Memory. N
Masina
Grade 8
Elements of
Art

Elements of Art
The building blocks or ingredients of art.
They structure and carry the work.

What are the elements
of arts?
The Elements of Art are the “tools” that artists use to
make art.
There
are
7
of
them:

Elements of Art
1. Line
5. Form
2. Color
6. Space
3. Value
7. Texture
4. Shape

Line

Line
A line is a path that a point takes through space.
Lines can be thick, thin, dotted or solid. They
can be straight, zig-zagged, wavy, curly, etc.
They may be horizontal
vertical
diagonal

Color

Color
Color has three properties:
1. HUE: this is the name of the colors
2. VALUE: refers to the lightness or
darkness of a hue.
3. INTENSITY: refers to the purity of
the hue (called “Chroma”)

Color

Warm and Cool Colors
Warm – red, orange, yellow
Cool – green, blue, violet

Neutral Colors
These colors are made by adding a complimentary color
(opposite on the color wheel) to a hue. Neutralized hues
are called tones.

Value
Value is the lightness or darkness of a color. Value
makes objects appear more real because it imitates
natural light. When showing value in a work of art,
you will need a LIGHT SOURCE.
A light source is the
place where the light is
coming from, the
darkest areas are
always on the opposite
side of the light.

VALUE
High Range in Value
Low Range in Value

Shape
Shape is created when a line becomes
connected and encloses space. It is the
outline or outward appearance of something.
Shapes are 2 Dimensional- which means
you can measure its HEIGHT and its
WIDTH.
There are two basic types of shapes:

Geometric shapes have smooth
even edges and are measurable.
The include the square, the circle,
the triangle and the rectangle.

Organic shapes have more
complicated edges and are
usually found in nature- such
as leaves and flowers.

Form
A Form is a shape that has become 3Dimensional (3-D) Form has
HEIGHT, WIDTH and DEPTH. Depth shows
the thickness of the object. Forms are NOT
flat like shapes are!

Form can be 2D
Form can be 3D

.
S
p
c
a
e

S p a c e
Space is the area in, around, above, below, etc. in a
composition. It is basically divided into 3 parts:
Foreground, Middle Ground, and Background.

S p a c e
Positive (filled with something) and Negative (empty areas)

S p a c e
Perspective is when the artist uses a vanishing
point on the horizon and then creates a sense of
deep space by showing objects getting
progressively smaller as they get closer to the
vanishing point.

TEXTURE
The surface quality or "feel" of an object, its
smoothness, roughness, softness, etc.

TEXTURE
Textures may be actual or implied.

TEXTURE
Implied – texture that has been
simulated in drawing and
painting on a smooth surface
Actual – texture that you can feel
with your sense of touch

References
This presentation is a mash up of 3 different sources. They
are:
Dkotopoulis. S ( 2010) The Elements of Art, the ingredients
for a great composition
http://www.slideshare.net/dkotopoulis/the-elements-of-art
Accessed on 05 March 2014
Duckworth. S (2013) Elements of Art
http://www.slideshare.net/ShawnDuckworth/elements-ofart-26721998 Accessed on 05 March 2014
Restrepo. N (2011) Elements of Art
http://www.slideshare.net/maunilpatel766/elements-of-art9747693 Accessed on 05 March 2014