Republic of the Philippines

CEBU ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL COLLEGES

Bogo City, Cebu

College of Teacher Education

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LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET # 1

Course Title : Art appreciation

Type of Activity : Arts and Environment, Monochromatic colors
Activity Title : Elements and Principles of arts
Duration : 3 hours
Learning Target/s : Learn the elements including: line, shape, form, value, color, space, and
texture.
Reference/s : Introductory Reading on Humanities Focus on Philippine Art Scene

A. Concept Digest

In the chapter on Subject and Content, it mentioned that arts have a specialized language. And to be able
to understand this language, the familiarity with some elements and principles that make it legible is required.
Think of it as the letters-the stringing of letters to formulate words. And perhaps even the different
pronunciations and enunciations that assist comprehension.

B. Examples

1. Elements of Art: Visual

Line - refers to a point moving at an identifiable path-it has length and direction. It also has a width, and it is
dimensional. However, it can either define the perimeters of the artwork and/or become a substantial component of
the composition. Although a line is “simple,” it has variations because of its orientation/direction, shape, and
thickness.

a. Horizontal and vertical lines - refers to the orientation of the line which normally associated with
rest or calm.
b. Diagonal and crooked lines - diagonal lines convey movement and instability, although the
progression has been seen. Crook or jagged lines, on the other hand, are reminiscent of
violence, conflict, or struggle.
c. Curved lines - these are lines that bend or coil. They allude to softness, grace, flexibility, or even
sensuality.

2-3. Shape and Form

These two are related to each other in the sense that they define the space occupied by the object of art. Shape refers
to two dimensions: height, and width while form refers to three dimensions: height, width, and depth. Even if shapes
are part of a bigger picture, each can be identified by breaking the visual components apart and making distinctions
based on what we know and what we have seen.
 Two categories can be used as a broad distinction:

Geometric - these shapes find origin in mathematical propositions. As such, its translation and use are often man-made.
These include shapes such as squares, triangles, cubes, circles, spheres, and cones, among others.

a. Organic - organic shapes are those readily occurring in nature, often irregular and asymmetrical.
The design of the vase in figure 55 is foliage, a sample from a series that made use of morning
glories.

Shapes may also be implied. For instance, Raphael’s famous painting “The Madonna of the Meadow” depict
three figures: Mary, the young Jesus (right), and the young John the Baptist (left). The positions in which the
group takes allude to triangular shapes reinforced by the grab of Mary.
 4. Space
Related to shape and form is space. It is usually inferred from a sense of depth, whether it is real or
simulated. Real space is three-dimensional. Like what has been previously mentioned, sculptures are a perfect example of
artworks that bear this element. Space occupy the dimension about the area around a drawing or picture. Space in a work
of art refers to a feeling of depth or three dimensions. It can also refer to the artist's use of the area within the picture
plane. The area around the primary objects in a work of art is known as negative space, while the space occupied by the
primary objects is known as positive space.

However, not all works are sculptures. In two-dimensional artworks, they may be applied.
a. Positive and negative space - usually identified with the white space is the negative space. The
positive space, on the other hand, is the space where shadow is heavily used.
b. Three-dimensional space - can be simulated through a variety of techniques such as shading. An
illusion of three-dimensionality can be achieved in two-dimensional work.

5. Color

Color is perhaps one of the elements that enhances the appeal of an artwork. Its effect has range, allowing the
viewer to make responses based on memory, emotion, and instinct, among others. This element is a property of light, as it
is reflected off the object.

An upshot of this color theory is the creation of a color wheel.

 The color wheel correspondents to the first property of color, hue.

a. Hue - this dimension of color gives its name. It can be subdivided into:
 Primary colors - red, yellow, and blue.
 Secondary colors - green, orange, and violet
 Tertiary colors - six in total, these hues are achieved when primary and secondary colors
are mixed.

b. Value - this refers to the brightness or darkness of color. Often, this is used by the artists to create the illusion
of depth and solidity, a particular mood, communicate a feeling, or in establishing a scene (e.g., day and
night).
 Light colors - taken as the source of light in the composition
 Dark color - the lack or even absence of light

However, we can identify the color even when a range is presented to us. Expectations are also based on the
notion that yellow is within the light value; whereas, violet is in the dark. Each primary color has a range of values based
on the addition and diminishing quantity and quality of light.
 Tint- this is lighter color than the normal value (e.g., pink for red).
 Shade - this is a darker color than the normal value (e.g., maroon for red).

c. Intensity - this is the color’s brightness or dullness. It is identified as the strength of color, whether it is vivid
or muted. To achieve a specific intensity of a color, one may add either gray or its complementary color.
 Bright or warm colors-positive energy
 Dull or cool colors-sedate/soothing, seriousness or clam.

To better understand intensity of color, color harmonies are to be considered. In interior design, we often hear
designers refer to color schemes-a guide for selecting not only wall paint but also furniture and décor. However,
color harmonies are also integral considerations not only for pictorial arts but also for other art forms.
 Monochromatic harmonies - use the variations of a hue. An example is Claud Monet’s “House
of Parliament”.

 Complementary harmonies - involve two colors opposite each other in the color wheel.
Since they are at contemporary positions, the reaction is most intense.
  Analogous harmonies - make use of colors beside each other in the color wheel.

6. Texture
Like space, texture can be either real or implied. This element in an artwork is experience through the sense of
touch (and sight). This element renders the art object tactile. Texture is commonly associated with textile. In the portrait
rendered by court painter Frans Pourbus the Younger, Princess Margherita’s garb is adorning in opulent bead and stitch
work that are befitting her rank.
This was achieved using the techniques employed by the artist in creating the work.
 Textures in the two-dimensional plane-texture that can be implied using one technique or a
combination of other elements of art. By creating this visual quality in the artwork, one can
imagine how the surface will feel it was to be touched. Some of the words used to described
texture are the following: rough or smooth, hard or soft, hairy, leathery, sharp or dull, etc. To be
able to simulate the texture of a surface in a flat, two-dimensional plan is one important skill that
an artist must be familiar with, especially if his idea or concept necessitates it.
 Surface texture - refers to the texture of the thee-dimensional art object.

Planes and Perspective

Some art work with actual spaces, such as. However, with pictorial art is two-dimensional, notions of depth and
hence perspective requires the implementation of principles and techniques in creating an illusion that will fool the eye to
three-dimensionality when in reality there is none.
Picture plane is the actual surface of the painting or drawing, where no illusion of a third-dimension exists. The
elements lay flat, as if one was looking through a window into what lies on the other side of the glass.
During the Renaissance, especially in the fifteenth century, chiaroscuro was developed. It made use the light and
dark contrast and tones in which paintings not only looked three-dimensional, but also more dramatic. Linear perspective
changed the way pictorial representation is done.
Its use was based on the following observations:
 As forms and objects recede, the smaller they become.
 We were taught that parallel lines never meet. However, when they, too, seem to converge when
they recede in the distance, at a point, they both disappear. This point of disappearance is called
the vanishing point.
Example often used to illustrate linear perspective is the railroad where trucks disappear off at a distance.

There are three types of perspective, grounded on the number of vanishing points used by the artist:

 One-point perspective - often used in depicting roads, tracks, hallways, or rows of trees;
this type of perspective shows parallel lines that seem to converge at a specific and lone
vanishing point, along the horizon line.

 Two-point perspective - pertains to a painting or drawing that make use of two

vanishing points, which can be placed anywhere along the horizon line. It is often used in
depicting structures such as houses or buildings in the landscape that are viewed from a
specific corner.

 Three-point perspective - in this type of perspective, the viewer is looking at a scene

from above or below, As the name suggests, it make use of the three vanishing points,
each corresponding to each axis of the scene.

Elements of Art: Auditory

Together with the literature, music as an art form is classified as auditory art. Some would argue that it is under
the broad category of performance art. Either way, music, much like the visual arts, has its own building blocks or
elements.
Perhaps one of the most widespread form of art, whose intersection in daily life is most perceptible, is music.
Music is sound organized in a specific time.
During the times when man had to hunt food, music was used as a coral to herd animals, or as an element of
specific rituals or rites. Singing or dancing to music was also often included in opportunities for member of society to
gather the interact.
However, in order to establish this preference, listener often take its elements for its evaluation. Some of the
common elements of music are the following: Rhythm, dynamic, harmony, timber, and texture.

1. Rhythm
Often associated to the terms beat, meter, and tempo, rhythm is the element of music that situates it in time. Beat
is the basic unit of the music while tempo its speed (beats/second). Beats can be organized into a recognizable recurrent
pattern, which is called the meter.

2. Dynamics
The elements of music that refers to the loudness or quietness of music is dynamics. Classical terms are used to
refer to the different levels pertaining to this:
When composers indicate an increase, or decrease in loudness, they use the terms crescendo for the former; and
decrescendo or diminuendo for the latter.
3. Melody
Melody refers to the linear presentation of pitch. By the horizontal, it means that in musical notation, it is read in
succession from left to right. Pitch is the highness or lowness of musical sound.

4. Harmony
If melody is horizontal, harmony is vertical. It arises when pitches are combined to form chords When several
notes are simultaneously played, this refers to chord.
Harmony can be described in terms of its “harshness” dissonance is the harsh-sounding combination while
consonance is the smooth-sounding combination.
5. Timber
Timber is often likened to the color of music. It is a quality that distinguish a voice or an instrument from another.
Dependent on the technique, the timber may give a certain tone or characteristic of music, much like how a painter evokes
different effects or impressions on to the canvas.
6. Texture
The number of the melodies, the type of layers, and their relatedness in a composition is the composition of
music. It may be:
 Monophonic- single melodic line
 Polyphonic – two or more melodic lines
 Homophonic – main melody accompaniment by chords

Principles of Art
Learning these principles will lessen the intimidation and might even open vast possibilities for the novice looker
to have a more pleasurable experience of art. These principles will provide explicit ways in which they inform the overall
composition of the artwork to assist the artist in conveying his intention. It is the principles of art that influence the effect
achieved by the elements, and the linkages of other principle.

These principles are: balance, scale, and proportion, emphasis and contrast, unity, and variety, harmony,
movement, rhythm, and repetition, and pattern.
1. Balance
This principle refers to the distribution of the visual elements in view of their placement in relation to each
element.

There are Three forms of balance:

a. Symmetrical – the elements used on one side are reflected to the other. This offers the most stable
visual sense to any artwork.
 b. Asymmetrical – the elements are not the same (or of the same weight) on each side, putting the heaviness on
one side.

c. Radial – there is a central point in the composition, around which elements and objects are distributed.

2. Scale and proportion

Scale pertains to the size in relation to what is normal for the figure or object in question. Sculptures of
exaggerate scale are common all over the world as many artists are taken by the whimsical quality of these
object. One cannot help but smile upon seeing them in public spaces. In the Philippines, Arturo luz has created
enormous sculptural versions of the paper clip. For a long time, it occupied a prominent spot at the entrance of
Ayala Museum.
Proportion, on the other hand, is the size of the components, or of objects in relation to one another
when taken as composition or unit. This can also refer to values such as amounts or number of elements or
objects in the composition.
One of the most common cannons asserted relates to the proportion of the body. This varies from one
culture or tradition to another. For the Egyptian artists, the human from follows a square grid and is informed by
the pain of the hand as a unit of measure. To complete a standing human figure, 18 units (squares) are needed
from head to foot. On the other hand, Greeks held that numerical relationships- the golden ratio- was the key to
beauty or to perfection. In the golden ratio, the figure is divided into two unequal segments wherein the smaller
is the same ratio to the larger segment, and that the longer segments are the same ratio in relation to the whole.
Leonardo da Vinci1s “Vitruvian Man” is an exploration on the ideas of the Roman architect
Vitruvius, in which the human body is an example of a classical proportion in architecture. For da Vinci, man`s
body can be used to better understand the symmetry that exists in nature and the universe.
Proportion can be:
a. Natural- related to the realistic size of the visual elements in the artwork, especially for
figurative artworks. When it is the accuracy in relation to the real world that the artist is after,
this is now referred to as the principle of scale.
b. Exaggerated- refers to the unusual size relations of visual elements, deliberately exaggerating
the immensity or minuteness of an object.
c. Idealized- most common to those that follow cannons of perfection, the size-relations of
elements or objects, which achieve the most ideal size-relations.

3-4. Emphasis and Contrast

Emphasis- allow the attention of the viewer to a focal point(s), accentuation or drawing attention to
these elements or objects. This can be done through the manipulation of the elements or through the assistance
of other principle, especially that of contrast.
Contrast- is the disparity between the elements that figure into the composition. One object may be
made stronger compared to the other objects (hence, emphasis). This can be done in many ways using the
elements of art. For instance, space, specifically the use of negative and positive space, is an example of
contrast. Another example is the use of complementary color in a work of art.
5-6 Unity and Variety
Unless intended to be otherwise, composition is intended to imbue a sense of accord or completeness
from the artwork. This is unity. Variety, on the hand, is the principle that aims to retain the interest by allowing
patches or areas that both excite and allow the eye to rest.
7. Harmony
Like what is hinted above, unity and variety is related to the principle of harmony, in which the elements
or object achieve a sense of flow and interconnectedness.
8. Movement
This refer to the direction of the viewing eye as it goes through the artwork, often guided by areas often
guided by areas or elements that are emphasized. These focal points can lines, edges, shape, and color within
the work of art, among others

9. Rhythm
This is created when an element is repeated, creating implied movement. Variety of repetition helps
invigorate rhythm as depicted in the artwork.
10-11 Repetition and Pattern
Lines, shapes, colors, and other elements may appear in an artwork in a recurring manner. This is called
repetition. In addition, the image created out of repetition is called pattern. With repetition, there is a sense of
predictability that is conveyed, which in turn imbues the feelings of security and calmness.

C. Exercises