Fundamentals of visual art

The essentials

Every work of visual art can be studied in terms of its elements (the basic building blocks) and its principles (the ways these are organised). Knowing these helps you describe and judge any painting, sculpture or design.

Key points

• Line: a mark with length and direction; can be straight, curved, thick, thin; horizontal lines suggest calm, diagonal lines suggest movement.
• Shape: a flat, two-dimensional area (circle, square, organic shapes).
• Form: a three-dimensional object, or the illusion of it (sphere, cube); sculpture works with real form.
• Colour: has hue (name of the colour), value (lightness or darkness) and intensity (brightness or dullness).
• Primary colours (traditional pigment wheel): red, yellow, blue. Secondary: orange, green, violet, each made by mixing two primaries.
• Complementary colours lie opposite on the colour wheel: red–green, blue–orange, yellow–violet.
• Tint = colour + white; shade = colour + black.
• Warm colours (red, orange, yellow) seem to advance; cool colours (blue, green, violet) seem to recede.
• Texture: the surface quality, real (felt) or implied (seen).
• Space: the area around and between objects; positive (filled) and negative (empty) space.
• Principles: balance (symmetrical or asymmetrical), rhythm (repetition creating movement), proportion (size relationships), emphasis (focal point), unity or harmony, contrast, and variety.

Exam tips

• Distinguish shape (2-D) from form (3-D).
• Learn complementary pairs; they are commonly asked.

Common mistakes

• Confusing a tint with a shade.
• Thinking balance always means symmetry; asymmetrical balance uses different elements of equal visual weight.