Final Review
Principles of Design
• Pattern• Balance• Movement• Rhythm
• Emphasis• Contrast• Unity/Harmony
PaTtErN
• A repeating of an element within a composition or section of composition
• Examples: Repeated shapes within a quilt; repeated arch ways on the façade of a building; strips or spots on an animal
*Many animals have many different patterns on their body created by stripes and/or spots
Notre Dame CathedralParis, France
• Chrysler Building, New York, New York William Van Allen
*Artists use Pattern within their artwork to add excitement and movement to the composition
• Chuck Close, Emmadetail of
selection
• Jasper Johns, Numbers in Color
Balance
• Balance in visual art can be formal, informal and radial.
• Formal balance places equal or very similar objects on either side of a central axis.
• In radial balance, equal or similar objects radiate from a central point.
• Informal balance is a balance of unlike objects.
Formal Balance: Symmetry
Informal Balance: Asymmetry
Radial Balance
Movement
• Visual direction created by elements of Art arranged in an organized way
• This can be achieved by using Pattern or repeated a single shape several times
Rhythm• Rhythm is the repetition of visual
movement – colors, shapes, or lines
• Variety is essential to keep Rhythms exciting and active to the viewer
• Marcel Duchamp,
Nude Descending a Staircase
Emphasis
• Emphasis is used to create dominance and focus in an artwork
• Artists can emphasize color, value, shapes, or other art elements to achieve dominance
• Various kinds of contrast can be used to emphasize a center of interest
Contrast• Contrast refers to differences in
values, colors, textures, shapes, and other elements
• Contrasts create visual excitement and add interest to the work
• If all the art elements are the same, the result is unexciting and boring to the viewer
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Value Scale
Unity/Harmony• Unity provides the cohesive quality that
makes an artwork feel complete and finished
• Unity is achieved when all the elements in a work look as though they belong together
• One way to do this is by clustering elements together within an artwork
• What Elements make these Unified and Harmonious???
Let’s point out all or as many Principles of Design as possible in Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper.
• Pattern, Balance, Movement, Rhythm, Emphasis, Contrast, Unity