ELEMENTS of ART

and PRINCIPLES OF
COMPOSITION
WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF
ART?
1. Line
2. Color
3. Value
4. Texture
5. Shape
6. Composition in Space
7. Movement
LINE
• associated with the body's axis as it moves
toward different directions and adjusts to a
point of reference through various
positions (walking, running, standing,
sitting, reclining, etc.)
• refers to the quality of the line in visual
arts, whether thin, broken, thick, or
blended among others
• creates texture when several lines comes
together, which can be very thin, washed,
or very thick, rough, or fine
University Gateway,
Napoleon Abueva
Church of the Holy
Sacrifice, Leandro
Locsin

UP Oblation,
Guillermo
Tolentino
COLOR
• associated with our experiences of cold and
warmth, and the quality of light in our
tropical environment, the cycles of night
and day, of darkness and light
• hues vary in saturation, intensity, or
brilliance
• value or tone refers to the hue's brightness
or darkness
• monochromatic - one color is used
• polychromatic - many color is used
School of Design And Arts River of Life,
Building, CSB Gallo Ocampo
Some artists use color as a representational
element, intending to depict the world as
accurately as possible

chiaroscuro - the treatment of light and

shade in drawing and painting.
 TEXTURE
• refers to how objects and surfaces feel, and is most
associated with the sense of touch or tactility
• created when several lines combine
• can be imitated or simulated in representational works
• can also be actual, depending on what is created
VALUE
• refers to gradiations of tone from light to dark
• could also specifically refer to the play of light
(chiaroscuro) on an object or scene
• in representational paintings, it's shading,
blending, and chiaroscuro that gives a flat surface
an illusion of depth and perspective
 SHAPE
• refers to forms that are two-dimensional or three-
dimensional
• two-dimensional - planes having length and width
• three-dimensional - shapes possess length, width,
and volume
• can be geometric (rectilinear or curvilinear),
biomorphic or free inventions
 binakol, Tinggians of
Northern Abra

Stations of the Cross, UP

Church of Holy Sacrifice
 Composition in Space
• involves the relationship between figures and
elements
• also refers to how these elements are organized and
composed according to principles of organization
(balance, proportion, unity in variety, dominance,
subordination)
 Movement
• may occur in two-dimensional design as rhythm
or through the recurrence of motifs, their
alternation or progression unfolding in a series
• very much related to line, and the direction of
the eye
• In three-dimensional expressions, the sense of
movement can be implied

Nine Muses, Napoleon Abueva