Exploring the Language of Art: Elements, Principles, and Creation Process

1. Art Examples Winged Victory of Samothrace, Hellenistic statue, Three Musicians by Picasso, Floral Art by Teselaar Flowers, Café Terrace by Night by Van Gogh, Marilyn Diptych by Andy Warhol

2. Speaking the Language of Art • “A picture can say a thousand words” • Art can be used as a language to convey messages • Art is symbolic • what we see are symbols • visual items that stand for, or represent, something else • Floral Design can be art • flowers convey feelings and emotions between people

3. Floral Design as Art • Using flowers as an art medium we can create works of art that include elements of design. • Elements of design are basic visual symbols in art. • We use these words to describe the parts of a work of art. • Line • Shape & Form • Space & Depth • Color & Value • Texture • A work of art can contain all or some of these elements.

4. Elements of Design Line Form / Shape Space / Depth Color Texture / Pattern Size

5. Principles of art • The rules that govern how artists organize the elements of design are called the principles of design • Rhythm • Movement • Balance • Proportion • Variety • Emphasis • Harmony • Unity • These help artists organize the art elements for specific effects. • We combineelements of design using principles of art.

6. Principles of Art • Balance • Proportion • Focal Point • Harmony • Contrast • Rhythm • Unity

7. Combining Elements & Principles • Take the same group of ingredients and you can combine them in a variety of ways using different recipes. • Flour, Sugar, Eggs, Baking Soda, Salt, and Butter combine to make different things! • Cookies • Cake • Cupcakes • Pancakes • We use different quantities and follow different recipes to get a different result, even though we use the same basic ingredients.

8. Making a Work of Art • Every work of art has a subject. • The subject is the image viewers can easily identify in a work of art (also called a focal point in a floral design) • Some works of art are images of people or places • Some art represents landscapes or nature • Some art has NO recognizable subject matter, this is called nonobjective art • Composition is combining the principles of design to organize the elements of design. Artists follow a method (or recipe) to create the finished product! This can be a painting, sculpture, or floral design. • Content is the message that the work of art communicates to the viewer. It may be an idea, theme, or emotion.

9. Activity: Create a Symbol • Create a Symbol! • In visual art, symbols can be concrete representations of abstract ideas, such as a heart standing for love. • Create a visual symbol that represents something important to you, such as an activity you participate in, or an organization you belong to. • Include something that is meaningful to you! • Share your symbol with a classmate. Can they identify what it represents?