CHAPTER 3

Elements and Principles of Design

Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of this topic/chapter, you must be able to:
1. Identify and describe the difference between form and content as used
in art:
2. Identify and define the five elements of design:
1. Identify and distinguish how the principles of design are used to
visually organize the elements of design

Prelude

Whether an artist creates two-dimensional or three-dimensional art,

works in a traditional medium like painting, or makes art using the latest
technology, all artists use the same basic visual building blocks of form
(elements) and strategies of visual organization (principles) to achieve visual
unity.
In this section you will learn about the differences between form and
content and be introduced to the basic elements and principles of design.
You’ll also learn about types of representation in art. All of these concepts are
integral to formalism, which is a method of studying artwork by analyzing and
describing it in purely in terms of visual effects.

Viewing Art

Personal View

When we are looking at art, when we find or “run into” an artwork or

exhibition, we typically have an initial response or impression. This response
to what we see (or hear, etc.) is formed by a lifetime of knowledge and
experience and the culture and time in which we live. The expression “Beauty
lies in the eye of the beholder” gets at the subjective and personal nature of
perception—and of the “first impression,” in particular. There’s nothing wrong
with one’s first impression or response—it is, after all, a personal response.
It’s your point of view.

Formal Analysis

Formal analysis is a close and analytical way of looking at and

discussing a work of art. It includes describing the work in terms of various
design elements, such as color, shape, texture, line, lighting, mass, and
space, as well as a discussion of how those elements have been used (the
design principles). Formal analysis moves beyond description of the artwork
and its content by linking the elements of the work to the effects that they
have on the viewer. This is discussion of the artwork from the point of view of

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“here is the artwork, and this is what I see and can make sense of . . .” Formal
analysis uses art terminology to consider the effects of an artwork the viewer
(you), and it’s a process that enables us to think about and consider the
overall meaning of the artwork.

Content

Content is simply the subject matter of an artwork. It’s the images you
see—like the trees in a painting of a forest, or the town, the sky, and the moon
in Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Content can play a role in formal analysis, but the
content aspect is less important than the “artwork” aspect.
Content is revealed though the formal properties of the work and may
be evident on a number of levels. There is the immediate or obvious content
of the work. For instance, it may be an historical scene, a landscape, a
portrait, an interior, a functional object or an abstraction. Beyond this the
content may become more complex. It is about what is happening in the
works, what meaning you derive from them, and whether or not they create a
particular mood or reaction. Sometimes content can be difficult to assess
because it may be ambiguous or obscure. The formal elements of the work
and its title can often help to read the content, as can recurring patterns,
motifs or symbols that may have special significance.

Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1830, oil paint, 73.7 cm × 92.1 cm.
Museum of Modern Art, New York City

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Artistic Elements

Elements of art, like mediums, are present in every in every art form.
The elements are the abstract aspect comprises the artwork while mediums
are materials used by the artist to create the artwork. All arts have certain
elements of their own.

1. Point
 A point is the visual element upon which all others are based. It
can be defined as a singularity in space or, in geometric terms,
the area where two coordinates meet.
 When artists mark a simple point on a surface, (also referred to
as the ground), they immediately create a figure-ground
relationship. That is, they divide the work between its surface
and anything added to it.
 Our eyes differentiate between the two, and their arrangement
has everything to do with how we see a final composition.
 The point itself can be used as a way to create forms. For
example, Pointillism is a style of painting made famous by the
French artist Georges Seurat in the late nineteenth century. He
and others in the Pointillist group created paintings by
juxtaposing points—or dots—of color that optically mixed to form
lines, shapes and forms within a composition. Look at a detail
from Seurat’s La Parade de Cirque to see how this works. His
large canvas Sunday Afternoon on the Grande Jatteis a
testament to the pointillist style and aesthetic. Its creation was a
painstaking process but one that generated new ways of
thinking about color and form.

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 Georges Seurat, La Parade de Cirque, detail,
1887-89. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
2. Line
 Essentially, when you put two or more points together you create
a line. A line can be lyrically defined as a point in motion.
 There are many different types of lines, all characterized by their
length being greater than their width. Lines can be static or
dynamic depending on how the artist chooses to use them. They
help determine the motion, direction and energy in a work of art.
We see line all around us in our daily lives; telephone wires, tree
branches, jet contrails and winding roads are just a few
examples.
 Actual lines are those that are physically present. The edge of
the wooden stretcher bar at the left of Las Meninas is an actual
line, as are the picture frames in the background and the linear
decorative elements on some of the figures’ dresses.
 Implied lines are those created by visually connecting two or
more areas together. The space between the Infanta Margarita—
the blonde central figure in the composition—and the meninas,
or maids of honor, to the left and right of her, are implied lines.
Both set up a diagonal relationship that implies movement. By
visually connecting the space between the heads of all the
figures in the painting we have a sense of jagged motion that
keeps the lower part of the composition in motion, balanced
against the darker, more static upper areas of the painting.
Implied lines can also be created when two areas of different
colors or tones come together.

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 Diego Velazquez, Las Meninas, 1656, oil on canvas, 318 cm × 276 cm, Prado,
Madrid. CC BY-SA

 Straight or classic lines provide structure to a composition.

They can be oriented to the horizontal, vertical, or diagonal axis
of a surface. Straight lines are by nature visually stable, while still
giving direction to a composition. In Las Meninas, you can see
them in the canvas supports on the left, the wall supports and
doorways on the right, and in the background in matrices on the
wall spaces between the framed pictures. Moreover, the small
horizontal lines created in the stair edges in the background help
anchor the entire visual design of the painting.
 Expressive lines are curved, adding an organic, more dynamic
character to a work of art. Expressive lines are often rounded
and follow undetermined paths. In Las Meninas, you can see
them in the aprons on the girls’ dresses and in the dog’s folded
hind leg and coat pattern.
 There are other kinds of line that encompass the characteristics
of those above yet, taken together, help create additional artistic
elements and richer, more varied compositions. Refer to the
images and examples below to become familiar with these types
of line:
a. Outline, or contour line is the simplest of these. They create
a path around the edge of a shape. In fact, outlines define
shapes.

Outline, 11 July 2012, Retrieved 01 January 2021, Creator: Oliver Harrison. CC BY

b. Cross contour lines follow paths across a shape to

delineate differences in surface features. They give flat
shapes a sense of form (the illusion of three dimensions), and
can also be used to create shading.

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 Outline, 11 July 2012, Retrieved 01 January 2021, Creator: Oliver Harrison. CC BY
c. Hatch lines are repeated at short intervals in generally one
direction. They give shading and visual texture to the surface
of an object.

Outline, 11 July 2012, Retrieved 01 January 2021, Creator: Oliver Harrison. CC

BY

d. Crosshatch lines provide additional tone and texture. They

can be oriented in any direction. Multiple layers of crosshatch
lines can give rich and varied shading to objects by
manipulating the pressure of the drawing tool to create a
large range of values.

Outline, 11 July 2012, Retrieved 01 January 2021, Creator: Oliver Harrison. CC

BY

e. Calligraphic lines use quickness and gesture, more akin to

paint strokes, to imbue an artwork with a fluid, lyrical
character.

3. Shape
 A shape is defined as an enclosed area in two dimensions.

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  By definition shapes are always implied and flat in nature. They
can be created in many ways, the simplest by enclosing an area
with an outline.
 They can also be made by surrounding an area with other
shapes or the placement of different textures next to each other
—for instance, the shape of an island surrounded by water.
 Because they are more complex than lines, shapes do much of
the heavy lifting in arranging compositions. The abstract
examples below give us an idea of how shapes are made.

Shapes, 11 July 2012, Retrieved 01 January 2021, Creator: Oliver Harrison. CC BY

Shapes animate figure-ground relationships. We visually determine

positive shapes (the figure) and negative shapes (the ground). One way to
understand this is to open your hand and spread your fingers apart. Your
hand is the positive shape, and the space around it becomes the negative
shape. You can also see this in the example above. The shape formed by the
black outline becomes positive because it’s enclosed. The area around it is
negative. The same visual arrangement goes with the gray circle and the
purple square. But identifying positive and negative shapes can get tricky in a
more complex composition. For instance, the squares and rectangles have
edges that touch each other, thus creating a solid white shape in the center.
The two (2) rectangles don’t actually connect yet still give us an implied shape
in the center. Which would you say is the positive shape? What about the
circles surrounding the gray star shape? Remember that a positive shape is
one that is distinguished from the background.
In Las Meninas, the painting of Diego Velazquez presented above, the
figures become the positive shapes because they are lit dramatically and hold
our attention against the dark background. What about the dark figure
standing in the doorway? Here the dark shape becomes the positive one,
surrounded by a white background. Our eyes always return to this figure as
an anchor to the painting’s entire composition. In three dimensions, positive
shapes are those that make up the actual work. The negative shapes are the
empty spaces around, and sometimes permeating through the work itself.

4. Space
 Space is the empty area surrounding real or implied objects.

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  Humans categorize space: (a) Outer space that limitless void we
enter beyond our sky; (b) inner space which resides in people’s
minds and imaginations, and (c) personal space, the important but
intangible area that surrounds each individual and which is violated
if someone else gets too close. Pictorial space is flat, and the digital
realm resides in cyberspace. Art responds to all of these kinds of
space.

5. Color
 Color is the most complex artistic element because of the
combinations and variations inherent in its use.
 Humans respond to color combinations differently, and artists study
and use color in part to give desired direction to their work.
 The study of color in art and design often starts with color theory.
Color theory splits up colors into three categories: Primary,
secondary, and tertiary. The basic tool used is a color wheel,
developed by Isaac Newton in 1666. A more complex model known
as the color tree, created by Albert Munsell, shows the spectrum
made up of sets of tints and shades on connected planes.

Blue Yellow Red Color Wheel. Released under the GNU Free Documentation License,
Retrieved 01 January 2021

Traditional color theory is a qualitative attempt to organize colors and

their relationships. It is based on Newton’s color wheel, and continues to be
the most common system used by artists. It uses the same principles as
subtractive color mixing, but prefers different primary colors.
 The primary colors are red, blue, and yellow. You find them
equidistant from each other on the color wheel. These are the
elemental colors; not produced by mixing any other colors, and all
other colors are derived from some combination of these three.
 The secondary colors are orange (mix of red and yellow), green (mix
of blue and yellow), and violet (mix of blue and red).
 The tertiary colors are obtained by mixing one primary color and one
secondary color. Depending on amount of color used, different hues

8 GE 6: Arts Appreciation
 can be obtained such as red-orange or yellow-green. Neutral colors
(browns and grays) can be mixed using the three primary colors
together.
 White and black lie outside of these categories. They are used to
lighten or darken a color. A lighter color (made by adding white to it) is
called a tint, while a darker color (made by adding black) is called a
shade.

Color Attributes

There are many attributes to color. Each one has an effect on how we
perceive it.
 Hue refers to color itself, but also to the variations of a color.
 Value (as discussed previously) refers to the relative lightness or
darkness of one color next to another. The value of a color can make a
difference in how it is perceived. A color on a dark background will
appear lighter, while that same color on a light background will appear
darker.
 Tone refers to the gradation or subtle changes made to a color when
it’s mixed with a gray created by adding two complements. You can
see various color tones by looking at the color tree mentioned in the
paragraph above.
 Saturation refers to the purity and intensity of a color. The primaries
are the most intense and pure, but diminish as they are mixed to form
other colors. The creation of tints and shades also diminish a color’s
saturation. Two colors work strongest together when they share the
same intensity. This is called equiluminance.

6. Perspective
 Perspective deals with the effect of distance upon the
appearance of objects by means of which the eye judges spatial
relationships.
 Clearly artists are as concerned with space in their works as
they are with, say, color or form. There are many ways for the
artist to present ideas of space. Remember that many cultures
traditionally use pictorial space as a window to view realistic
subject matter through, and through the subject matter they
present ideas, narratives and symbolic content. The innovation
of linear perspective, an implied geometric pictorial construct
dating from fifteenth-century Europe, affords us the accurate
illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat surface, and
appears to recede into the distance through the use of a horizon
line and vanishing points. See how perspective is set up in the
schematic example.

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One Point Perspective, 11 July 2012, Retrieved 01 January 2021, Creator: Oliver Harrison. CC
BY

 One-point perspective occurs when the receding lines appear

to converge at a single point on the horizon and used when the
flat front of an object is facing the viewer. A classic Renaissance
artwork using one point perspective is Leonardo da Vinci’s The
Last Supper from 1498. Da Vinci composes the work by locating
the vanishing point directly behind the head of Christ, thus
drawing the viewer’s attention to the center.

Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1498. Fresco. Santa Maria della Grazie. Work is in the
public domain.

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  Two-point perspective occurs when the vertical edge of a cube
is facing the viewer, exposing two sides that recede into the
distance, one to each vanishing point.

Two Point Perspective, 11 July 2012, Retrieved 01 January 2021, Creator: Oliver Harrison. CC
BYdomain.

View Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris Street; Rainy Day from 1877 to

see how two-point perspective is used to give an accurate view
to an urban scene.

Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1877, oil paint, 2.12 m x
2.76 m, Art Institute of Chicago Building

 Three-point perspective is used when an artist wants to project

a “bird’s-eye view”, that is, when the projection lines recede to
two points on the horizon and a third either far above or below
the horizon line. In this case the parallel lines that make up the

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 sides of an object are not parallel to the edge of the ground the
artist is working on (paper, canvas, etc).

Three-point perspective (with vanishing points above and below the

horizon line shown at the same time). Design by Shazz, CC BY, Retrieved
01 January 2021.
Principles of Design

Principles of Design

The first way to think about a principle is that it is something that can be
repeatedly and dependably done with elements to produce some sort of visual
effect in a composition. The principles are based on sensory responses to
visual input. Elements appear to have visual weight, movement, etc. The
principles help govern what might occur when particular elements are
arranged in a particular way.

1. Visual Balance
 All works of art possess some form of visual balance – a sense
of weighted clarity created in a composition. The artist arranges
balance to set the dynamics of a composition. In the example
below, you can see that where the white rectangle is placed
makes a big difference in how the entire picture plane is
activated. The example on the top left is weighted toward the
top, and the diagonal orientation of the white shape gives the
whole area a sense of movement.

Image by Christopher
Gildow. Retrieved 01
January 2021.

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  There are three basic forms of visual balance: Symmetrical,
asymmetrical, and radial.
a. Symmetrical balance is the most visually stable, and
characterized by an exact—or nearly exact—compositional
design on either (or both) sides of the horizontal or vertical
axis of the picture plane.
b. Asymmetrical balance uses compositional elements that
are offset from each other, creating a visually unstable
balance. Asymmetrical visual balance is the most dynamic
because it creates a more complex design construction.
c. Radial balance suggests movement from the center of a
composition towards the outer edge—or vise versa. Many
times radial balance is another form of symmetry, offering
stability and a point of focus at the center of the composition.

2. Repetition
 Repetition is the use of two or more like elements or forms
within a composition. The systematic arrangement of a repeated
shapes or forms creates pattern.
 Patterns create rhythm, the lyric or syncopated visual effect
that helps carry the viewer, and the artist’s idea, throughout the
work.

Alfredo Arreguin, Malila Diptych, 2003 (detail).Washington State Arts Commission. Digital
Image by Christopher Gildow. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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3. Scale and Proportion
 Scale and proportion show the relative size of one form in
relation to another. Scalar relationships are often used to create
illusions of depth on a two-dimensional surface, the larger form
being in front of the smaller one.
 Scale refers to the association of size relative to a constant
standard or specific unit of measure related to human
dimensions. The scale of an object can provide a focal point or
emphasis in an image. On the other hand, proportion refers to
the comparative relationship between the parts of a whole or
units as to size.
 When scale and proportion are greatly increased, the results
can be impressive, giving a work commanding space or fantastic
implications. For example, Rene Magritte’s painting Personal
Values constructs a room with objects whose proportions are so
out of whack that it becomes an ironic play on how we view
everyday items in our lives.

René Magritte, Personal Values, 1952, oil paint, 62.9 cm x 50.2

cm
4. Emphasis
 Emphasis—the area of primary visual importance—can be
attained in a number of ways. We’ve just seen how it can be a
function of differences in scale. Emphasis can also be obtained
by isolating an area or specific subject matter through its
location or color, value and texture.
 Main emphasis in a composition is usually supported by areas of
lesser importance, a hierarchy within an artwork that’s activated
and sustained at different levels. Like other artistic principles,
emphasis can be expanded to include the main idea contained

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 in a work of art. Look at Francisco de Goya’s painting The Third
of May, 1808 below.

Francisco de Goya, The Third of May, 1808, 1814, oil paint, 2.68 m x 3.47 m,
5. Time
Museo and Motion
Nacional del Prado

 One of the problems artists face in creating static (singular, fixed

images) is how to imbue them with a sense of time and motion
time and motion.
 Some traditional solutions to this problem employ the use of
spatial relationships, especially perspective and atmospheric
perspective. Scale and proportion can also be employed to
show the passage of time or the illusion of depth and movement.
For example, as something recedes into the background, it
becomes smaller in scale and lighter in value. Also, the same
figure (or other form) repeated in different places within the
same image gives the effect of movement and the passage of
time. An early example of this is in the carved sculpture of Kuya
Shonin. The Buddhist monk leans forward, his cloak seeming to
move with the breeze of his steps. The figure is remarkably
realistic in style, his head lifted slightly and his mouth open. Six
small figures emerge from his mouth, visual symbols of the
chant he utters.

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Kosho, Kuya-Shonin, Kamakura Period,
early 13th century, wood sculpture, H: 46
in. (117 cm), Rokuharamitsuji Temple,
Kyoto, Japan

6. Unity and variation

 Ultimately, a work of art is the strongest when it expresses an
overall unity in composition and form, a visual sense that all the
parts fit together; that the whole is greater than its parts. Unity is
the result of bringing the elements of art into the appropriate
ratio between harmony and variety to achieve a sense of
oneness.
 This same sense of unity is projected to encompass the idea
and meaning of the work too. This visual and conceptual unity is
redirected by the variety of elements and principles used to
create it. Variety refers to the differences achieved by opposing,
contrasting, changing, elaborating, or diversifying elements in a
composition to add individualism and interest. It is the
counterweight of harmony in art. We can view Eva Isaksen’s
work Orange Light to see how unity and variety work together.

Eva Isaksen, Orange Light,

2010. Print and collage on
canvas. 40 x 60.

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 Isaksen makes use of nearly every element and principle including
shallow space, a range of values, colors and textures, asymmetrical balance
and different areas of emphasis. The unity of her composition stays strong by
keeping the various parts in check against each other and the space they
inhabit. In the end the viewer is caught up in a mysterious world of organic
forms that float across the surface like seeds being caught by a summer
breeze.

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 Activity No. 3.1.
Tatak Pinoy
Name:__________________________ Grade:____________________
Course:_________________________ Date:______________________
Professor:_______________________

Instruction: Do a research on the masterpieces of Fernando C. Amorsolo

and Hernando R. Ocampo who are both a Filipino National Artist in visual
arts. Choose at least one (1) painting of each artist and paste them in
the box below. Afterwards, accomplish the prompts below and write
them on the space provided.
1. Identify the elements of art present in the artwork.
2. Explain how the elements are used or presented.
3. Discuss the message that each artist wants to convey in their artworks
by utilizing these elements?

Paste the artwork of Fernando C. Amorsolo in this box

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 A. Ferrnando C. Amorsolo

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Paste the artwork of Hernando R. Ocampo in this box

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 B. Hernando R. Ocampo

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 Activity No. 3.2.
A Photograph
Worth A
Name:__________________________ Grade:____________________
Course:_________________________ Date:______________________
Professor:_______________________

The Vulture and the Little Girl (1993)

The image presented below was a photographed taken by Kevin Carter

in 1993 showing a frail famine-stricken boy, initially believed to be a girl, who
had collapsed in the foreground with a vulture eyeing him from nearby. It first
appeared in The New York Times on March 26, 1993 and won the Pulitzer
Prize for Feature Photography award in 1994.

Instruction: You have two (2) task in this activity. Firstly, analyse the
photograph and extract the content that it aims to communicate.
Secondly identify all the principles of design present in Kevin Carter’s
photography. Answer on the space provide.

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 A. Content

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A. Principles of Design

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