THE ELEMENTS OF

VISUAL ARTS &

PERFORMING ARTS
CHAPTER THREE
THE ELEMENTS OF VISUAL ARTS

The artist utilizes the mediums and puts together elements to

create a work of art. The medium is the physical means

through which he can come up with a work of art, and the

elements are its quantities or properties. Ans element of art

can be achieved through the use of a particular medium. To

create color, for example, the artist uses and mixed pigments.

The elements of visual arts are line, color, texture, perspective,

space, form, volume, light, and shadow.

LINE

Line is an important element at the disposal of every artist.

Through the lines, as in painting or sculpture, the artist
represents figures and forms.
Lines always have direction. They are always moving. Lines, as
used in a work of rt, may either be straight or curved.
Mas has learned that certain emotional states find expression
in definite positions. He associates these emotions with lines.
When given a work of art, man calls upon his unconscious
mind with its accompanying emotional state. A straight line is
the basic framework of many forms, but it lacks softness and
flexibility. Straight lines, however, suggest efficiency, simplicity,
and strength. Straight lines depict flexibility, buoyancy, and
grace. The straight line moves in one direction only. It may
either be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal.
LINE
Horizontal lines are lines of repose and serenity. They express
ideas of calmness and quiescence. Horizontal lines are found in
reclining persons, in landscapes, calm bodies of water and in the
distant meeting of the earth and sky in what is commonly called
the horizon.
Vertical lines are lines that denote action. They suggest poise,
balance, force, aspiration, exaltation, and dynamism. Vertica lines
seen in a man standing straight, a tall tree, and in statues of saints
and heroes give an impression of dignity. Vertical lines also tend to
express as well as arouse emotions of exaltation and inquietude;
this is evident in monumental architecture.
Diagonal Lines suggest action, life and movement. They give
animation to any composition in which they appear. Almost every
object in action assumes a diagonal line. A running person makes a
diagonal line with his body and legs. The degree of action is shown
by the angle the diagonal makes in relation to the ground.
LINE
Curved lines suggest grace, subtleness, direction, instability,
movement, flexibility, joyousness, and grace. They are never harsh or
stern since they are formed by a gradual change in direction. They
tend to impart these qualities to any work where they are used. The
restrained curved lines exemplified in the woman’s body and the
bamboo stem where according to Philippine legend, man and woman
sprang, is depicted in a mural by the late artist Carlos “Botong”
Francisco.
Crooked or jagged lines express energy, violence, conflict, and
struggle. Lines may also be classified into three groups: lines which
follow or repeat one another, line which contrast with one another,
and transitional lines which modify or soften the effect of others.
Repetition occurs when two or more lines are drawn within a corner.
Lines that are in opposition to each other form a contrast. When a
curved line cuts across a corner from an opposition line to another, it
forms a transitional line. Transitional lines modify the sharpness of
vertical and horizontal lines giving a harmonizing effect.
LINE
 COLOR
Of all elements on visual arts, color has the most aesthetic appeal.
Delight in color is a universal human characteristic. Color is a property of
light. When light goes out, color goes with it.
The light of the sun contains all the colors of the spectrum: violet,
indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. These colors are so blended
that they yield no appearance of color. When a beam of light passes
through a prism, the different rays of color are separated so we are able
to see and identify them from each other. When light strikes a surface,
some of the color rays are absorbed whole others are reflected. Most
surfaces absorb all the color rays except those which yield a single-color
sensation and therefore appear to be of color. Example, a blue dress
absorbs all the color rays except the blue ray which it reflects. The color
of an object therefore is determined by the rays which are reflected to
the eyes of the beholder. Objects that appear to be black absorbed
practically all the color rays and reflect none, while objects that appear
which reflect all the color rays equally. Gray is due to the partial
reflection of the color rays. White, gray, and black have no color quality.
They are called neutral colors.
 COLOR
Three Dimensions of color: Color has dimensions or attributes: hue,
value and intensity.
Hue
Hue is the dimension of color that gives colors its name. when we say
the flower is yellow, we are naming its hue. Color names such as red,
blue, green, violet, and yellow indicate hue. Blue, red, and yellow are
the primary hues. If these primary hues are mixed in equal parts, the
secondary hues are produced. The secondary hues are orange, green,
and violet.
Colors may either be warm or cool. Red, orange, and yellow are the
warm hues. They are associated with objects like the sun, fire, and other
sources of heat. They tend to impart warmth to any composition in
which they are used. They are called advancing colors because they
have an effect of advancing or coming towards you. The cool colors are
those where blue predominates like green, blue-green, blue, and blue-
violet. They cause surfaces covered with them to appear to recede.
They suggest distance. They are calm, sober, restful, and inconspicuous.
 COLOR
Color and lines should not evoke an emotion as much as express it. The
painting must express the emotion intended by the artist. Unless the
spectator is made aware of this emotion as truly there in the canvas, the
painting is not aesthethic at all (Panizo and Rustia, 1995). Through color
and lines, painting moves the spectator.
Value
Value, sometimes called chiaroscuro, refers to the lightness or darkness
of a color. It is a quality which depends on the amount of light and dark
color. They give the expression of depth and solidity and lend form to
paintings.
Tints are values above the normal and shades are values below the
normal. Pink is a tint of red, maroon is a shade of red. Sky blue is a tint,
navy blue is a shade.
The value of hue can be changed. We raise hue by adding more light so
that it reflects more light and lower it by reducing light it can reflect.
 COLOR
Intensity
Intensity, another dimension of color, refers to its brightness or
darkness. It gives color strength. Differences in intensity may be
described as full intensity, two-thirds intensity, and two-thirds neutral.
Two colors may be both blue but one is more intense than the other.
When it is dulled, it is said to be partly neutralized. The more black or
white added, the weaker the intensity becomes.
Color Harmonies
There are two kinds of color harmonies: related color harmonies and
contrasted color harmonies.
Related color harmonies
Related color harmonies may either be monochromatic or adjacent.
Monochromatic is made up of several tones of one hue, like for instance
orange, tan, brown, and other tones from orange family.
Monochromatic harmonies are the simplest and easiest to use. Different
tone of the same hue all have something on commo, so it is easy for
them to agree.
 COLOR
In adjacent or neighboring harmony, two or three neighboring
hue on the color circle are used together. For example, tones of
green, yellow, and orange can produce a delightful harmony.
They have something in common because there is yellow in
green and in orange. Good adjacent harmonies can produce by
using other groups of neighboring colors like yellow, orange, and
red or orange, red, and violet.
Contrasted Color harmonies
Colors which lie directly opposite each other in the color circle
are called complementary colors. Red and green, orange and
blue, and violet and yellow are complementary colors. They
contrast with each other strongly; therefore, they are more
difficult to use harmoniously than the related color
combinations.
COLOR
 TEXTURE
Texture is an element that deals more directly with the sense of
touch. It has to do with the characteristic of surfaces which can
be rough or smooth, fine or coarse, shiny or dull, plain or
irregular. Texture is best appreciated when an object is felt with
the hands.
In painting, texture is exhibited through the representation of
the skin, clothes, jewelry, furniture, and others. Texture can add
richness and vitality to paintings.
Texture gives unevenness to a surface which causes the color of
the surface to be broken into gradations of light and shade.
To the painter, texture is an illusion. He must make an object
look the way it would feel when one touches it.
 PERSPECTIVE
Perspective deals with the effect of distance upon the appearance of
objects, by means of which the eye judges spatial relationships. It enables
us to perceive distance and to see the position of objects in space. There
are two kinds of perspective: linear perspective and aerial perspective.
Linear perspective is the representation of an appearance of distance by
means of conveying lines. Linear perspective involves the direction of
lines and the size of objects. Parallel lines below eye level seem to rise to
a vanishing point in the horizon, while those above eye level seemed to
descend to the vanishing point. Near the distance. People and objects at
the background of a painting seem to be shorter than those in front.
Aerial perspective is the presentation of relative distances of objects by
gradations of tone and color. Objects become fainter in the distance due
to the effect to the atmosphere. Objects appears to be lighter in color,
objects become grayer, details are dissolve, contrast is diminished, and
the outline more vague as they recede into the distance or into the
atmosphere.
Perspective is important in painting because volume is to be presented on
a two-dimensional surface.
PERSPECTIVE
SPACE
Painting does not deal with space directly. It represents space only on a
two-dimensional surface. Sculpture involves very little space
relationship or perspective of space.

FORM
Form applies to the overall design of a work of art. It describes the
structure or shape of an object. Form directs the movements of the
eyes. Since form consists of size and volume, it signifies visual weight.
Every kind of forms has its own aesthetic effect.
 FORM
Regular forms are those whose part are related to one another in a
consistent, orderly manner. They are generally stable and symmetrical in
about one or more axes. Prime example of regular forms are platonic
solids

Forms can still retain their regularity even when transformed

dimensionally or by the addition or subtraction of elements.
 FORM
Irregular forms are those whose parts are dissimilar and unrelated to
one another. These are regular forms from which irregular elements
have been subtracted or an irregular composition of regular forms. They
are generally asymmetrical and dynamic.

Centralized forms consist of a number of secondary forms clustered to produce a

dominant, central, and parent form. These forms share the self-centering
properties of the point and circle.
Linear forms are arranged sequentially in a row or a series of forms along a line.