Elements of Art Form, Value, Texture and Space
Dec 13, 2015
Form
• A form is a three dimensional object.
It has length, width and depth.
• Architecture, sculpture and pottery are all examples of forms.
• There are many types of forms…..
Form: closed
• A closed form does not interact with the space around it
• This sculpture of the
Pharaoh Kafra,
ca. 2570 b.c. is an example.
Form: open
• An open form interacts with the space around it.• This sculpture, Recumbent Figure, by Henry Moore,
1938, allows space to flow through the piece as well as around it.
Form: relief
• A form carved in relief can
not be viewed from all
sides, as shown here in
this ancient Greek carving.
Value: shade
• If you add black to a color, you create a shade of that color. Adding black to blue, will create a midnight-blue shade.
Value: tint
• If you add white to a color, you are creating a tint of that color.
• Pink is a tint of red.
Value: uses
• Value is often used to create the illusion of form or depth. Here the different values create the illusion of 3-D.
Value: uses
• In the Mona Lisa, you
can see how the lighter
values appear further
away than the darker
values.
Value: uses
• Value can be used in art to create dramatic effects.
• In Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, the different values draw the eye to specific parts of the work.
Texture
• Texture is the element of art that deals with the actual feel or touch of the surface of the artwork, or the way it looks as though it would feel.
• All surfaces have textures.
Texture
• Texture is an important quality in Vincent van Gogh’s Starry
Night, as shown in this
close-up of the work.
Space
• Space is the element of art that deals with the perception of depth or dimension.
• It defines how objects are organized.
Space
• 2-dimensional works can imply more space than is actually present.
• The use of perspective creates the illusion of space on a 2-D surface.
• An example is Raphael’s The School of Athens, 1509. The Vatican. It uses linear perspective (the use of a vanishing point).
Space: atmospheric perspective
• Another technique for creating the illusion of space on a 2-D surface is atmospheric perspective.
• Atmospheric perspective creates depth by changing the colors, values and details.
• We see all of these in Albert Bierstadt’s Among the Sierra Nevada, California, 1868.