An Element of Art That Is the Path of a Moving Point Through Space

Line

A line is defined every bit a mark that connects the space between ii points, taking whatever form forth the way.

Learning Objectives

Compare and dissimilarity different uses of line in art

Primal Takeaways

Primal Points

• Actual lines are lines that are physically present, existing as solid connections between ane or more points.
• Implied line refers to the path that the viewer 's eye takes equally it follows shapes, colors, and forms along whatever given path.
• Straight or classic lines provide stability and structure to a composition and tin can exist vertical, horizontal, or diagonal on a work'due south surface.
• Expressive lines refer to curved marks that increase the sense of dynamism of a work of fine art.
• The outline or contour lines create a border or path effectually the edge of a shape, thereby outlining and defining it. "Cross contour lines" delineate differences in the features of a surface.
• Hatch lines are a serial of short lines repeated in intervals, typically in a single direction, and are used to add shading and texture to surfaces, while cantankerous-hatch lines provide additional texture and tone to the epitome surface and can be oriented in whatever management.

Cardinal Terms

• texture:The feel or shape of a surface or substance; the smoothness, roughness, softness, etc. of something.
• cross-hatching:A method of showing shading by means of multiple small lines that intersect.
• line:A path through two or more than points.

The line is an essential element of art, defined as a mark that connects the space between two points, taking any grade along the fashion. Lines are used near often to define shape in ii-dimensional works and could be called the almost ancient, likewise equally the nearly universal, forms of mark making.

At that place are many different types of lines, all characterized by their lengths beingness greater than their width, also equally past the paths that they take. Depending on how they are used, lines assist to determine the motion, direction, and energy of a piece of work of art. The quality of a line refers to the character that is presented past a line in order to animate a surface to varying degrees.

Actual lines are lines that are physically present, existing every bit solid connections between one or more than points, while implied lines refer to the path that the viewer'south eye takes as it follows shape, color, and class within an art work. Implied lines give works of fine art a sense of motion and keep the viewer engaged in a composition. We can see numerous unsaid lines in Jacques-Louis David's Adjuration of the Horatii, connecting the figures and actions of the piece by leading the eye of the viewer through the unfolding drama.

Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784: Many implied lines connect the figures and activeness of the piece by leading the eye of the viewer through the unfolding drama.

Straight or classic lines add stability and structure to a composition and can be vertical, horizontal, or diagonal on the surface of the work. Expressive lines refer to curved marks that increment the sense of dynamism of a piece of work of art. These types of lines often follow an undetermined path of sinuous curves. The outline or contour lines create a edge or path around the edge of a shape, thereby outlining and defining it. Cantankerous contour lines delineate differences in the features of a surface and can give the illusion of iii dimensions or a sense of form or shading.

Hatch lines are a series of brusk lines repeated in intervals, typically in a single direction, and are used to add together shading and texture to surfaces. Cross-hatch lines provide additional texture and tone to the image surface and can be oriented in any direction. Layers of cross-hatching can add rich texture and volume to paradigm surfaces.

Light and Value

Value refers to the use of light and dark in art.

Learning Objectives

Explain the artistic use of light and nighttime (besides known as "value")

Central Takeaways

Key Points

• In painting, value changes are achieved by adding black or white to a color.
• Value in art is too sometimes referred to as " tint " for calorie-free hues and "shade" for night hues.
• Values near the lighter end of the spectrum are termed "high-keyed" while those on the darker terminate are chosen "low-keyed."
• In 2-dimensional art works, the use of value can help to give a shape the illusion of mass or volume .
• Chiaroscuro was a common technique in Baroque painting and refers to clear tonal contrasts exemplified by very high-keyed whites, placed directly against very depression-keyed darks.

Primal Terms

• chiaroscuro:An artistic technique popularized during the Renaissance, referring to the use of exaggerated lite contrasts in order to create the illusion of book.

The employ of calorie-free and night in art is chosen value. Value can exist subdivided into tint (lite hues) and shade (dark hues). In painting, which uses subtractive color, value changes are achieved by adding black or white to a colour. Artists may besides utilize shading, which refers to a more subtle manipulation of value. The value scale is used to bear witness the standard variations in tones . Values near the lighter terminate of the spectrum are termed loftier-keyed, while those on the darker end are low-keyed.

Value scale: The value scale represents different degrees of light used in artwork.

In two-dimensional artworks, the use of value can aid to requite a shape the illusion of mass or volume. It will besides give the entire limerick a sense of lighting. High contrast refers to the placing of lighter areas directly against much darker ones, and then their difference is showcased, creating a dramatic effect. High dissimilarity also refers to the presence of more blacks than white or gray. Low-contrast images result from placing mid-range values together and then there is not much visible difference between them, creating a more subtle mood.

In Baroque painting, the technique of chiaroscuro was used to produce highly dramatic effects in art. Chiaroscuro, which means literally "light-night" in Italian, refers to articulate tonal contrasts exemplified past very high-keyed whites, placed directly against very depression-keyed darks. Candlelit scenes were common in Baroque painting equally they effectively produced this dramatic type of effect. Caravaggio used a high contrast palette in such works as The Denial of St. Peter to create his expressive chiaroscuro scene.

Caravaggio, The Deprival of St. Peter, 1610: Caravaggio's The Denial of St. Peter is an first-class instance of how light can exist manipulated in artwork.

Color

In the visual arts, color theory is a trunk of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual impacts of specific color combinations.

Learning Objectives

Express the most important elements of color theory and artists' use of colour

Cardinal Takeaways

Key Points

• Color theory offset appeared in the 17th century, when Isaac Newton discovered that white light could be passed through a prism and divided into the total spectrum of colors.
• The spectrum of colors independent in white low-cal are cherry-red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo , and violet.
• Colour theory divides color into the " main colors " of ruby-red, xanthous, and blue, which cannot exist mixed from other pigments, and the "secondary colors" of light-green, orangish, and violet, which result from different combinations of the main colors.
• Principal and secondary colors are combined in various mixtures to create tertiary colors.
• Complementary colors are found opposite each other on the color wheel and represent the strongest dissimilarity for those particular two colors.

Key Terms

• complementary colour:A color which is regarded equally the opposite of another on the colour cycle (i.east., carmine and green, yellow and purple, and orangish and bluish).
• value:The relative darkness or lightness of a color in a specific area of a painting or other visual art.
• primary color:Whatever of iii colors which, when added to or subtracted from others in different amounts, can generate all other colors.
• tint:A color considered with reference to other very similar colors. Red and blue are dissimilar colors, simply two shades of cherry are different tints.
• gradation:A passing by pocket-sized degrees from one tone or shade, every bit of color, to another.
• hue:A colour, or shade of color.

Color is a fundamental creative chemical element which refers to the utilise of hue in art and design. It is the most complex of the elements because of the wide assortment of combinations inherent to it. Colour theory first appeared in the 17th century when Isaac Newton discovered that white low-cal could be passed through a prism and divided into the total spectrum of colors. The spectrum of colors contained in white light are, in order: red, orange, yellowish, green, bluish, indigo and violet.

Color theory subdivides colour into the "primary colors" of scarlet, yellow, and blue, which cannot be mixed from other pigments; and the "secondary colors" of green, orange and violet, which result from different combinations of the master colors. Chief and secondary colors are combined in various mixtures to create "tertiary colors." Color theory is centered around the colour cycle, a diagram that shows the relationship of the various colors to each other .

Color wheel: The colour wheel is a diagram that shows the relationship of the various colors to each other.

Color " value " refers to the relative lightness or darkness of a color. In addition, "tint" and "shade" are important aspects of color theory and result from lighter and darker variations in value, respectively. "Tone" refers to the gradation or subtle changes of a color on a lighter or darker scale. "Saturation" refers to the intensity of a color.

Additive and Subtractive Colour

Additive color is color created by mixing ruby-red, green, and blue lights. Tv set screens, for example, apply additive color equally they are made upwardly of the primary colors of carmine, blue and green (RGB). Subtractive color,  or "process color," works as the reverse of additive color and the master colors become cyan, magenta, yellow, and blackness (CMYK). Common applications of subtractive colour can be found in printing and photography.

Complementary Color

Complementary colors can exist establish directly opposite each other on the color wheel (purple and yellowish, green and red, orange and bluish). When placed next to each other, these pairs create the strongest contrast for those particular two colors.

Warm and Absurd Color

The stardom betwixt warm and cool colors has been important since at least the late 18th century. The dissimilarity, as traced by etymologies in the Oxford English Lexicon, seems related to the observed contrast in landscape light, betwixt the "warm" colors associated with daylight or sunset and the "absurd" colors associated with a gray or overcast day. Warm colors are the hues from red through xanthous, browns and tans included. Cool colors, on the other hand, are the hues from blueish greenish through blue violet, with most grays included. Colour theory has described perceptual and psychological effects to this dissimilarity. Warm colors are said to accelerate or appear more active in a painting, while cool colors tend to recede. Used in interior design or fashion, warm colors are said to arouse or stimulate the viewer , while cool colors at-home and relax.

Texture

Texture refers to the tactile quality of the surface of an fine art object.

Learning Objectives

Recognize the use of texture in art

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• Visual texture refers to an implied sense of texture that the artist creates through the employ of various creative elements such equally line , shading, and colour.
• Actual texture refers to the concrete rendering or the existent surface qualities we tin notice by touching an object.
• Visible brushstrokes and different amounts of paint will create a physical texture that tin can add to the expressiveness of a painting and draw attending to specific areas within it.
• It is possible for an artwork to contain numerous visual textures simply still remain smooth to the touch.

Primal Terms

• tactile:Tangible; perceptible to the sense of impact.

Texture

Texture in art stimulates the senses of sight and touch and refers to the tactile quality of the surface of the art. It is based on the perceived texture of the canvas or surface, which includes the application of the paint. In the context of artwork, in that location are 2 types of texture: visual and bodily. Visual texture refers to an implied sense of texture that the artist creates through the utilize of diverse artistic elements such equally line, shading and color. Bodily texture refers to the physical rendering or the real surface qualities we can observe by touching an object, such as paint application or three-dimensional fine art.

It is possible for an artwork to comprise numerous visual textures, nevertheless nevertheless remain smooth to the touch. Take for instance Realist or Illusionist works, which rely on the heavy utilize of pigment and varnish, however maintain an utterly shine surface. In Jan Van Eyck'due south painting "The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin" we tin notice a great deal of texture in the clothing and robes peculiarly, while the surface of the work remains very polish .

January van Eyck, The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin, 1435: The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin has a bang-up bargain of texture in the clothing and robes, merely the actual surface of the work is very smooth.

Paintings ofttimes utilize actual texture as well, which nosotros tin can notice in the physical awarding of paint. Visible brushstrokes and different amounts of paint will create a texture that adds to the expressiveness of a painting and draw attention to specific areas inside information technology. The artist Vincent van Gogh is known to accept used a swell deal of actual texture in his paintings, noticeable in the thick application of paint in such paintings as Starry Night.

Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889: The Starry Night contains a great deal of actual texture through the thick application of pigment.

Shape and Volume

Shape refers to an area in a two-dimensional space that is defined by edges; volume is three-dimensional, exhibiting meridian, width, and depth.

Learning Objectives

Define shape and volume and place ways they are represented in fine art

Primal Takeaways

Key Points

• "Positive infinite " refers to the space of the defined shape or figure.
• "Negative space" refers to the space that exists around and between one or more shapes.
• A " airplane " in art refers to any surface expanse within space.
• " Form " is a concept that is related to shape and can be created by combining two or more shapes, resulting in a iii-dimensional shape.
• Art makes use of both bodily and unsaid volume .
• Shape, volume, and space, whether actual or implied, are the basis of the perception of reality.

Central Terms

• class:The shape or visible structure of an artistic expression.
• volume:A unit of three-dimensional measure of space that comprises a length, a width, and a height.
• plane:A flat surface extending infinitely in all directions (due east.g., horizontal or vertical aeroplane).

Shape refers to an area in ii-dimensional infinite that is defined past edges. Shapes are, by definition, ever flat in nature and tin can be geometric (e.g., a circle, square, or pyramid) or organic (e.k., a foliage or a chair). Shapes can be created by placing two different textures , or shape-groups, next to each other, thereby creating an enclosed area, such as a painting of an object floating in h2o.

"Positive space" refers to the space of the defined shape, or effigy. Typically, the positive infinite is the subject of an artwork. "Negative space" refers to the space that exists around and between ane or more shapes. Positive and negative space can become difficult to distinguish from each other in more than abstract works.

A "plane" refers to any surface expanse within space. In 2-dimensional art, the " moving-picture show plane " is the flat surface that the image is created upon, such as newspaper, canvas, or wood. 3-dimensional figures may be depicted on the flat picture plane through the apply of the artistic elements to imply depth and volume, every bit seen in the painting Modest Bouquet of Flowers in a Ceramic Vase past Jan Brueghel the Elderberry.

January Brueghel the Elder, Minor Bouquet of Flowers in a Ceramic Vase, 1599: Iii-dimensional figures may be depicted on the flat picture plane through the employ of the creative elements to imply depth and book.

"Form" is a concept that is related to shape. Combining ii or more shapes can create a three-dimensional shape. Form is always considered three-dimensional as information technology exhibits volume—or height, width, and depth. Art makes employ of both actual and implied volume.

While three-dimensional forms, such equally sculpture, have book inherently, book can also be simulated, or unsaid, in a two-dimensional work such as a painting. Shape, volume, and space—whether actual or unsaid—are the ground of the perception of reality.

Time and Motion

Motion, a principle of art, is a tool artists employ to organize the creative elements in a work; it is employed in both static and time-based mediums.

Learning Objectives

Name some techniques and mediums used by artists to convey move in both static and fourth dimension-based fine art forms

Fundamental Takeaways

Key Points

• Techniques such as calibration and proportion are used to create the feeling of motion or the passing of time in static a visual piece.
• The placement of a repeated chemical element in different area within an artwork is another way to imply motion and the passing of time.
• Visual experiments in time and motion were first produced in the mid-19th century, and the photographer Eadweard Muybridge is well-known for his sequential shots.
• The fourth dimension-based mediums of film, video, kinetic sculpture , and performance art use fourth dimension and movement by their very definitions.

Key Terms

• frames per second:The number of times an imaging device produces unique consecutive images (frames) in i 2nd. Abridgement: FPS.
• static:Stock-still in place; having no movement.

Motility, or movement, is considered to be one of the "principles of art"; that is, ane of the tools artists apply to organize the artistic elements in a work of art. Motion is employed in both static and in time-based mediums and can show a direct action or the intended path for the viewer 'due south centre to follow through a piece.

Techniques such as scale and proportion are used to create the feeling of motion or the passing of time in static visual artwork. For example, on a apartment picture plane , an image that is smaller and lighter colored than its surroundings will announced to exist in the background. Another technique for implying move and/or time is the placement of a repeated element in unlike areas within an artwork.

Visual experiments in time and motion were first produced in the mid-19th century. The photographer Eadweard Muybridge is well known for his sequential shots of humans and animals walking, running, and jumping, which he displayed together to illustrate the motility of his subjects. Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 exemplifies an absolute feeling of move from the upper left to lower right corner of the piece.

Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, 1912: This work represents Duchamp's conception of motion and time.

While static fine art forms have the ability to imply or suggest time and motility, the time-based mediums of picture show, video, kinetic sculpture, and performance art demonstrate time and move by their very definitions. Flick is many static images that are chop-chop passed through a lens. Video is essentially the same procedure, but digitally-based and with fewer frames per second . Operation art takes place in existent time and makes employ of real people and objects, much like theater. Kinetic art is art that moves, or depends on motion, for its effect. All of these mediums use fourth dimension and move equally a key attribute of their forms of expression.

Chance, Improvisation, and Spontaneity

Dadaism, Surrealism, and the Fluxus movement all relied on the elements of take chances, improvisation, and spontaneity as tools for making art works.

Learning Objectives

Depict how Dadaism, Surrealism, and the Fluxus movement relied on take a chance, improvisation, and spontaneity

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• Dadaists are known for their "automatic writing" or stream of consciousness writing, which highlights the creativity of the unconscious mind.
• Surrealist works, much like Dadaist works, often feature an element of surprise, unexpected juxtaposition , and tapping into the unconscious mind.
• Surrealists are known for having invented " exquisite corpse" drawing.
• The Fluxus movement was known for its " happenings ," which were performance events or situations that could take place anywhere, in any form , and relied heavily on take chances, improvisation, and audition participation.

Primal Terms

• happening:A spontaneous or improvised event, particularly one that involves audience participation.
• assemblage:A collection of things which have been gathered together..

Chance, improvisation, and spontaneity are elements that tin exist used to create art, or they tin exist the very purpose of the artwork itself. Any medium can utilise these elements at whatsoever point within the creative process.

Marcel Duchamp, Urinal, 1917: Marcel Duchamp's Urinal is an instance of a "ready-made," which were objects that were purchased or found and then declared fine art.

Dadaism

Dadaism was an art movement popular in Europe in the early on 20th century. It was started by artists and poets in Zurich, Switzerland with strong anti-war and left-leaning sentiments. The move rejected logic and reason and instead prized irrationality, nonsense, and intuition. Marcel Duchamp was a dominant member of the Dadaist movement, known for exhibiting "ready-mades," which were objects that were purchased or found and then declared art.

Dadaists used what was readily available to create what was termed an "assemblage," using items such every bit photographs, trash, stickers, bus passes, and notes. The piece of work of the Dadaists involved chance, improvisation, and spontaneity to create art. They are known for using "automatic writing" or stream of consciousness writing, which often took nonsensical forms, but immune for the opportunity of potentially surprising juxtapositions and unconscious inventiveness.

Surrealism

The Surrealist motion, which developed out of Dadaism primarily as a political motion, featured an chemical element of surprise, unexpected juxtaposition and the borer of the unconscious mind. Andre Breton, an important member of the movement, wrote the Surrealist manifesto, defining it as follows:

"Surrealism, n. Pure psychic automatism , by which 1 proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or past any other manner, the existent functioning of thought. Dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason, outside of all aesthetic and moral preoccupation. "

Like Dadaism before it, the Surrealist movement stressed the unimportance of reason and planning and instead relied heavily upon chance and surprise as a tool to harness the creativity of the unconscious mind. Surrealists are known for having invented "exquisite corpse" drawing, an practise where words and images are collaboratively assembled, one after another. Many Surrealist techniques, including exquisite corpse drawing, allowed for the playful creation of art through assigning value to spontaneous production.

The Fluxus movement

The Fluxus movement of the 1960s was highly influenced by Dadaism. Fluxus was an international network of artists that skillfully composite together many different disciplines, and whose work was characterized by the utilize of an extreme do-it-yourself (DIY) artful and heavily intermedia artworks. In addition, Fluxus was known for its "happenings," which were multi-disciplinary performance events or situations that could have place anywhere. Audience participation was essential in a happening, and therefore relied on a slap-up deal of surprise and improvisation. Key elements of happenings were often planned, but artists left room for improvisation, which eliminated the purlieus between the artwork and the viewer , thus making the audition an of import role of the art.

Inclusion of All 5 Senses

The inclusion of the five human being senses in a single piece of work takes place almost frequently in installation and performance art.

Learning Objectives

Explain how installation and operation art include the five senses of the viewer

Central Takeaways

Central Points

• In contemporary fine art, it is quite mutual for work to cater to the senses of sight, touch, and hearing, while information technology is somewhat less common to address odor and taste.
• "Gesamtkunstwerk," or "total piece of work of art," is a German word that refers to an artwork that attempts to address all five human senses.
• Installation art is a genre of iii-dimensional artwork that is designed to transform the viewer 's perception of a infinite .
• Virtual reality is a term that refers to computer-imitation environments.

Key Terms

• happening:A spontaneous or improvised event, especially one that involves audience participation.
• virtual reality:A reality based in the computer.

The inclusion of the five human senses in a single work takes place most often in installation and performance-based art. In addition, works that strive to include all senses at one time mostly brand apply of some course of interactivity, as the sense of gustatory modality clearly must involve the participation of the viewer. Historically, this attention to all senses was reserved to ritual and anniversary . In contemporary fine art, it is quite common for work to cater to the senses of sight, bear on, and hearing, while somewhat less common for art to address the senses of scent and taste.

The German word "Gesamtkunstwerk," meaning "total work of fine art," refers to a genre of artwork that attempts to address all v homo senses. The concept was brought to prominence by the High german opera composer Richard Wagner in 1849. Wagner staged an opera that sought to unite the fine art forms, which he felt had become overly disparate. Wagner'southward operas paid nifty attention to every item in order to achieve a state of total artistic immersion. "Gesamkunstwerk" is now an accepted English term relating to aesthetics , but has evolved from Wagner'due south definition to mean the inclusion of the five senses in art.

Installation art is a genre of 3-dimensional artwork that is designed to transform the viewer's perception of a space. Beach by Rachel Whiteread exemplifies this blazon of transformation. The term generally pertains to an interior space, while Land Art typically refers to an outdoor space, though there is some overlap between these terms. The Fluxus movement of the 1960s is central to the development of installation and performance art as mediums.

Rachel Whiteread, Beach, 2005: Whiteread's installation Embankment is a type of art designed to transform the viewer's perception of infinite.

"Virtual reality" is a term that refers to figurer-fake environments. Currently, most virtual reality environments are visual experiences, just some simulations include boosted sensory information. Immersive virtual reality has developed in recent years with the improvement of engineering science and is increasingly addressing the five senses within a virtual realm. Artists have been exploring the possibilities of these simulated and virtual realities with the expansion of the discipline of cyberarts, though what constitutes cyberart continues to exist upwardly for debate. Environments such as the virtual globe of Second Life are generally accepted, but whether or not video games should exist considered art remains undecided.

Compositional Residual

Compositional residual refers to the placement of the artistic elements in relation to each other within a piece of work of art.

Learning Objectives

Categorize the elements of compositional balance in a work of art

Key Takeaways

Cardinal Points

• A harmonious compositional remainder involves arranging elements and then that no ane role of a work overpowers or seems heavier than any other part.
• The three most mutual types of compositional balance are symmetrical, asymmetrical, and radial .
• When balanced, a limerick appears stable and visually right. Only equally symmetry relates to aesthetic preference and reflects an intuitive sense for how things "should" appear, the overall balance of a given limerick contributes to outside judgments of the work.

Key Terms

• radial:Arranged like rays that radiate from, or converge to, a common center.
• symmetry:Exact correspondence on either side of a dividing line, plane, middle, or centrality. The satisfying arrangement of a balanced distribution of the elements of a whole.
• disproportion:Desire of symmetry, or proportion between the parts of a thing, particularly want of bilateral symmetry. Lacking a mutual measure out between two objects or quantities; Incommensurability. That which causes something to not exist symmetrical.

Compositional balance refers to the placement of the elements of art (colour, grade , line , shape, infinite , texture , and value) in relation to each other. When balanced, a composition appears more than stable and visually pleasing. Just as symmetry relates to artful preference and reflects an intuitive sense for how things "should" appear, the overall balance of a given composition contributes to outside judgments of the piece of work.

Creating a harmonious compositional residue involves arranging elements then that no single office of a work overpowers or seems heavier than any other function. The iii most common types of compositional balance are symmetrical, asymmetrical, and radial.

Compositional balance: The three mutual types of balance are symmetric, asymmetric, and radial.

Symmetrical balance is the most stable, in a visual sense, and generally conveys a sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality. When both sides of an artwork on either side of the horizontal or vertical centrality of the picture aeroplane are the aforementioned in terms of the sense that is created past the organization of the elements of art, the work is said to exhibit this type of residual. The opposite of symmetry is asymmetry .

Leonardo da Vinci, Vitruvian Man, 1487: Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Human being is often used as a representation of symmetry in the human torso and, by extension, the natural universe.

Asymmetry is divers as the absence of, or a violation of, the principles of symmetry. Examples of asymmetry announced usually in architecture. Although pre-mod architectural styles tended to place an emphasis on symmetry (except where farthermost site atmospheric condition or historical developments lead away from this classical ideal), modern and postmodern architects oftentimes used disproportion as a blueprint element. For instance, while most bridges utilise a symmetrical form due to intrinsic simplicities of design, assay, fabrication, and economical employ of materials, a number of mod bridges have deliberately departed from this, either in response to site-specific considerations or to create a dramatic design statement. .

Oakland Bay Bridge: Eastern span replacement of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Span reflects asymmetrical architectural design.

Radial balance refers to round elements in compositions. In classical geometry, a radius of a circumvolve or sphere is whatsoever line segment from its center to its perimeter. By extension, the radius of a circle or sphere is the length of any such segment, which is half the diameter. The radius may be more half the bore, which is usually defined as the maximum distance between any two points of the figure. The inradius of a geometric figure is normally the radius of the largest circumvolve or sphere independent in information technology. The inner radius of a ring, tube or other hollow object is the radius of its cavity. The name "radial" or "radius" comes from Latin radius, meaning "ray" simply likewise the spoke of a circular chariot wheel.

Rhythm

Artists employ rhythm as a tool to guide the middle of the viewer through works of fine art.

Learning Objectives

Recognize and interpret the use of rhythm in a work of fine art

Central Takeaways

Central Points

• Rhythm may be more often than not defined every bit a "motion marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions" (Anon. 1971).
• Rhythm may also refer to visual presentation as "timed motion through space " (Jirousek 1995), and a common language of pattern unites rhythm with geometry.
• For instance, placing a scarlet spiral at the bottom left and top right, for example, will cause the eye to move from one spiral, to the other, and everything in between. It is indicating movement in the slice by the repetition of elements and, therefore, can make artwork seem active.

Key Terms

• symmetry:Exact correspondence on either side of a dividing line, plane, center or axis. The satisfying arrangement of a balanced distribution of the elements of a whole.

The principles of visual art are the rules, tools, and guidelines that artists use to organize the elements of in a piece of artwork. When the principles and elements are successfully combined, they assist in creating an aesthetically pleasing or interesting piece of work of art. While at that place is some variation amidst them, movement, unity, harmony, multifariousness, balance, rhythm, emphasis, dissimilarity , proportion, and pattern are usually sited equally principles of art.

Rhythm (from Greek rhythmos, "whatsoever regular recurring motility, symmetry " (Liddell and Scott 1996)) may be generally divers as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions" (Anon. 1971). This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in fourth dimension may exist applied to a broad variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or frequency of anything from microseconds to millions of years. In the performing arts, rhythm is the timing of events on a human scale, of musical sounds and silences, of the steps of a trip the light fantastic toe, or the meter of spoken linguistic communication and poetry. Rhythm may besides refer to visual presentation, equally "timed move through space" (Jirousek 1995), and a mutual linguistic communication of pattern unites rhythm with geometry.

In a visual limerick , pattern and rhythm are generally expressed by showing consistency with colors or lines . For case, placing a carmine spiral at the bottom left and top right, for instance, will crusade the eye to move from i screw, to the other, and then to the space in betwixt. The repetition of elements creates motility of the viewer 's eye and tin, therefore, brand the artwork feel active. Hilma af Klint's Svanen (The Swan) exemplifies the visual representation of rhythm using color and symmetry.

Hilma af Klint, Svanen (The Swan), 1914: Color and symmetry work together in this painting to guide the eye of the viewer in a item visual rhythm.

Proportion and Calibration

Proportion is a measurement of the size and quantity of elements within a composition.

Learning Objectives

Apply the concept of proportion to unlike works of fine art

Key Takeaways

Cardinal Points

• Hierarchical proportion is a technique used in art, mostly in sculpture and painting, in which the artist uses unnatural proportion or scale to depict the relative importance of the figures in the artwork.
• Mathematically, proportion is the relation between elements and a whole. In architecture, the whole is not just a building but the ready and setting of the site.
• Among the various ancient creative traditions, the harmonic proportions, human proportions, cosmic orientations, various aspects of sacred geometry , and minor whole-number ratios were all applied equally function of the practice of architectural pattern.

Key Terms

• golden ratio:The irrational number (approximately i·618), normally denoted by the Greek alphabetic character φ (phi), which is equal to the sum of its own reciprocal and ane, or, equivalently, is such that the ratio of i to the number is equal to the ratio of its reciprocal to ane. Some twentieth-century artists and architects have proportioned their works to gauge this—especially in the form of the golden rectangle, in which the ratio of the longer side to the shorter equals this number—believing this proportion to be aesthetically pleasing.

Proportion is a measurement of the size and quantity of elements within a composition . Hierarchical proportion is a technique used in art, mostly in sculpture and painting, in which the creative person uses unnatural proportion or calibration to depict the relative importance of the figures in the artwork. In ancient Egyptian fine art, for example, gods and of import political figures appear much larger than common people. Commencement with the Renaissance , artists recognized the connection betwixt proportion and perspective , and the illusion of three-dimensional space . Images of the man body in exaggerated proportion were used to depict the reality an artist interpreted.

Depiction of Narmer from the Narmer Palette: Narmer, a Predynastic ruler, accompanied by men conveying the standards of various local gods. This piece demonstrates the ancient Egyptians' use of proportion, with Narmer actualization larger than the other figures depicted.

Mathematically, proportion is the relation between elements and a whole. In compages, the whole is not just a building but the set and setting of the site. The things that make a building and its site "well shaped" include everything from the orientation of the site and the buildings on it, to the features of the grounds on which it is situated. Calorie-free, shade, current of air, elevation , and choice of materials all relate to a standard of architectural proportion.

Architecture has oft used proportional systems to generate or constrain the forms considered suitable for inclusion in a building. In almost every edifice tradition, there is a system of mathematical relations which governs the relationships between aspects of the design. These systems of proportion are often quite simple: whole number ratios or incommensurable ratios (such as the golden ratio) were determined using geometrical methods. By and large, the goal of a proportional system is to produce a sense of coherence and harmony among the elements of a edifice.

Among the various ancient artistic traditions, the harmonic proportions, human being proportions, catholic orientations, diverse aspects of sacred geometry, and small-scale whole-number ratios were all applied every bit part of the do of architectural design. For example, the Greek classical architectural orders are all proportioned rather than dimensioned or measured modules, because the earliest modules were not based on trunk parts and their spans (fingers, palms, hands, and feet), but rather on column diameters and the widths of arcades and fenestrations .

Temple of Portanus: The Greek Temple of Portanus is an instance of classical Greek architecture with its tetrastyle portico of four Ionic columns.

Typically, one set of column diameter modules used for casework and architectural moldings past the Egyptians and Romans is based on the proportions of the palm and the finger, while another less delicate module—used for door and window trim, tile work, and covering in Mesopotamia and Hellenic republic—was based on the proportions of the paw and the thumb.

Dating back to the Pythagoreans, there was an idea that proportions should be related to standards, and that the more general and formulaic the standards, the meliorate. This concept—that in that location should be beauty and elegance evidenced by a skillful composition of well understood elements—underlies mathematics, art, and compages. The classical standards are a serial of paired opposites designed to expand the dimensional constraints of harmony and proportion.

Space

Space in art can exist defined as the area that exists between 2 identifiable points.

Learning Objectives

Define space in art and listing ways information technology is employed by artists

Primal Takeaways

Key Points

• The organization of space is referred to as limerick and is an essential component to any work of art.
• The space of an artwork includes the groundwork, foreground, and eye ground , equally well equally the distance between, around, and within things.
• At that place are two types of space: positive infinite and negative infinite.
• After spending hundreds of years developing linear perspective , Western artistic notions well-nigh the accurate depiction of infinite went through a radical shift at the beginning of the 20th century.
• Cubism and subsequent modernist movements represented an important shift in the employ of infinite inside Western art, which is still being felt today.

Key Terms

• space:The distance or empty area between things.
• Cubism:An creative movement in the early 20th century characterized by the depiction of natural forms every bit geometric structures of planes.

The organization of space in art is referred to every bit limerick, and is an essential component of whatever work of art. Space can be mostly divers equally the expanse that exists between whatever two identifiable points.

Space is conceived of differently in each medium . The infinite in a painting, for example, includes the background, foreground and middle ground, while 3-dimensional space, similar sculpture or installation , will involve the altitude between, around, and within points of the work. Infinite is further categorized as positive or negative. "Positive space" can be defined as the subject area of an artwork, while "negative infinite" can exist defined every bit the space around the subject.

Over the ages, infinite has been conceived of in various ways. Artists have devoted a not bad bargain of time to experimenting with perspectives and degrees of flatness of the pictorial plane .

The perspective system has been a highly employed convention in Western art. Visually, it is an illusionist phenomenon, well suited to realism and the depiction of reality as it appears. After spending hundreds of years developing linear perspective, Western artistic conventions about the accurate depiction of space went through a radical shift at the beginning of the 20th century. The innovations of Cubism and subsequent modernist movements represented an of import shift in the utilize of space within Western art, the touch on of which is withal being felt.

Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907: Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is an example of cubist art, which has a tendency to flatten the motion picture aeroplane, and its use of abstract shapes and irregular forms suggest multiple points of view inside a single paradigm.

Two-Dimensional Space

Two-dimensional, or bi-dimensional, space is a geometric model of the planar projection of the physical universe in which we live.

Learning Objectives

Discuss two-dimensional space in art and the physical properties on which it is based

Primal Takeaways

Fundamental Points

• In physical terms, dimension refers to the elective construction of all space and its position in fourth dimension.
• Drawing is a grade of visual fine art that makes use of whatsoever number of instruments to mark a 2-dimensional medium .
• Almost any dimensional form can be represented by some combination of the cube, sphere, cylinder, and cone. Once these basic shapes accept been assembled into a likeness, then the drawing tin can be refined into a more accurate and polished form.

Fundamental Terms

• dimension:A single aspect of a given affair. A measure of spatial extent in a particular direction, such every bit top, width or breadth, or depth.
• Two-Dimensional:Existing in two dimensions. Not creating the illusion of depth.
• Planar:Of or pertaining to a plane. Flat, ii-dimensional.

2 dimensional, or bi-dimensional, space is a geometric model of the planar projection of the physical universe in which nosotros live. The 2 dimensions are usually called length and width. Both directions lie on the same airplane . In physics, our bi-dimensional space is viewed as a planar representation of the space in which we move.

Mathematical depiction of bi-dimensional space: Bi-dimensional Cartesian coordinate organization.

In fine art composition , cartoon is a class of visual fine art that makes use of any number of cartoon instruments to mark a ii-dimensional medium (meaning that the object does not have depth). One of the simplest and about efficient means of communicating visual ideas, the medium has been a popular and fundamental means of public expression throughout human history. Additionally, the relative availability of basic cartoon instruments makes drawing more universal than most other media.

Measuring the dimensions of a subject while blocking in the drawing is an important step in producing a realistic rendition of a discipline. Tools such every bit a compass tin can be used to measure the angles of different sides. These angles tin be reproduced on the drawing surface and then rechecked to make sure they are authentic. Another form of measurement is to compare the relative sizes of different parts of the subject with each other. A finger placed at a point along the drawing implement can be used to compare that dimension with other parts of the image. A ruler can be used both as a straightedge and a device to compute proportions. When attempting to draw a complicated shape such every bit a man figure, information technology is helpful at offset to represent the grade with a set of primitive shapes.

Almost any dimensional course tin can be represented by some combination of the cube, sphere, cylinder, and cone. Once these basic shapes have been assembled into a likeness, so the drawing can be refined into a more than accurate and polished form. The lines of the primitive shapes are removed and replaced by the final likeness. A more than refined fine art of figure drawing relies upon the artist possessing a deep understanding of anatomy and the human proportions. A trained artist is familiar with the skeleton structure, joint location, muscle placement, tendon movement, and how the different parts work together during motility. This allows the artist to render more natural poses that do not announced artificially strong. The artist is likewise familiar with how the proportions vary depending on the age of the subject, particularly when drawing a portrait.

Drawing human figures: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec'south Madame Palmyre with Her Dog, 1897.

Linear Perspective and Three-Dimensional Space

Perspective is an approximate representation on a flat surface of an image as it is seen by the eye.

Learning Objectives

Explain perspective and its bear on on art composition

Fundamental Takeaways

Key Points

• Systematic attempts to evolve a system of perspective are usually considered to take begun around the 5th century B.C. in the art of Ancient Greece.
• The earliest fine art paintings and drawings typically sized objects and characters hierarchically according to their spiritual or thematic importance, not their distance from the viewer .
• In Medieval Europe, the use and sophistication of attempts to convey altitude increased steadily but without a basis in a systematic theory.
• By the Renaissance , nearly every artist in Italy used geometrical perspective in their paintings, both to portray depth and besides every bit a new and "of the moment" compositional method.

Central Terms

• curvilinear:Having bends; curved; formed by curved lines.
• horizon line:A horizontal line in perspective drawing, straight opposite the viewer's center and often unsaid, that represents objects infinitely far away and determines the angle or perspective from which the viewer sees the piece of work.
• vanishing point:The bespeak in a perspective drawing at which parallel lines receding from an observer seem to converge.
• Perspective:The technique of representing three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface.

In art, perspective is an approximate representation on a flat surface of an image equally it is seen by the centre, calculated by assuming a particular vanishing point . Systematic attempts to evolve a system of perspective are unremarkably considered to take begun around the 5th century BCE in the art of Aboriginal Greece. By the later periods of antiquity , artists—particularly those in less pop traditions—were well enlightened that distant objects could be shown smaller than those shut at hand for increased illusionism. But whether this convention was really used in a piece of work depended on many factors. Some of the paintings found in the ruins of Pompeii show a remarkable realism and perspective for their fourth dimension.

The primeval art paintings and drawings typically sized objects and characters hierarchically according to their spiritual or thematic importance, not their distance from the viewer. The most of import figures are oft shown as the highest in a limerick , as well from hieratic motives, leading to the "vertical perspective" common in the art of Ancient Arab republic of egypt , where a group of "nearer" figures are shown below the larger effigy(s).

The art of the Migration Period had no tradition of attempting compositions of large numbers of figures, and Early Medieval fine art was tiresome and inconsistent in relearning the convention from classical models, though the process can be seen underway in Carolingian fine art. European Medieval artists were enlightened of the general principle of varying the relative size of elements co-ordinate to altitude, and use and sophistication of attempts to convey altitude increased steadily during the menstruation, simply without a ground in a systematic theory.

Past the Renaissance, nonetheless, nearly every artist in Italy used geometrical perspective in their paintings. Non but was this utilise of perspective a manner to portray depth, but it was also a new method of composing a painting. Paintings began to show a single, unified scene, rather than a combination of several. For a while, perspective remained the domain of Florence. Gradually, and partly through the move of academies of the arts, the Italian techniques became office of the preparation of artists across Europe and, later, other parts of the world.

Perspective in Renaissance Painting: Pietro Perugino's usage of perspective in this fresco at the Sistine Chapel (1481–82) helped bring the Renaissance to Rome.

A drawing has ane-point perspective when information technology contains only one vanishing point on the horizon line . This type of perspective is typically used for images of roads, railway tracks, hallways, or buildings viewed so that the forepart is directly facing the viewer. Whatsoever objects that are fabricated up of lines either directly parallel with the viewer's line of sight or directly perpendicular (the railroad slats) can be represented with one-point perspective. These parallel lines converge at the vanishing point.

Two-bespeak perspective can be used to depict the same objects as one-point perspective, but rotated—such as looking at the corner of a house, or looking at 2 forked roads shrink into the distance. In looking at a business firm from the corner, for example, one wall would recede towards one vanishing signal and the other wall would recede towards the opposite vanishing signal.

Three-bespeak perspective is used for buildings depicted from higher up or below. In improver to the two vanishing points from before, one for each wall, in that location is now a third 1 for how those walls recede into the ground . This third vanishing bespeak would be beneath the footing.

4-point perspective is the curvilinear variant of two-point perspective. The resulting elongated frame can be used both horizontally and vertically. Like all other foreshortened variants of perspective, iv-point perspective starts off with a horizon line, followed past four equally spaced vanishing points to delineate four vertical lines. Because vanishing points be just when parallel lines are nowadays in the scene, a perspective with no vanishing points ("nothing-signal") occurs if the viewer is observing a non-rectilinear scene. The about common example of a nonlinear scene is a natural scene (due east.1000., a mountain range), which frequently does not contain any parallel lines. A perspective without vanishing points tin yet create a sense of depth.

Distortions of Space and Foreshortening

Distortion is used to create various representations of infinite in 2-dimensional works of art.

Learning Objectives

Identify how distortion is both employed and avoided in works of art

Key Takeaways

Primal Points

• Perspective projection distortion is the inevitable misrepresentation of three-dimensional space when drawn or "projected" onto a two-dimensional surface. It is incommunicable to accurately depict iii-dimensional reality on a two-dimensional plane .
• However, in that location are several constructs available which permit for seemingly authentic representation. Perspective projection can exist used to mirror how the eye sees past the use of one or more vanishing points .
• Although distortion can be irregular or follow many patterns, the most commonly encountered distortions in composition , especially in photography, are radially symmetric, or approximately so, arising from the symmetry of a photographic lens.

Key Terms

• radial:Arranged like rays that radiate from, or converge into, a mutual center
• projection:The image that a translucent object casts onto another object.
• foreshortening:A technique for creating the appearance that the object of a drawing is extending into infinite past shortening the lines with which that object is drawn.

A distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of an object, image, sound, or other course of information or representation. Distortion can be wanted or unwanted by the artist. Distortion is usually unwanted when information technology concerns physical degradation of a work. However, it is more than commonly referred to in terms of perspective, where it is employed to create realistic representations of space in two-dimensional works of fine art.

Perspective Projection Distortion

Perspective project distortion is the inevitable misrepresentation of three-dimensional space when drawn or "projected" onto a two-dimensional surface. Information technology is impossible to accurately depict three-dimensional reality on a ii-dimensional plane. However, at that place are several constructs bachelor that let for seemingly accurate representation. The nearly common of these is perspective projection. Perspective projection tin can be used to mirror how the eye sees by making use of one or more vanishing points.

Giotto, Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ), 1305–1306: Giotto is i of the near notable pre-Renaissance artists to recognize distortion on two-dimensional planes.

Foreshortening

Foreshortening is the visual effect or optical illusion that causes an object or altitude to announced shorter than it actually is because information technology is angled toward the viewer . Although foreshortening is an important element in art where visual perspective is being depicted, foreshortening occurs in other types of ii-dimensional representations of three-dimensional scenes, such every bit oblique parallel projection drawings.

The physiological basis of visual foreshortening was undefined until the year 1000 when the Arabian mathematician and philosopher, Alhazen, in his Perspectiva, first explained that light projects conically into the middle. A method for presenting foreshortened geometry systematically onto a plane surface was unknown for another 300 years. The artist Giotto may accept been the first to recognize that the image beheld by the middle is distorted: to the middle, parallel lines announced to intersect (similar the afar edges of a path or route), whereas in "undistorted" nature, they exercise not. In many of Giotto's paintings, perspective is employed to achieve various distortion effects.

Foreshortening: This painting illustrates Melozzo da Forlì'due south usage of upward foreshortening in his frescoes at The Basilica della Santa Casa.

Distortion in Photography

In photography, the projection mechanism is light reflected from an object. To execute a cartoon using perspective projection, projectors emanate from all points of an object and intersect at a station bespeak. These projectors intersect with an imaginary aeroplane of project and an image is created on the plane past the points of intersection. The resulting epitome on the projection aeroplane reproduces the paradigm of the object as information technology is beheld from the station point.

Radial distortion can unremarkably exist classified as one of 2 main types: barrel distortion and pincushion distortion. Barrel distortion occurs when image magnification decreases with distance from the optical axis. The apparent effect is that of an prototype which has been mapped around a sphere (or barrel). Fisheye lenses, which take hemispherical views, utilize this type of distortion as a way to map an infinitely wide object airplane into a finite epitome area.

On the other hand, in pincushion distortion, the image magnification increases with the distance from the optical axis. The visible effect is that lines that do not go through the center of the image are bowed inwards, towards the center of the paradigm, like a pincushion. A certain corporeality of pincushion baloney is frequently found with visual optical instruments (i.e., binoculars), where it serves to eliminate the globe effect.

Cylindrical perspective is a grade of distortion caused by fisheye and panoramic lenses, which reproduce directly horizontal lines above and below the lens axis level as curved, while reproducing straight horizontal lines on lens axis level every bit straight. This is also a mutual feature of wide-angle anamorphic lenses of less than 40mm focal length in cinematography. Essentially it is only butt distortion, but only in the horizontal aeroplane. Information technology is an artifact of the squeezing process that anamorphic lenses do to fit widescreen images onto standard-width pic.

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/visual-elements/