The Elements of Art

1. The Elements of Art And how they are used to create interesting photos

2. The Elements of Art: The Elements of Art are the basic building blocks of an image. They are: • Line • Color/Value • Texture • Shape/Form • Space

3. The Elements of Art in Photography: • Just as in a painting or sculpture, the Elements of Art are the building blocks of any good photograph. Jerry Uelsmann- “Ripple in Hand”

4. Line: • Line is an edge or border between objects. • Sometimes line is the primary subject of a photograph, as in the example on the right.

5. Line: • Other times, line is used tolead the viewer’s eye around, or to cause them to look at an area or object that is the main focus of the photograph. Cornell Capa- “Bolshoi Ballet School”

6. Color and Value: • Color and value are grouped together because sometimes they exist exclusively. The painting on the right shows little black or white. Instead of using pure black or white to represent highlights and shadows, the artist chose colors. Janet Fish- “Green Tea Cup”

7. Color and Value: • In a drawing, the artist does the exact opposite. They use a value ( a specific shade of gray) to represent every color.

8. Value • When using black and white film, the film also records each color as a specific value. Lewis Hine- “Steamfitter”

9. Texture: • Texture is the way something feels, or looks like it would feel if touched. • Look at the image to the right. Use adjectives to describe the different textures you see.

10. Texture: • When taking photographs, texture will almost always be an important element. • This is because almost everything we come into contact with has some kind of texture. Frederick Sommer- “Livia”

11. Shape/Form: • Shape is a 2-dimensional line with no form or thickness. • Form is a 3-dimensional object having volume and thickness. Geometric Forms

12. Shape/Form: • In Photography, shapes and forms convey not only what something is, but what properties it has. What properties does the image to the right have? Imogen Cunningham- “Seda”

13. Space: • Space can be used to refer to distance, or to the empty space in an artwork Andrew Wyeth - “Christina’s World”

14. Negative Space: • Negative space is the area in between and around objects. Positive Space Negative Space

15. Negative Space: • Often, what we leave out of a photograph is as important as what we choose to include. • The shapes created by the negative space in an image can have a great impact on the overall look of the photograph. Horst P. Horst- “Mainbocher's Pink Satin Corset”

16. Summary: • You have probably noticed that many of the photographs we looked at contained more than one of the elements of art. This is expected! Often, several elements will appear in each photograph. George Krause- “Fountainhead”

17. Summary: • It is important to understand and to use a variety of the elements of art in order to make your photographs stronger. • Until you are more familiar with the elements of art, it is a good idea to look over the list prior to shooting photos. • You will have a quiz on your elements of art so make sure you know them!