SUBJECT: ART HISTORY

DEFINITIONS

Design Chart
Concepts
For you to stop having problems with the Design Chart (D.C.) I am giving you a review of what
each concept means.
1. First you will analyze the work of art.
2. You will number each of the concepts you find in order of importance.
3. Each of the concepts must relate between your explanation and what is the D.C.
4. At the end as your own conclusion, from now on, you will tell and explain what is your final
concept of the work of art you are analyzing.

ELEMENTS OF ART.

Each of the concepts explained.

Color
Is an element made up of three distinct qualities: hue, intensity, and value.
When talking about a color or the differences between two or more colors, you can refer to any one
or all of these qualities

Hue
Refers to the name of a color.
The term is used to point out the difference between a blue and a green, or a red and a yellow.

Intensity
Is the quality of brightness and purity.
When a hue is strong and bright, it is said to be high in intensity. When that same color is faint and
dull, it is said to be low in intensity.

Value in Color
When describing a hue, the term value refers to that hue’s lightness or darkness.
Value changes are often obtained by adding black or white to a particular hue.
The terms warm and cool are applied to certain colors on the color wheel. Cool colors are often
associated with water and sky. These are colors that contain blue and green and appear on the side
of the wheel opposite the warm colors.

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DESIGN CHART CONCEPTS
 SUBJECT: ART HISTORY

DEFINITIONS

Warm colors are often associated with fire and sun. These are colors that contain red and yellow
and appear on the side of the wheel opposite the cool colors. Cool colors appear to recede in space,
whereas warm colors seem to advance.
Abrupt or gradual changes in value can add greatly to the visual effect of these art forms. Abrupt
value changes can suggest planes, or flat surfaces at various angles to each other.
Gradual value changes can indicate concave or convex surfaces. They can do even more, however.
Changes in value can help the artist express an idea.

Line
Line is an element that is difficult to describe, although most people know what it is and can easily
think of several ways to create it.
Perhaps the simplest way to define line is to refer to it as a continuous mark made on some surface
by a moving point.
1. Emphasizing Line: One type of line is used to show the edges, or contours, of an object. This is
called a contour line.Such a line is familiar to anyone who has tried to draw. se objects in outline
form. Artists often use contour lines in much the same way to identify and describe objects in
their drawings and paintings. They do this even though they know that these outlines are not
actually a part of the real object. The contour line separates the object from the background
and from other objects in the same work.
2. De-emphasizing Line: Some artists try to eliminate or conceal the outline of objects in their
pictures. The term painterly is often used when describing works by these artists, for example:
Claude Monet.
3. Line and Sculpture: The terms linear and painterly are not reserved only for discussions about
paintings. They are also applied to sculptures.
4. Line and Movement: In addition to defining objects in works of art, line can also suggest
movement. This movement might be horizontal, vertical, diagonal, or curved. Certain feelings
or sensations are associated with each of these movements.
i. Vertical,or straight up and down, suggests strength and stability.
ii. Horizontal,or from side to side, suggests calmness.
iii. Diagonal suggests tension.
iv. Curved suggests a flowing movement. Sometimes the feelings suggested by the lines in a
picture can influence your reactions to it. The lines in one picture may help you feel calm and
relaxed, whereas the lines in another may create a tense and uneasy feeling.
v. An axis line, an imaginary line that is traced through an object or several objects in a
picture,can be helpful when you are trying to identify movement and the direction of
movement in a work of art. It can show you whether the object or objects have been
organized in a particular direction.

Texture
Whenever you talk about the surface quality, or “feel,” of an object, you are discussing its texture.
Texture is the element of art that refers to the way things feel, or look as if they might feel if touched.
In painting, some works have an overall smooth surface in which even the marks of the paintbrush
have been carefully concealed.

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DESIGN CHART CONCEPTS
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DEFINITIONS

There are no textural “barriers” or “distractions” to get in e way as your eyes sweep over the smooth,
glossy surface. Other paintings have a more uneven surface. This is the case when a heavy
application of paint produces a rough texture that you sense with your eyes and feel with your
fingers.
Both types of painting are examples of actual texture because you actually feel the smooth surface of
one and the rough surface of the other.
•Texture and Sculpture: Because three-dimensional forms seem to invite touch, texture is
especially important to sculptors. They recognize the urge to touch a sculptured surface and
often encourage this by providing rich textural effects.

Shape and Form

The term shape refers to a two-dimensional area clearly set off by one or more of the other visual
elements, such as color, value, line, texture,and space. Shapes are flat. They are limited to only two
dimensions: length and width. This two-dimensional character of shape distinguishes it from form,
which has depth as well as length and width.
Thus, a form is an object with three dimensions
•Mass and Volume: Two important features of form are mass and volume. Mass refers to
the outside size and bulk of a form, and volume refers to the space within a form.

Space
Can be thought of as the distance or area between, around, above, below, or within things.In art,
space is an element that can be either three-dimensional or two-dimensional.
Three-dimensional space, which has height, width, and depth, is known as actual space.
It is the type of space found in art forms that are three-dimensional such as sculpture, ceramics, and
architecture.

PRINCIPLES OF ART.

Each of the concepts explained.

Balance
•Refers to a way of combining elements to add a feeling of equilibrium or stability to a work of art.
•Balance can be of three kinds:
6. Symmetrical: means a formal balance in which two halves of a work are identical; one half
mirrors the other half.This is the simplest kind of balance.
7. Asymmetrical: Is more informal and takes into account such qualities as hue, intensity, and
value in addition to size and shape. All these qualities have an effect on the apparent weight
of objects shown in a work of art. It is possible to balance a large brightly colored area on
one side of a picture with another large shape of a light hue on the other side
8. Radial: when objects are positioned around a central point.

Emphasis

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DESIGN CHART CONCEPTS
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DEFINITIONS

Or contrast, is a way of combining elements to stress the differences between those elements.
Contrasting elements often are used to direct and focus the viewer’s attention on the most
important parts of a design.
Artists try to avoid making works of art in which the same colors, values, lines, shapes, forms,
textures, and space relationships are used over and over again. They know that such works may be
monotonous and uninteresting. To avoid this, artists introduce obvious contrasts that establish
centers of interest in their works.

Harmony
Refers to a way of combining similar elements in an artwork to accent their similarities.It is
accomplished through the use of repetitions and subtle, gradual changes.
A limited number of like elements often are used in an effort to tie the picture parts together into a
harmonious whole.

Variety
Is a way of combining elements in involved ways to create intricate and complicated relationships.
It is achieved through diversity and change.
Artists turn to this principle when they want to increase the visual interest of their works. A picture
made up of many different hues, values, lines, textures, and shapes would be described as complex.

Gradation
Refers to a way of combining elements by using a series of gradual changes in those elements.
Examples of gradation include a gradual change from small shapes to large shapes or from a dark
hue to a light hue.
Unlike emphasis, which often stresses sudden and abrupt changes in elements, gradation refers to
an ordered, step-by-step change

Movement
Is the principle of art used to create the look and feeling of action and to guide the viewer’s eye
throughout the work of art.
Of course, in a two-dimensional artwork, any look or sensation of action or motion is only an
illusion: A horse shown in full gallop gives only the impression of motion.
There are some three-dimensional artworks, however, that actually do move. They allow the viewer
to study the constantly changing relationships of colors, shapes, forms, lines, and textures found in
the artworks.
Movement is also used to direct the viewer’s attention to a center of interest, or to make certain that
the main parts of the work are noted.
This movement is achieved through placement of elements so that the eye follows a certain path,
such as the curve of a line, the contours of a shape, or the repetition of certain colors, textures, or
shapes

Rhythm
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DESIGN CHART CONCEPTS
 SUBJECT: ART HISTORY

DEFINITIONS

Closely related to movement is the principle of rhythm.

Rhythm is created by the careful placement of repeated elements in a work of art to cause a visual
tempo or beat.
These repeated elements invite the viewer’s eye to jump rapidly or glide smoothly from one to the
next.
The same shape may be repeated several times and arranged across the picture to create the
sensation of movement in a certain direction. As the viewer’s eye sweeps from shape to shape, this
sensation is heightened.
Sometimes visual contrasts set up a rhythm, in which elements are repeated and combined with
contrasting colors, values, shapes, lines, or textures. A certain color may rush forward, then
backward, or light values may clash with darker values, all the while moving the viewer’s eye
through the work.

Proportion
Refers to the principle of art concerned with the relationship of certain elements to the whole and to
each other.
Proportion often is closely connected with emphasis.
If in a certain portion of a painting, there are more intense hues than dull hues, or more rough
textures than smooth, emphasis is suggested. In a similar manner, the large size of one shape
compared with the smaller sizes of other shapes creates visual emphasis. The viewer’s eye is
automatically attracted to the larger, dominant shape.

Achieving Unity
Unity may be thought of as an overall concept—or principle. It refers to the total effect of a work of
art.
This is part of your conclusion, with this you will completely analyze works of art.
Questions to ask for your conclusion:
1. Are the hues in the picture balanced formally or informally?
2. Are contrasting hues used to direct the eye to areas of emphasis?
3. Is harmony achieved through the use of similar hues that are repeated throughout the
picture?
4. Are different hues used to add variety to the composition?
5. Do any of the hues change gradually, or in a gradation from one to another?
6. Are the hues arranged to create a feeling of movement or rhythm?
7. Is the presence of any one hue out of proportion to the other hues used in the picture?
Once you have completed an examination of hue, turn to the next quality of color, which is intensity,
and repeat the procedure with all the principles. An analysis carried on in this manner can help you
gain the knowledge and understanding needed to determine how the parts of a picture have been
put together to achieve unity.

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DESIGN CHART CONCEPTS
Name of WorkART
SUBJECT: of Art:
HISTORY

Author: DEFINITIONS
Movement: Year:

PRINCIPLES OF ART

Movement/
Balance Emphasis Harmony Variety Gradation Proportion
Rhythm

Color:
Hue

Intensity

Value
ELEMENTS OF ART

Value:

Unity
Non-Color

Line

Texture

Shape/
Form

Space

Analysis of the Design Chart. Explain thoroughly, to be done as an Essay.

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DESIGN CHART CONCEPTS