Defining the Elements

Have you ever looked at an artwork and wondered how the artist decided to begin making it? All art, whether
two-dimensional like a painting or three-dimensional like a sculpture, contains one or more of the seven
elements of art. These elements are:

 Line
 Color
 Shape
 Form
 Value
 Space
 Texture

They are the basic building blocks of making art.

So how exactly does an artist use the elements? Working as an artist and creating an artwork is similar to being
a chef and cooking a meal. The chef uses a list of ingredients combined together in certain amounts to produce
a unique recipe. The artist uses art elements and combines them in different ways to create a unique piece of
art. The elements of art are like the ingredients in a recipe. Sometimes artworks contain only one or two
elements. Sometimes they have all the elements of art. One thing is certain, however. There would be absolutely
no art without the seven elements of art.

Using the Elements

Let's say you are the artist. You've decided to create a drawing using a pencil on a white piece of paper. You
might use the pencil to create the drawing using lines. A line is an element of art. It is a mark made upon a
surface. In order to be a line, the mark's length must be longer than its width. There are many different types of
lines, including horizontal, vertical, wavy, diagonal, and more.
You might decide you want to continue working on your drawing and enclose some of those lines. The enclosed
lines are then transformed into another element of art called shape. Shapes are areas of enclosed space that
are two-dimensional. Shapes are flat, and can only have height and width. The two different categories of
shapes are: geometric and organic. Geometric shapes are mathematical, like circles and squares. Organic
shapes come from nature, like clouds and leaves. This collage by Henri Matisse uses a collection of organic
shapes.
If you decide to vary the size and placement of your lines and shapes, you will use another element. This is the
element called space. Space deals with the illusion of depth on a flat surface. You might overlap shapes to make
some look closer, or make objects in the distance smaller to look like they are farther away. The element of
space can be used in three-dimensional art as well.
The drawing you've created now uses three elements of art. You might consider using your pencil to darken
some shapes or lines. Or you might use your eraser to make some areas very light like the white paper. Now
you've used a fourth element of art. This is the one called value. Value refers to the lightness and darkness of
areas in an artwork. White is the lightest value, while black is the darkest. A value scale shows a range of lights
and darks.
What if, however, you've decided to create a sculpture instead of a drawing? Unlike a flat drawing, a sculpture
can be seen from various viewpoints. In this case, you could use the element of form. Form is the three-
dimensional version of a shape. An artwork that has the art element of form can be viewed from different angles,
and is not flat. Forms have height and width, but they also have depth. Forms can be hard-edged like a cube or
more free-flowing.
As you continue working on your drawing or sculpture, you decide to add some more flavor, much like the chef
decides a certain recipe needs a bit more seasoning.
 How the Elements of Art Shape
Creativity
By Jessica Stewart on March 28, 2019

Stock Photos from Yuriy Golub/Shutterstock

In order to understand any field, it’s important to have a solid foundation from which to grow.
For visual art, this means understanding the elements of art. These creative building blocks are
essential and having a grasp on how they work is important both for artists and for lovers of art.
By gaining a deeper understanding of the elements of art, it’s easier to analyze, unravel, and
create any type of artwork from painting and photography to sculpture and architecture.

In fact, many of these elements are taught to schoolchildren as part of basic art education. But
while the concepts may seem simple, once mastered they can stretch and grow in all directions,
no matter what style of art is being created or appreciated. The elements of art are concrete
visual components that work in tandem with principals of art that organize and harmonize them.
Line, color, shape, form, value, space, and texture are the seven core elements of art and they
often overlap and inform one another. Whether talking about drawing, painting, sculpture, or
design, these components of art all need to be taken into consideration. Once you have a handle
on these seven visual elements, it’s even easier to create your own art.

But you don’t need to be an artist yourself to find the elements of art useful. Any art lover will
be able to view artwork in a more meaningful way by learning more about these core visual
components.

What are the seven elements of art?

LIN E

Stock Photos from Rabbit Run 11/Shutterstock

These marks span a distance between two points and can be straight or curved. In visual art,
lines don’t only need to be made with marks and outlines. They can also be implied or abstract.
Whether two-dimensional or three-dimensional, there’s no denying that lines have a huge impact
on the rest of the elements of art. They can be used to create shape and form, as well as give a
sense of depth and structure. Lines are the foundation of drawing and are a powerful tool unto
themselves. Using different types of lines—continuous, broken, vertical, jagged, horizontal—
drastically changes the psychology of an artwork, impacting the viewer greatly.
COLOR

“Still Life with Irises” by Vincent Van Gogh. 1890.

By working with hue, value, and intensity—three building blocks of colors—artists can tap into
a wide range of emotions. There’s nothing that changes an artwork’s emotional impact more
than color. Masters like Van Gogh, Monet, and Toulouse-Lautrec all expertly manipulated color
in their art to provoke different feelings. Color can be used symbolically or to create a pattern. It
can be selected for contrast or to set a specific mood. A deep understanding of color theory helps
any artist make better use of the colors they have at their disposal.

SHAPE

“Simultaneous Counter Composition” (1930) by Theo van Doesburg (Photo: Public domain via WikiArt)
The result of closed lines, shapes are two-dimensional, flat, and only have height and width.
Geometric shapes like circles and squares are mathematical and precise, while organic shapes
take cues from nature and tend to be curved and abstract. Henri Matisse‘s collage art makes
great use of organic shapes, while Piet Mondrian is known for relying on geometric shapes in his
paintings. Shapes can be used to control how we perceive a composition. For instance, triangles
can help draw the eye to a particular point, while circles represent continuity.

FORM  

Heydar Aliyev Center (2007-2012) by Zaha Hadid. (Photo: Aleksandr Zykov)

When a shape acquires depth and becomes three-dimensional, then it takes on form. Cylinders,
pyramids, and spheres are some of the more common forms, though they can also be amorphous.
In sculpture, form is of the utmost importance, though it can easily be introduced into drawing
and painting using 3D art techniques. Baroque sculptor Bernini was a master of form, carving
his sculptures in a way that gave enjoyment from any perspective. Form is also a big
consideration in architecture, with acclaimed architects like Frank Lloyd-Wright, Zaha Hadid,
and Tadao Ando giving careful consideration to this element in their designs.

VALU E

“The Tetons and the Snake River” (1942) by Ansel Adams. (Photo: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Related to color, value is the lightness and darkness of a color. The lightest value is white and
the darkest value is black, with the difference between them defined as the contrast. Playing with
value can not only change certain forms, but also influence the mood of the artwork. Value is so
important that the Italians created a term—chiaroscuro—that specifically refers to the use of
light and dark in a piece of art. Baroque painter Caravaggio was a master of
using chiaroscuro in his moody oil paintings. Photographer Ansel Adams is another example of
an artist who expertly used value to his advantage by using areas of contrast to create interest in
his landscape photography.

SPACE  

(Photo: Guillaume Briard)
This element of art can be manipulated based on how an artist places lines, shapes, forms, and
color. The placement of these other elements creates space. Space can be either positive or
negative. Positive space is an area occupied by an object or form, while negative space is an area
that runs between, through, around, or within objects. Artists often think about the foreground,
middle ground, and background of their artwork, purposefully placing shapes and lines
throughout the space to achieve the perfect composition. A sense of depth in two-dimensional
works is often achieved by perspective, which itself can rely on lines or colors.

TEX TUR E

“Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix” (1805-1808) by Antonio Canova. (Photo: Public domain via Wikipedia)
Texture is an element of art that also plays to our sense of touch. It’s defined as a description of
the way something feels or looks like it would feel. Sometimes we’re speaking about an actual
texture that can be felt, as in the case of Icelandic artist Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir, who
creates installation art using synthetic hair. Other times, the texture is an implied visual texture
that is two-dimensional. Smooth, rough, hard, soft, furry, fluffy, and bumpy are just some
different textures that evoke different responses.

For instance, an artist look for a hyperrealistic result would want clouds to appear fluffy, while
another artist wishing to subvert conventions might play with texture to create a surreal
experience for the viewer. 19th-century sculptor Antonio Canova was a master of this, as
exemplified by his portrait of Napoleon’s sister where she’s resting on a cushion that seems so
soft and touchable, it’s hard to believe that it’s marble.