Elements

Elements of Art (building blocks of visual art)

 

Line
Line is the path of a point moving through space. As an art element, line pertains to the use of various marks, outlines and implied lines in artwork and design. A line has a width, direction, and length. A line’s width is sometimes called its “thickness”. Lines are sometimes called “strokes”, especially when referring to lines in digital artwork.

Shape / Form
Shape implies spatial form and is usually perceived as two-dimensional. Form has depth, length, and width and resides in space. It is perceived as three-dimensional.

Color
Colors all come from the three primaries and black and white. They have three properties – hue, value, and intensity.

Value
Value refers to relative lightness and darkness and is perceived in terms of varying levels of contrast.

Texture
Texture refers to the tactile qualities of a surface (actual) or to the visual representation of such surface qualities (implied).

Space / Perspective
Space refers to the area in which art is organized. Perspective is representing a volume of space or a 3-dimensional object on a flat surface.