Elements are the basic building blocks of a painting. In western art they are usually: color, tone, line, shape, space and texture.
In general, we tend to agree that there are seven formal elements of art. However, in a two-dimensional medium, form is discarded. So we have six basic elements of painting. We can also bring in four additional elements – composition, direction, size and movement.
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Check out the main elements of a painting below:
Color is at the heart of all painting. It is arguably the most important element. It sets the tone for how viewers feel about the work. It can, for example, be warm and inviting. It can also be cold and austere. Either way, color can set the mood of a piece.
There are endless ways that painters can play with color. Often, an artist can be drawn to a particular palette. It tends to set the style for all of your work.
Color theory is one of the keys to working with color, especially for painters. Every new color you introduce to a canvas plays a vital role in how viewers perceive the piece.
Color can be divided into hue, intensity and hue. Also, many artists choose to work with a mother color when painting. It is a particular ink color that is mixed into each ink that touches the canvas and can bring uniformity.
Tone and hue are used interchangeably in painting. It's essentially how light or dark a paint is. Understanding how to use it can greatly affect how your art is perceived.
Each paint color has an almost infinite variety of shades available. You can mix it up to adjust your tone as you like. Some paintings have a very limited range of tones, while others include marked contrasts in tones.
In its most basic form, the hue can best be seen in shades of gray. Black is the darkest hue and white is the lightest. A well-rounded painting usually has both, with highlights and shadows highlighting the overall effect of the piece.
While we tend to think in lines when drawing, painters need to focus on lines as well. After all, every brush stroke you make, a line is created.
Line is defined as a narrow mark made by a brush or a line created where two objects or elements meet. He sets the subject of the paintings. It also helps us to suggest things, like movement.
Painters should also be aware of the different types of line. Among them are implied lines, those that are not actually drawn but are implied by the brush strokes around it.
Landscape painters in particular are often concerned with the horizon line. Painters of all styles can add dimension to their work by employing the orthogonal and transverse lines found in drawings.
Each work of art includes a form, which aligns in line and space. In essence, a shape is a closed area that is made where lines meet.
Artists often train to see shapes in everything. By breaking down the basic shapes of a subject, he creates an accurate representation of it in paintings and drawings.
In addition, shapes can be geometric or organic. The first are the triangles, squares and circles that we are all familiar with. The latter are those shapes that are not well defined or those found in nature.
Space (or volume) is another crucial element in any art. It can be used to great effect in paintings. When we talk about space in art, we think about the balance between positive and negative space.
Positive space is the subject itself, while negative space is the area of a painting around it. Artists can play with a balance between these two spaces to further influence how viewers interpret their work.
For example, a landscape with a smaller tree and a horizon (positive space) that allows the sky (negative space) to take up most of the screen can make a very powerful statement.
Similarly, painting a portrait in which the (positive) subject is looking towards negative space can be just as intriguing as when looking directly at the viewer.
Paints are the perfect medium to play with texture. This can be interpreted as a pattern within the painting or in the brushstrokes themselves.
Some paints, particularly oils, are thicker. The way they are applied to the canvas or frame can give the work more depth because of the texture.
For example, if you take the color of a Van Gogh painting and view it in black and white, the texture of his brushstrokes stands out dramatically. Likewise, impasto painting relies on very deep textures.
Texture can also be a challenge for painters. Replicating the shiny surface of glass or metal or the rough feel of a rock can be difficult.
The above elements are essential to paintings, although we often add four more elements to the list. One of the most important for any artist is composition.
Composition is the arrangement of the painting. Where you place your subject, how the background elements support it, and every little bit you add to the canvas becomes part of the composition. It is critical to how the work is perceived.
There are also “compositional elements” to consider. These include unity, balance, movement, rhythm, focus, contrast, pattern and proportion. Each plays an important role in every painting. That's why artists focus so much of their time on songwriting.
In art, the word “direction” is a broad term that can be interpreted in many ways. A vertical screen may work better than a horizontal one for certain subjects and vice versa.
Direction can also be used to refer to perspective. Where you place objects or how they are used in proportion to each other can direct the viewer through the art.
Size refers to the scale of the painting itself, as well as the scale of proportions within the painting's elements. The relationship between objects can also subconsciously disturb the viewer's perception and enjoyment.
For example, an apple that is bigger than an elephant is unnatural. Less dramatically, we expect someone's eyes, lips, and nose to have a specific balance in size.
When it comes to determining the size of any artwork, painters also have many things to consider. Oversized paintings can be just as dramatic as a very small piece, and both have their own challenges. On many levels, size is one of the biggest considerations for any artist.
All other elements affect how the viewer perceives and looks at a painting. This is where time and motion come into play.
Time can be seen as the amount of time a viewer spends looking at a piece. Are there several elements that continue to capture your attention? It is true that this is one of the elements that interests many artists.
Movement is also one of the elements of composition, although its importance should not be overlooked in this grouping. This refers to how you direct the viewer's eyes into the painting.
By including various elements in strategic places and incorporating the other art elements, you can keep viewers moving around the painting.