Elements of Art

The elements of art are the basic components of art-marking. It is impossible to create a work
of art without using at least one of the seven elements of art. Artworks can also be analyzed
according to the use of the elements in a work of art.
1. Line 4. Value 7. Color
2. Shape 5. Space
3. Form 6. Texture

Line
- In terms of Art is a moving dot.
- Can also create illusion of form.
Contour Lines: Can show you where an object ends.
Line Quality: is the thickness of thinness of a line.
- Can be used to add variety and the illusion of form
Cross Contour Lines: follow the contours or form of the object. contours or form of the
object. They can be used communicate the form of the object further and create shadow.
Types of Lines
Horizontal Lines – are lines that are parallel to the horizon and generally flow from left to
right or vice versa.
Vertical Lines – vertical lines are lines that move up and down without any slant.
Diagonal Lines – are lines that slant.
Zigzag Lines – are lines that change direction abruptly.
Curved Lines – gradually change direction.
Broken Lines – include open spaces but continue on a path. These lines may imply an edge
or be used to communicate a highlight.

Shapes
- In terms of art, is a closed contour, or a defined area.
- It is two dimensional meaning it has only length and width.
- Although there is an infinite number of shapes, certain shapes can be identified….
Type of Shapes
 - The relationships between the positive and negative shapes help the brain of our viewers
understand what they are seeing.
- Our brains are even capable of making sense of complex relationships between positive
and negative shapes
Geometric shapes: are easy to recognize. Usually, math can be used to find information
about these shapes. Geometric shapes generally have a specific name associated with them.
Organic shapes: are shapes that seem to follow no rules. Organic shapes generally do not
have a name associated with them and are typically not man made.

Form
- An element of art, means objects that have three dimensions. I like to think of form as a
3-D shape.
- When drawing representationally, the goal is to create the illusion of form.
Geometric forms: have specific names associated with them and are typically man made
Organic forms: do not have specific names associated with them and are often associated
with naturally occurring forms.

Value
- It deals with the lightness or darkness of a color.
- Creating a full range of value leads to the illusion of form.
- Without light we can see nothing. Since drawing and painting representationally is about
creating the illusion of what we see, creating the illusion of light is important!
Highlight: is an area in an object where the light is hitting it directly.

Space
- Space is an element of art that is the area above, around, and within objects.

Six Ways
1. Overlapping: occurs when objects that are closer to the viewer prevent the view of
objects that are behind them.
2. Size: is the objects that are smaller will appear further away from the viewer.
 3. Placement on the paper: is the objects placed higher within the picture plane will appear
further away.
4. Detail: objects that are further away should have less detail than objects that are closer to
the viewer.
5. Color and Value: Objects that are further away are cooler in color temperature, while
objects that are closer are warmer.
6. Perspective: Linear perspective is a drawing method that uses lines to create the illusion
of space on a flat surface.

Texture
- Texture refers to the way an object feels to the touch or looks as it may feel if it were
touched.
- The key to creating the illusion of texture is through value.
Impasto: is a technique in painting in which the paint is built up on the surface to create a
texture.
3-D Texture: It refers to the way to the way an object feels to the touch.
2-D Texture: It is the illusion of how an object would feel if it could be physically touched.
Simulated Texture: Is meant to accurately simulate “real life”
Invented Texture: It consist 2 D patterns created by the repetition of lines of shapes.

Color
- In terms of art, color refers to reflected light.
Three Distinct Parts
- Color Wheel - Color Value - Color Scheme
Color Wheel: The color wheel is the color spectrum bent into a circle.
Color Value: refers to the darkness or lightness of a color.
- When neutral colors are mixed with colors on the color wheel, the value and/or intensity
of the color is affected
- Tints = Add White
- Shades = Add Black
- Intensity = Add Gray
Highlight: is an area in an object where the light is hitting it directly.
 Color Scheme: Are systematic ways that colors are put together in artworks according to
their in arrangement on the color wheel. Knowledge of arrangements of colors or schemes
can help an artist make informed decisions about color in their own artworks.
- Monochromatic: It schemes consist of just one color and the tints and shades (values) of
that color.
- Complementary: Colors that are directly across from each other on the color wheel are
complementary. Complementary colors provide high contrast.
- ANALOGOUS: are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel When used as a
color scheme, analogous colors can be dramatic.
- COLOR TRIADS: consist of three colors found on the color wheel that are equally
spaced apart from each other.
- SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY: is a color schemes are made up of a color and it
complements closest analogous colors.

Principles of Art
The principles are the means AN ARTIST USES TO ORGANIZE ELEMENTS
WITHIN A WORK OF ART, by the careful placement of repeated elements in a work of art to
cause a visual tempo or beat.
Balance: The balance in a piece of art refers to the distribution of weight or the apparent weight
of the piece. Arches are built for structural design and to hold the roof in place, allowing for
passage of people below the arch and creating balance visually and structurally It may be the
illusion of art that can create balance.
Contrast: Contrast is defined as the difference in colors to create a piece of visual art. For
instance, black and white is a known stark contrast and brings vitality to a piece of art, or it can
ruin the art with too much contrast. Contrast can also be subtle when using monochromatic
colors, giving variety and unity the final piece of art.
Emphasis: Emphasis can be color, unity, balance, or any other principle or element of art used
to create a focal point. Artists will use emphasis like placing a string of gold in a field of dark
purple. The color contrast between the gold and dark purple causes the gold lettering to pop out,
becoming the focal point.
Rhythm/Movement: Rhythm in a piece of art denotes a type of repetition used to either
demonstrate movement or expanse. For instance, in a painting of waves crashing, a viewer will
automatically see the movement as the wave finishes. The use of bold and directional brushwork
will also provide movement in a painting.
Proportion/Scale: Proportion is the relationship between items in a painting, for example,
between the sky and mountains. If the sky is more than two thirds of the painting, it looks out of
proportion. The scale in art is similar to proportion, and if something is not to scale, it can look
odd If there is a person in the picture and their hands are too large for their body, then it will look
out of scale. Artists can also use scale and proportion to exaggerate people or landscapes to their
advantage.
Unity/Variety: In art, unity conveys a sense of completeness, pleasure when viewing the art, and
cohesiveness to the art, and how the patterns work together brings unity to the picture or object.
As the opposite of unity, variety should provoke changes and awareness in the art piece. Colors
can provide unity when they are in the same color groups, and a splash of red can provide
variety.
Pattern: Pattern is the way something is organized and repeated in its shape or form and can
flow without much structure in some random repetition. Patterns might branch out similar to
flowers on a plant or form spirals and circles as a group of soap bubbles or seem irregular in the
cracked, dry mud. All works of art have some sort of pattern even though it may be hard to
discern; the pattern will form by the colors, the illustrations, the shape, or numerous other art
methods.

Critiquing an Artwork
1. Describing - Look at the Obvious
2. Analyzing – Analyze the Artwork
3. Interpretation – Make an Interpretation
4. Evaluation – Make a Judgement Call

Additional Notes:
 The triumvirate of Philippine modern painting: Victorio Edades, Carlos Botong Francisco,
Galo B. Ocampo
 Sabel in blue is one of the famous artwork created by Bencab. His art style is Figurative art.
He received his award for National Artist in Visual Arts in 2006.
 Elmer Borlongan’s art movement is figurative expressionism. Puppet Master, Chisco and his
tree, Gomburza and Father's whisper.
 Figurative Impressionism – Elmer Borlongan Art Style
 Figurative Art – Benedicto Cabrera Art Style
 Proportion is the relationship between items in a painting.
 Contrast refers to the difference in colors to create a piece of an art.
 Pattern is a principle of art that can flow without much structure.
 Balance is the distribution of weight in an artwork.
 Unity is a principle of art that conveys completeness of an artwork
 Emphasis is used by artists to create a focal point in their artworks.
 Rhythm denotes a type of repetition used to either demonstrate movement.

 The first step in critiquing an art is to look at the obvious (describing). This is the sort of
thing you’d find on a museum or gallery label, or in the caption in an art book. Knowing the
background of a piece can make a bigdifference in how you interpret and understand it.
 The second step in critiquing an art is to analyze the artwork (analyzing). Once you have
described the work, it’s time to analyze it, or discuss how it all comes together. Start by
talking about how the work is composed.
 The third step in critiquing an art is to make an interpretation (interpretation). In other words,
what do you think the artist was trying to say with the work? Why did they create the work?
Try to summarize the overall meaning of the work, as you see it.
 The final step in critiquing an art is to make a judgment call (evaluation). Your goal here
isn’t necessarily to decide whether the art is "good" or "bad." Instead, focus on whether you
think the work is "successful."
 For example:
 Do you think the work says what the artist wanted it to say?
 Did the artist use their tools and techniques well?
 Is the art original, or does it imitate other works?

Fabian dela Rosa (1869 – 1937) was the first painter of note for the 20th century. He was noted
for his realistic portraits, genre, and landscapes in subdued colors. He was enrolled at
the Escuela de Bellas Artes y Dibujo and took lessons from Lorenzo Guerrero.

       But it would be his nephew, Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto (1892 – 1972), who would

capture the attention of the public and the buyers. His paintings, bursting with yellow-orange and
golden sunlight, captured the Philippine landscape in all its glory. If de la Rosa’s work were of
subdued, cool colors, then Amorsolo’s landscapes are bathe in the glorious Philippine sunlight.
He is the first and among the few Filipino painters who have captured the different striking
colors and character of the country’s magnificent sunlight. Besides his landscapes, Amorsolo
also idealized the rural life of the working men and women. He depicted farmers and fisherfolks
doing their work without much effort, seemingly enjoying themselves in their arduous tasks. His
depiction of the ever-smiling dalagang bukid is another trademark. Amorsolo was able to show
the ideal beauty of the Philippine landscape, the Philippine rural life and the Filipinas.
       Painters during that time also dabbled into advertising and book design, new forms brought
by the Americans. Amorsolo made several book and magazine cover designs. He also designed
for commercial products, the most famous of which is the “Markang Demonyo” for Ginebra San
Miguel, a local alcoholic drink.

       The Americans established the University of the Philippines, the country’s State University,
in 1908. The School of Fine Arts was established in 1909 with Fabian dela Rosa as its first Dean.
It would function as the local academy for art. Amorsolo, being a faculty member and
subsequently as the Dean of the U.P. School of Fine Arts from 1952 to 1955,  it was inevitable
for students to emulate the works and style of Amorsolo. Hence, the “Amorsolo School”, was
born. Followers included Jorge Pineda, Ireneo Miranda, and Toribio Herrera.

       Amorsolo had a long artistic career. Spanning for more than half a century, his influence is
still evident in some of today’s painters. He was named as the country’s first National Artist in
1972.

         Modernism:

       Modernism would have its seeds planted in the 1890’s with Miguel Zaragosa’s two
pointillist works. Emilio Alvero later produced several Impressionist still life paintings. But it
would take an architect to give modernism its needed boost in the country. Juan Arellano would
be known as an architect but his Impressionist landscapes are as impressive as his buildings.

       In the 1920’s, several young painters were starting to question the Amorsolo school style
that became the standard for painting. Wanting to veer away from the aesthetic standards, they
strove to develop new idioms in expressing themselves.

       In 1928, Victorio C. Edades (1895 – 1985), fresh from a trip to the United States opened a
show at the Philippine Columbian Club in Ermita, Manila. Edades would be influenced by the
1913 Armory Show, an exhibition of modern art at the United States. Included in this exhibition
was Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending the Staircase, which created quite a stir in the U.S.
The Ash Can School, a modernist group in the U.S., who chose to depict people covered with
sweat and grime, would also influence him. Edades’ work, The Builders, caused quite a
controversy in 1928. Instead of the smiling farmers and fisherfolks of Amorsolo, it depicted
distorted, naked working men covered in sweat and grime. With obvious disregard for linear
perspective, the painting will be known as the first ever Modernist painting in the country.
Contrary to Amorsolo’s ever-smiling dalagang Pilipina, Edades showed the hardship of life for
the working class.

       In 1934, Edades recruited two young dropouts of the U.P. School of Fine
Arts, Carlos “Botong” V. Francisco and Galo B. Ocampo, to help him execute a
mural. Together, they formed the Triumvirate of Modern Art in the country. They produced
several collaborative murals such as Interaction. In 1938, Edades, Ocampo, and foreign-
trained Diosdado Lorenzo established the Atelier of Modern Art in Malate, Manila.
       In 1935, modernist Diosdado Lorenzo (1906 – 1984), had an exhibition of works with
“moderate distortions” at the Philippine Columbian Club. His choice of subject matter was
conservative – landscapes, nipa huts, and women. But Lorenzo discarded the idealized style of
Amorsolo. Surprisingly, some of his works were sold. The public now was slowly starting to
accept modernism. Lorenzo, a graduate of the U.P. School of Fine Arts, would continue to paint
traditional subjects done in the modernist style of strong, vigorous brushstrokes, using bright
oranges and greens.

       Galo B. Ocampo (1913 – 1985), with his Brown Madonna, Filipinized Western canonical

iconography with his Brown Madonna done in 1938. The painting has a distinctly Philippine
landscape with a bahay kubo in the background, an earth colored skin Madonna wearing
a patadyong, with anahaw leaves as a halo, and a brown-skinned child – a reinterpretation of the
typical European-Western looking mother and child portrayals. His Flagellants series depict
scenes of Lent, juxtaposing images of war and penitence. Ocampo studied at the U.P. School of
Fine Arts. He commissioned to design the coat-of-arms of the Republic of the Philippines. He
also served as Director of the National Museum.

       Carlos “Botong” Francisco, (1913 – 1969), Angono-based painter, depicted Philippine

history in his “History of Manila” mural at the Manila City Hall. His trademark fluid lines and
brilliant colors filled up the entire pictorial space of the mural, defying the rules of linear
perspective set by the local academy. He is known for his depiction of important Philippine
historical events such as the First Mass at Limasawa and for his depiction of local activities such
as Fiesta and Bayanihan. Francisco studied at the U.P. School of Fine Arts but opted to teach at
the UST School of Architecture and Fine Arts together with Edades. In 1952, his mural for the
First International Trade Fair held in Manila entitled 500 Years of Philippine History was greeted
with international acclaim. It was even featured in TIME magazine. Unfortunately, it was cut up
into small pieces and none remain to this day. Botong was proclaimed as National Artist for
Painting in 1973.

       Public debates were sparked by these new developments. Edades, appointed as Director of
the newly opened University of Santo Tomas Fine Arts School in 1935, would be a staunch
proponent of modernism in art, proposing that art should not only show the beautiful and ideal
but also the ugly and the real. Guillermo Tolentino, sculptor and faculty member of the U.P.
School of Fine Arts, wrote that distortion in painting is a cardinal sin. He also alluded that the
works of the modernists were “ugly.” The two parties, staunchly defending their aesthetic
beliefs, exchanged strongly worded letters and essays through the local newspapers. These
provided for a lively art scene in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

       World War II halted all these developments. In response to the Japanese propaganda,
according to Dr. Alice G. Guillermo, Filipino painters reacted by producing the following works:

 paintings that may be implicitly supportive of the Japanese occupation such

as Vicente Alvarez Dizon’s A Day Begins done in 1942
 genre scenes that seem neutral such as Crispin V. Lopez’s Baguio Market made in 1943
showing Japanese soldiers interacting with women vegetable vendors
  paintings that bring out national identity such as Emilio G. Santiago’s Christmas
Eve made in 1942 which shows a traditional Filipino scene that evokes nostalgia
 paintings alluding to the social conditions of the time such as Pilar M.
Santiago’s Evacuees made in 1941,Irineo Miranda’s Home from Work made in 1944,
and Simon Saulog’s Conspiracy made in 1943 which shows a group of men in an
evening meeting which suggests to the underground anti-Japanese movement
 Amorsolo’s sketches of war scenes and his famous planting rice scenes which do not
depict any of the atrocities happening during those days
 Paintings depicting war atrocities like Demetrio Diego’s Capas, Diosdado
Lorenzo’s Atrocities in Paco andExecution at the Cemetery, and Dominador
Castañeda’s Doomed Family. All these paintings were done after the war

       After the war, the debate between the Modernists and the Conservatives, with Edades and
Tolentino as main protagonists, continued.

       The Triumvirate of Edades, Ocampo, and Francisco became the core of a group of artists
informally known as the Thirteen Moderns. The other Moderns (according to Edades’ list)
were Diosdado Lorenzo, Vicente S. Manansala, Hernando R. Ocampo, Cesar T. Legaspi,
Demetrio Diego, UST faculty members Bonifacio Cristobal (1911) and architect Jose
Pardo (1916) , Arsenio Capili (1914 – 1945) who died during the war, two student-assistants
– Ricarte Purugganan (1912 – 1998 ), and Anita Magsaysay-Ho (1914), the only woman in
the group.

  The Thirteen Moderns were reacting to the academic style of Luna and Hidalgo and to the
sweet style of Amorsolo. Not a formal grouping, they worked in different styles and used
different media and techniques.

       Edades, as Director of the UST Fine Arts, recruited artists like Lorenzo, Ocampo, Francisco,
and Manansala as faculty members. UST was the bastion of modern art in the country until the
early 1970’s. Meanwhile, the UP School of Fine Arts continued to be conservative, with no less
than Amorsolo as its Dean in the 1950’s.

       The formation of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) in 1948 and the Philippine
Art Gallery (PAG) ensured the continued rise of modernism in the country. Headed by two
women, Purita Kalaw-Ledesma andLydia Arguilla, these two institutions gave modern art its
much needed boost during the post-war years.

       The AAP held annual and semiannual art competitions and exhibitions with the modernists
usually winning the top prizes. This spurred more conflict between the Modernists and the
Conservatives. To appease the two camps, the AAP decided to create two categories: one for
Conservatives and one for Modernists.

       The PAG gave the modernists a home and a venue. It eventually became a center for visual
artists and literary luminaries of the time. Writer-critic-painter Lydia Arguilla (1913-69)
facilitated the first exposure of Filipino modernists in the international art scene by organizing an
exhibition of paintings and sculptures of twenty-one Filipino artists in New York City and
Washington, D.C.

       Vicente Manansala (1910 – 1981) is considered as the major proponent of Cubism in the

country. Some of his famous works include Jeepneys and Madonna of the Slums. Filling up the
entire pictorial space, Jeepneyssuccessfully conveyed the feeling of heat, pollution, noise and
claustrophobia caused by the city’s menace – traffic. Like Ocampo’s Brown
Madonna, Manansala’s Madonna of the Slum is a Filipinized mother and child. He not only
indigenized the European icon, but also placed them in the urban poor setting – the slum area.
The painting shows poverty after World War II and the uncertainty and fear felt by the mother
and child. They hold each other protectively. Manansala’s style is characterized as transparent
cubism – rarely breaking down the human figures into geometric shapes, showing different
aspects of the figures through transparent planes.

       Hernando R. Ocampo (1911-1978) is a self-taught painter and a writer. His works are

probably the first purely non-representational art produced in the country. His abstract paintings
are characterized by the use of geometric and biomorphic shapes using brilliant colors of red,
yellow, green, and orange. Even the titles of his works became non-descriptive, using only
numbers and letters to indicate the year it was made. His most famous work, Genesis, depicts
colored planes forming various figures. It serves as the theater curtain for the Main Theater of
the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

       Cesar Legaspi (1917 – 1994) will be remembered for his depiction of the masses. His
famous Gadgetsshows half-naked factory workers interspersing with machine parts. Different
hues of red and orange were used to simulate the feeling of heat in factories. The workers look
stoic and emaciated, all of them going about their work in a machine-like expression. Indeed,
here in Legaspi’s work, the workers have become the gadgets.

       Demetrio Diego (1909 – 1988), an illustrator by profession, made Capas in 1948, a heart-

wrenching depiction of Filipino and American soldiers imprisoned by the Japanese at the
infamous holding site for prisoners during World War II.

       Manansala, Legaspi, and Ocampo became the Big Three in the modernist movement after
the war. Together with another modernist, Romeo Tabuena, and Anita Magsaysay-Ho, they
formed the Neo-realist group based at the PAG. Other stalwarts soon joined them such
as Manuel Rodriguez Sr., Arturo Luz, Nena Saguil, Cenon Rivera, Jose Joya, J. Elizalde
Navarro, Lee Aguinaldo and David Cortez Medalla.

       Anita Magsaysay-Ho’s works are characterized by sharply outlined figures of bandanna

wearing peasant women going about in their daily chores – running after chicken, planting,
harvesting. The women are thin, with long necks, slant eyes, and flat noses. They are definitely
Filipinas. Magsaysay-Ho is probably the first Filipina artist to gain national and international
recognition.

       The works of Romeo Tabuena are characterized by simplified figures of rural landscapes,

carabaos and farmers.
       Fernando Zobel (1924-84) was an artist, critic and educator. A member of a prominent
business family, he helped numerous young and struggling artists by collecting their works when
nobody else were acquiring. His collection of modern art is now housed at the Ateneo Art
Gallery, the country’s first museum of Philippine modern art. His works include Carroza, an
almost abstract depiction of a carriage carrying the Virgin Mary, a typical scene in Philippine
fiestas.

       Nena Saguil (1914-1994) moved to Paris and would continue to produce her signature

works of cellular-looking objects. Her works are filled with orbs, spheres, circles, mandalas,
cells, and moons all floating around the canvas, her very own interpretation of the cosmos.

       Jose T. Joya (1931-1995) would become the country’s foremost exponent of Abstract

Expressionism, in the tradition of the American Jackson Pollock. His exposure at the Cranbrook
Academy of Art in Michigan inspired him to create purely abstract works through the drip-
painting method popularized by Pollock but with tropical colors producing a work with Filipino
sensibilities. He also did genre and mother and child works on ceramics.

       1955 was an eventful year for Philippine visual arts. The AAP Semiannual Competition and
Exhibition at the Northern Motors Showroom was marred by “The Walkout” of conservative
artists. After the opening of the exhibition, they took their entries and put up their own exhibition
across the street. It was their sign of protest for what they perceive as a bias for Modernist works
in the awarding of the Rotary Club’s Golden Anniversary Awards, all of which went to
Modernists Galo B. Ocampo, Manuel Rodriguez Sr., and Vicente Manansala. In 1959, the AAP
decided to stop its practice of awarding for two categories, perhaps realizing that there is just one
standard for judging art and not two.

       In the sixties and seventies, several young artists were now on the rise such as Bencab,
Antonio Austria, Manuel “Boy” Rodriguez Jr., Roberto Chabet, Norma Belleza, Jaime de
Guzman, Danilo Dalena, Imelda Cajipe-Endaya, Justin Nuyda, and Angelito
Antonio among others. These new generation ensured that Modernism, in particular, and
Philippine painting, in general, will remain alive and well into the next decades.