Form

⚫ the language and the criteria of art

⚫ refers to the whole arrangement and

organization of elements used by an artist to
create an artwork

To produce an awe-inspiring artwork, an artist must know first the elements of the specific arts
and different principles of arts he is engaged in. Knowledge of the art principles and the elements
of the visual arts is helpful in the art production.

Elements of arts

⚫ basic components of art-making

⚫ to make a good criticism according to the used of elements

1.Line

⚫ Line Path of a moving point

⚫ Define the edges of shapes and forms

2.Shape

⚫ Two-dimensional (2D)

⚫ When a line connects to itself, flat.

Perspective
- with point of view; angle of vision; frame of reference.
3.Form
Volume
⚫ Three-dimensional (3D)
- amount of space occupied by an object in three
⚫ Actual or implied dimensions.
⚫ Having height, depth and width.
4.Color

⚫ Hue of an object when light is reflected off of it.

- Every color has its name and such name HUE.

- The Color described when an object has only one hue is MONOCROMATIC.
- The color describe when it has two or more hues is POLYCHROMATIC.
5.Value

⚫ lightness and darkness of colors used in artwork

6. Texture

⚫ way something feels or the way it looks like to fee

7. Space

⚫ area around a subject in an artwork, shown with size, overlap, and proportion.
8.Contrast

⚫ using of different elements in an artwork; darkness and lightness, roughness and smoothness,
curved lines and straightness.
Principles of arts

⚫ the way the artist use the elements of an art to make an effect and to depict and delivery
clearly the idea or feeling of the artist.

⚫ To come up with attractive artworks, artists must be governed by the five conventions of
artistic compositions.
Rhythm /Patterns

⚫ repetitive patterns of a succession of a similar identical items; repetition of lines, shapes, and
colors used in artwork.

Rhythm/Movement

⚫ a visual element that makes an effect of action or motions.

Frederick Judd Waugh, Breaking Surf

 Isaac Levitan: Oak Grove, Autumn (1880)

Balance
-distribution of visual weight of objects in an artwork. Use of colors, sizes and texture.
Emphasis
-main idea, focus. In short, what caught your eyes first to see.

George Henry, River Landscape by Moonlight (1887)

Harmony
using of similar elements that brings each part of the artwork together; or achieved when all
elements of a thing are put together to come up with a coherent whole.

George Henry, Noon (1885)

INTERPRETATION OF COLORS
Proportion
is the comparative relationship of the different parts in relation to the whole; using of different
sizes of something.

Vincent van
Gogh, Starry
Night over the
Rhone (1888)

Techniques or methods of presenting a subject of an art

REALISM

⚫ refers to the artistic movement began in France in the 1850s. The introduction of photography
became the reason of the popularity of realism which refers to producing an “objectively real”
visual.

⚫ Depicting what eyes can see, ears can hear, what senses receive.

Zeuxis: Still life four bunches of Grapes Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

ABSTRACTION

⚫ Total opposite of realism

⚫ Latin word “abstractus” means draw away or to Latin past participle “abstraher; ab(s) “away”
and trahere “draw”.

⚫ It presents the artist ideas or feelings with exaggeration of emotions. It portrays the artist
moods or feelings.

Wassily Kandinsky: Composition VII, 1913

Kandinsky was recognized as the “Father of

Modern Abstract Art” in the 20th Century
 Pablo Picasso: Ma Jolie (1911)

Amadeo Modigliani: Landscape

Forms of Abstraction
Distortion

⚫ the subject is presented with misshapen condition or twisted regular shapes.

Elongation

⚫ the subject is being lengthened, a protraction or extension.

Mangling

⚫ the subject is presented are cut, lacerated, mutilated, torn, hacked, or disfigured.
Cubism
⚫ the subject is presented with combinations of geometric shapes. It was also describe as pieces
of fractured glass looking method.
Abstract Expressionism

⚫ applying paints rapidly with force on their canvasses to show feelings and emotions.
SYMBOLISM

⚫ visible sign of something invisible like ideas or qualities.

⚫ uses symbol to intensify the meaning, and making the artwork more subjective and
conventional.
FAUVISM

⚫ French word “les fauves” means wild beasts.

⚫ uses bright colors and emphasizes spontaneous idea.

⚫ Henri Matisse was first labelled as Fauve because of using this method.

Henri Matisse: The Dessert: Harmony in Red (1908)

DADAISM

⚫ came from the word “dada” which means hobby-horse.

⚫ a technique of presenting an art subject in a non-sensical way.

 Kurt Schwitters: Construction of Noble Women
(1919)

FUTURISM

⚫ uses a modernist movement with the era of future and technology.

⚫ It was first seen on the manifesto published by Flippo Marinetti, wherein he summed up the
principles of Futurist; the artist who uses Futurism on art.

Gerardo Dottori: The Miracle of Light While Flying (1931)

SURREALISM

⚫ known as super realism

⚫ Focuses on the real things manifesting on imaginations and fantasies of people, real things
that can be found on unconscious minds or dreamlike objects.

Salvador Dali: The Persistence of Memory (193)

Museum of Modern Art, New York City
IMPRESSIONISM

⚫ known as optical realism for its interest in actual viewing experience, using the effect of color,
light and movement on the subject depicted on an artwork.

⚫ It focuses on describing the visual sensations derived from nature.

⚫ Impressionism movement; means human eye is a marvellous instrument.

Claude Monet: Water Lilies (1908)

Akseli Gallen-Kallela :Lake Keitele (1905)

ART CRITICISM

⚫ Involves one’s own interpretation.

⚫ A way to help an individual to understand a particular work of art by using the one’s
knowledge about art theory.

⚫ A way to establish where an artwork belongs to depending on its depicted different artistic
styles and movements base on the art history.

Assessing a Work of Art

1.DESCRIPTION
2.ANALYSIS
3.INTERPRETATION
4.EVALUATION
5.ART CRITICISM