, stars, and circles drawn on a piece of paper. SHAPE IN In floral design, shape is essentially the outline of an arrangement the silhouette or profile if you will. Even though arrangements are 3D, they still have shape, and shape matters. It should feel balanced, and maybe even a little unexpected. We love asymmetry, and try to achieve shapes that feel organic, natural, and have a good balance of negative space and fullness of florals. PAGE 1 OF 5
FORM Unlike shape, form is three-dimensional and voluminous. So it includes height, width, AND depth (like a cube or a sphere). FORM IN Form doesn t just take the outline of an arrangement into consideration it sees depth, too. This comes into play when you tuck flowers deep into an arrangement, layer others on a higher plane, and have others springing up beyond that. We are always intentional about not placing flowers on the same plane, side-by-side. Instead, we scatter them at different depths to create a garden inspired aesthetic. VALUE The lightness or darkness of tones or colors. VALUE IN Value shines through when we re playing with same color; different value. For example, if you were to use varying shades of pink in a bouquet, you d be sticking to the same color palette but you d be utilizing all kinds of different values. This adds interest and depth to an arrangement without overcomplicating things. SPACE It s just like it sounds. But to expound there s positive space which means the area is filled by something, and there s negative space which means the area is left empty. This concept mostly helps an artist to achieve a sense of depth in a work of art. SPACE IN Just like in a painting, arrangements are composed of negative and positive space meaning, there are some places where flowers go, and there are some places where you give the arrangement room to breathe. Lots of negative space can feel modern and minimal. Equal parts positive and negative space tends to look loose and gardenesque. Lots of positive space (where the flowers are packed in tight) often results in a more traditional style (like compact, round bouquets). PAGE 2 OF 5
COLOR Since we re pretty sure you understand what color is, we ll just talk about its properties, which are: hue, value, and intensity. Hue: Basically, it s the color itself like red, pink, or green. Value: The lightness and darkness of a color. (We talked about value two squares ago.) Intensity: The brightness and purity of a color. For example hot pink vs. pink, or muted, fleshy peach vs. bold orange. So basically...high intensity = color is strong, saturated, and bright, low intensity = color is soft and muted. COLOR IN When is there not color in flowers?!? The answer is never. Flowers are never colorless. Building a color palette is one of the most important pieces of the flower puzzle. Color evokes emotion cool tones tend to feel moody or calming, warm tones usually elicit a sense of joy or coziness. Color selection should reflect the client, the season, the environment, and you as an artist. In Chapter 5, we ll go further in depth about color, color theory, and how we practice this fine art element in floral design. TEXTURE You know it s the way things feel. (Or how they look as if they would feel if you could touch them.) TEXTURE IN We like to create texture by using small blooms, interesting foliage, and a mix of flowers that are silky and frilly, thick and firm, papery and flowy...and everything in between. (Small blooms offer an especially textural effect.) DEPTH Depth is pretty much the real (or perceived) distance from front to back or near to far in a work of art. It s the distance between your car and the one in front of you. It s the person holding up the leaning tower of Pisa in a vacation photo. Get it? To create depth, an artist might use various sizes of things, overlap them, or place them lower to make them seem nearer and higher to make them seem further away. DEPTH IN Depth is fun to play with in floral design, and it s one of the things that often goes overlooked. To create depth, we like to tuck darker flowers deep down in an arrangement, and have some curvy, light-colored ones pop out from the sides and the front. Similar to when we re trying to create form, we intentionally place flowers on varying levels rather than sticking them all on the same plane. The difference is with depth, color matters. Dark flowers in the under-layers and light flowers on top creates depth, which we like. PAGE 3 OF 5
PRINCIPLES OF ART: Composition, balance, contrast, proportion, gradation, and movement; what an artist uses to organize elements within a work of art. COMPOSITION Most simply put, composition is the way things are placed (or arranged) in a work of art. COMPOSITION IN Composition can feel like a tricky concept, and there s actually a wealth of information about what good composition is, but trust us you ve used it before, and you know it when you see it. It s what you re dealing with when you keep adjusting that one stubborn bloom or vine that feels a little off for some reason. We ve all been there. Ultimately it s about what looks right to your eye. Personally, we like our composition to be balanced, asymmetrical, and proportionate. BALANCE The way the scales are tipped. Balance adds a feeling of stability to a work of art. The most common types of balance are symmetrical and asymmetrical. Symmetrical: both sides are equally the same (like a butterfly split vertically down the middle). Asymmetrical: both sides are different (like a chair split horizontally across the middle). BALANCE IN We prefer asymmetry, but there s still a need for balance even when we don t want things matched up on all sides. For example, if you ve got a lot of cascading vines dangling down on the left side of an arrangement, you might want to build the right side up a little higher to create a feeling of equilibrium and to keep the whole thing from seeming too droopy. CONTRAST Black and white. Light and dark. Soft and hard. Contrast in art is simply a way of putting different things together in order to emphasize those differences. CONTRAST IN We don t personally use a lot of stark contrast in our arrangements, but we do like to integrate subtle differences in order to create emphasis. For example, we might throw a few pink peonies into an otherwise flesh-toned arrangement just to add some interest and an unexpected pop of color. PAGE 4 OF 5
PROPORTION When something is out of proportion, you hear terms like top-heavy or bottom-heavy. Proportion basically refers to the relationship of elements to each other and to the whole. PROPORTION IN One of the most common areas proportion comes up in floral design is the arrangement of flowers in relation to the vessel they re placed in. For example, if you have a really large vessel you re going to want to fill that thing up until the flowers are about 1.5x the size of the vase. Another is the proportion of an arrangement in a space. If you re designing for a small, round table, your arrangement should be sizeappropriate (so the guests can still eat and see each other). If you re designing a hanging installation in a large space, it needs to fill the room enough to create impact. GRADATION To remember this principle, think: gradation=gradual. Gradation combines elements by using a series of gradual changes. (For example: large shapes to small shapes like the Can you hear me now? phone service bars, or the slow change of color, like dark blue to light blue the ever-popular ombre effect). GRADATION IN You can use size gradation in floral design (and we do!) but perhaps the more commonly used method of gradation is the gradation of color. It s the ombre effect. Dark pink to medium pink to light pink to almostwhite-pink. It can move across an arrangement diagonally, sideways, or up and down. It can be obvious or subtle. Whichever way you use it, it creates an interesting visual journey for the eye of the beholder. MOVEMENT Movement is the principle of design used to create the look and feeling of action. It helps to guide the viewer s eye throughout a work of art. MOVEMENT IN In flowers, movement can mean three things: 1. The way an arrangement literally moves, like when a bride carries her bouquet down the aisle and the bougainvillea bounces along with her. This impact is created not only by the way you arrange your flowers, but also by the flowers you select to begin with. 2. The way the flowers suggest movement. This is really closely tied to line and form it s the flowy or windswept look you can create simply by selecting blooms that move in a certain direction. 3. The way the eye moves across an arrangement. Color gradation, shape, and line engage the viewer in a visual adventure. Meaning, instead of seeing an arrangement and your eyes just stopping on it you can journey around it by following the movement of color, etc. PAGE 5 OF 5