ARTAPP103

Module 3 - Artistic Elements

OVERVIEW
Just as spoken language is based on fundamental letters, sounds and grammar, visual
art is based on elements and principles that, when used together, create works that
communicate ideas and meaning to the viewer. We can refer to them as the building
blocks of composition in visual art. A composition is the organized layout of an image
or object according to the rules of design. The best way to understand the elements and
principles is to study them within a variety of artworks.
In this module you will begin to learn the “language of art” through a structured
approach to terms and examples used to describe and analyze any work of art. The
basis of this language is the artistic elements– the irreducible and abstract ingredients
that generate creative form. This module includes the exploration of the following artistic
elements:

 The point
 Definitions and qualities of line
 Shapes: positive, negative and planar issues
 Figure / Ground Relationships
 Mass
 Space
 Color: its qualities and combinations
 Texture

OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of this module, you should be able to:

 Define and describe the artistic elements and principles

 Compare and contrast art as a social activity and a singular creative act
 Explain the historical forms of artistic training
 Disuss the cultural ties to artistic process and training
THE POINT
A point is the visual element upon
which all others are based. It can be
defined as a singularity in space or, in
geometric terms, the area where two
coordinates meet. When an artist marks
a simple point on a surface, (also
referred to as the ground), they
immediately create a figure-ground
relationship. That is, they divide the
work between its surface and anything
added to it. Our eyes differentiate
between the two, and their arrangement
has everything to do with how we see a
final composition. The point itself can be
used as a way to create forms. For
example, Pointillism is a style of painting Georges Seurat, La Parade de Cirque, detail, 1887-89.
made famous by the French artist The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Georges Seurat in the late nineteenth

century. He and others in the Pointillist
group created paintings by juxtaposing
points – or dots- of color that optically DEFINITIONS & QUALITIES OF LINE
mixed to form lines, shapes and forms Essentially, when you put two or more
within a composition. Look at a detail points together you create a line. A line
from Seurat’s ‘La Parade de Cirque’ to can be lyrically defined as a point in
see how this works. His large canvas motion. There are many different types
Sunday Afternoon on the Grande of lines, all characterized by their length
Jatte is a testament to the pointillist style being greater than their width. Lines can
and aesthetic. Its creation was a be static or dynamic depending on how
painstaking process but one that the artist chooses to use them. They
generated new ways of thinking about help determine the motion, direction and
color and form. energy in a work of art. We see line all
around us in our daily lives; telephone
wires, tree branches, jet contrails and
winding roads are just a few
examples. Look at the photograph
below to see how line is part of natural
and constructed environments.
 painterly style of naturalism, lighting
effects and the enigmatic figures placed
throughout the canvas –including the
artist himself – is one of the great
paintings in western art history. Let’s
examine it (below) to uncover how
Velazquez uses basic elements and
principles of art to achieve such a
masterpiece.

Photo by Chris Kotsiopoulos

In Chris Kotsiopoulos’s digital image of

a lightning storm we can see many
different lines. Certainly the jagged,
meandering lines of the lightning itself
dominate the image, followed by the
straight lines of the light standards, the
pillars holding up the overpass on the
right and the guard rails attached to its
side. There are more subtle lines too,
like the gently arced line at the top of the
image and the shadows cast by the
poles and the standing figure in the
middle. Lines are even implied by Diego Velazquez, Las Meninas, 1656, oil on canvas, 125.2”
falling water droplets in the foreground. x 108.7” Prado, Madrid

The Nazca lines in the arid coastal

plains of Peru date to nearly 500 BCE Actual lines are those that are
were scratched into the rocky soil,
physically present. The edge of the
depicting animals on an incredible scale,
wooden stretcher bar at the left of ‘Las
so large that they are best viewed from
Meninas’ is an actual line, as are the
the air. Let’s look at how the different
picture frames in the background, and
kinds of line are made.
the linear decorative elements on the
Diego Velazquez’s ‘Las Meninas’ from some of the figure’s dresses. How many
1656, ostensibly a portrait of the Infanta other actual lines can you find in the
Margarita, the daughter of King Philip IV painting?
and Queen Mariana of Spain, offers a Implied lines are those created by
sumptuous amount of artistic genius; its
visually connecting two or more areas
shear size (almost ten feet square),
together. The space between the Infanta Straight or classic lines provide
Margarita – the blonde central figure in structure to a composition. They can be
the composition – and the ‘meninas’, or oriented to the horizontal, vertical or
maids of honor, to the left and right of diagonal axis of a surface. Straight lines
her, are implied lines. Both set up a are by nature visually stable, while still
diagonal relationship that implies giving direction to a composition. In the
movement. By visually connecting the ‘Las Meninas’, you can see them in the
space between the heads of all the canvas supports on the left, the wall
figures in the painting we have a sense supports and doorways on the right, and
of jagged motion that keeps the lower in the background in matrices on the
part of the composition in motion, wall spaces between the framed
balanced against the darker, more static pictures. Moreover, the small horizontal
upper areas of the painting. Implied lines created in the stair edges in the
lines can also be created when two background help anchor the entire
areas of different colors or tones come visual design of the painting.
together. Can you identify more implied
lines in the painting? Where? Implied
lines are found in three-dimensional
artworks too. The sculpture of
the Laocoon below, a figure from Greek
and Roman mythology, is, along with his
sons, being strangled by sea snakes
sent by the goddess Athena as wrath
against his warnings to the Trojans not
to accept the Trojan horse. The
sculpture sets implied lines in motion as
the figures writhe in agony against the
snakes.

Straight lines, 11 July 2012, Creator: Oliver Harrison

Expressive lines are curved, adding an

organic, more dynamic character to a
work of art. Expressive lines are often
rounded and follow undetermined paths.
In ‘Las Meninas’ you can see them in
the aprons on the girls’ dresses and in
the dog’s folded hind leg and coat
pattern. Look again at the Laocoon to
see expressive lines in the figures’
flailing limbs and the sinuous form of the
snakes. Indeed, the sculpture seems to
Laocoon Group, Roman copy of Greek original, Vatican be made up of nothing but expressive
Museum, Rome. lines, shapes and forms.
 Outline, 11 July 2012, Creator: Oliver Harrison
Organic lines, 11 July 2012, Creator: Oliver Harrison

Cross contour lines follow paths

There are other kinds of line that across a shape to delineate differences
encompass the characteristics of those in surface features. They give flat
above yet, taken together, help create shapes a sense of form (the illusion of
additional artistic elements and richer, three dimensions), and can also be
more varied compositions. Refer to the used to create shading.
images and examples below to become
familiar with these types of line.
Outline, or contour line is the simplest
of these. They create a path around the
edge of a shape. In fact, outlines define
shapes.

Cross Contour, 11 July 2012, Creator: Oliver Harrison

Cross Hatch, 11 July 2012, Creator: Oliver Harrison
A Line, 11 July 2012, Creator: Oliver Harrison

Although line as a visual element

Line quality is that sense of character generally plays a supporting role in
embedded in the way a line presents visual art, there are wonderful examples
itself. Certain lines have qualities that in which line carries a strong cultural
distinguish them from others. Hard- significance as the primary subject
edged, jagged lines have a staccato matter.
visual movement while organic, flowing
lines create a more comfortable feeling.
Meandering lines can be either Calligraphic lines use quickness and
geometric or expressive, and you can gesture, more akin to paint strokes, to
see in the examples how their imbue an artwork with a fluid, lyrical
indeterminate paths animate a surface character. To see this unique line
to different degrees. quality, view the work of Chinese poet
and artist Dong Qichang ‘Du Fu’s
Poem’, dating from the Ming dynasty
(1555-1637). A more geometric example
from the Koran created in the Arabic
calligraphic style, dates from the
9th century. Both these examples show
how artists use line as both a form of
writing and a visual art form. American
artist Mark Tobey (1890-1976) was
influenced by Oriental calligraphy,
adapting its form to the act of pure
painting within a modern abstract style
described as white writing
SHAPES: POSITIVE, NEGATIVE & realistic, abstract or non-objective, in
PLANAR ISSUES terms of shapes alone.
A shape is defined as an enclosed area Positive / Negative Shapes and
in two dimensions. By definition shapes Figure / Ground Relationships
are always implied and flat in nature.
They can be created in many ways, the Shapes animate figure-ground
simplest by enclosing an area with an relationships. We visually
outline. They can also be made by determine positive shapes (the figure)
surrounding an area with other shapes and negative shapes (the ground). One
or the placement of different textures way to understand this is to open your
next to each other – for instance, the hand and spread your fingers apart.
shape of an island surrounded by water. Your hand is the positive shape, and the
Because they are more complex than space around it becomes the negative
lines, shapes do much of the heavy shape. You can also see this in the
lifting in arranging compositions. The example above. The shape formed by
abstract examples below give us an the black outline becomes positive
idea of how shapes are made. because it’s enclosed. The area around
it is negative. The same visual
arrangement goes with the gray circle
and the purple square. But identifying
positive and negative shapes can get
tricky in a more complex composition.
For instance, the four blue rectangles on
the left have edges that touch each
other, thus creating a solid white shape
in the center. The four green rectangles
on the right don’t actually connect yet
still give us an implied shape in the
center. Which would you say is the
positive shape? What about the red
circles surrounding the gray star shape?
Remember that a positive shape is one
that is distinguished from the
background. In ‘Las Meninas’ the figures
become the positive shapes because
Shapes, 11 July 2012, Creator: Oliver Harrison they are lit dramatically and hold our
attention against the dark background.
Referring back to Velazquez’s ‘Las What about the dark figure standing in
Meninas’, it is fundamentally an the doorway? Here the dark shape
arrangement of shapes; organic and becomes the positive one, surrounded
hard-edged, light, dark and mid-toned, by a white background. Our eyes always
that solidifies the composition within the return to this figure as an anchor to the
larger shape of the canvas. Looking at it painting’s entire composition. In three
this way, we can view any work of art, dimensions, positive shapes are those
whether two or three-dimensional, that make up the actual work. The
negative shapes are the empty spaces
around, and sometimes permeating Icarus’ , painted by Pieter Breughel the
through the work itself. The Laocoon is Elder in 1558 (below) presents us with
a good example of this. A modern work the tragic ending to the Greek myth
that uses shapes to a dramatic effect is involving Icarus, son of Daedalus, who,
Alberto Giacometti’s ‘Reclining Woman trying to escape from the island of Crete
Who Dreams’ from 1929. In an abstract with wings of wax, flies too close to the
style the artist weaves positive and sun and falls to earth. Breughel shows
negative shapes together, the result is us an idyllic landscape with farmers
a dreamy floating sensation radiating tilling their fields, each terraced row a
from the sculpture. different plane of earth, and shepherds
tending their flocks of sheep in the
Plane foreground. He depicts the livestock in
A plane is defined as any surface area positions that infer they are moving in
in space. In two-dimensional art, the different directions in relation to the
picture plane is the flat surface an image ‘window’ of the picture plane. We look
is created upon; a piece of paper, further to see a gradual recession to the
stretched canvas, wood panel, etc. A sea and a middle ground dominated by
shape’s orientation within the picture a ship under sail. The curves of the
plane creates a visually implied plane, billowing sails imply two or three
inferring direction and depth in relation different planes. The background of the
to the viewer. The graphic below shows painting shows the illusion of deep
three examples. space, the massive cliffs now small in
relation to the foreground, and the
distant ship near the center as smaller
and lighter in tone. In the grandeur of
the scene Icarus falls into the sea
unnoticed just off shore to the lower
right, only his legs still above water. The
artist’s use of planar description is
related to the idea of space and how it’s
depicted in two dimensions. We will look
at the element of space just ahead.

Shape Planes, 11 July 2012, Creator: Oliver Harrison

Traditionally the picture plane has been

likened to a window the viewer looks
through to a scene beyond, the artist
constructing a believable image showing
implied depth and planar
relationships.‘Landscape with the Fall of
 head in her hand as she agonizes over
the consequences of what she’s just
done, the forbidden apple at her feet as
the serpent slinks away to her left.

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, Peter Breughel the Elder,

1558
Musee des Beaux-arts, Brussels

MASS
Mass, or form, refers to a shape or
three-dimensional volume that has or Eugene Delaplanche, Eve after the Fall, 1869. Marble,
gives the illusion of having weight, Musee d’Orsay, Paris
density or bulk. Notice the distinction
between two and three- dimensional Although actual mass and form are
objects: a shape is by definition flat, but physical attributes to any three-
takes on the illusion of mass through dimensional work of art, they are
shading with the elements of value or manifested differently depending on the
color. In three dimensions a mass is an culture they are produced in. For
actual object that takes up space. example, traditional western European
Eugene Delaplanche’s sculpture ‘Eve culture is known for its realistic styles,
After the Fall’ from 1869 (below) represented by Delaplanche’s ‘Eve after
epitomizes the characteristics of three- the Fall’. In contrast, look at the
dimensional mass. Carved from stone figurative sculpture from the Cameroon
with exaggerated physicality to appear culture in Africa below to see how
bigger than life, the work stands heavily stylistic changes make a difference in
against the space around it. the form. The sculpture is carved from
Delaplanche balances the massive wood, generally more available to the
sculpture by his treatment of the subject artist in sub-Saharan Africa than is
matter. Eve sits, her body turned on two marble. Moreover, the Cameroon figure
diagonal planes, one rising, the other stands upright and frontal to the viewer,
descending, her right hip being the and is carved without the amount of
meeting point of the two. She rests her descriptive detail seen in Delaplanche’s
work, yet the unknown African artist still 15th century Europe, affords us the
gives the figure an astonishing amount accurate illusion of three-dimensional
of dramatic character that energizes the space on a flat surface, and appears to
space around it. recede into the distance through the use
of a horizon line and vanishing
Form and space, whether actual or points. See how perspective is set up in
implied, are markers for how we the schematic examples below:
perceive reality. How objects relate to
each other and the space around them
provide the evidence for the visual order
in our world. The artist’s creative
manipulation of these elements
determines the stylistic qualities in a
work of art that, in the end, always
contains the subjective fingerprint of the
artist’s idea of the real.

SPACE
Space is the empty area surrounding One Point Perspective, 11 July 2012, Creator: Oliver
real or implied objects. Humans Harrison
categorize space: there is outer space,
that limitless void we enter beyond our
sky; inner space, which resides in
people’s minds and imaginations, and One-point perspective occurs when
personal space, the important but the receding lines appear to converge at
intangible area that surrounds each a single point on the horizon and used
individual and which is violated if when the flat front of an object is facing
someone else gets too close. Pictorial the viewer. Note: Perspective can be
space is flat, and the digital realm used to show the relative size and
resides in cyberspace. Art responds to recession into space of any object, but
all of these kinds of space. is most effective with hard-edged three-
dimensional objects such as buildings.
Clearly artists are as concerned with
space in their works as they are with, A classic Renaissance artwork using
say, color or form. There are many ways one point perspective is Leonardo da
for the artist to present ideas of space. Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’ from 1498. Da
Remember that many cultures Vinci composes the work by locating the
traditionally use pictorial space as a vanishing point directly behind the head
window to view realistic subject matter of Christ, thus drawing the viewer’s
through, and through the subject matter attention to the center. His arms mirror
they present ideas, narratives and the receding wall lines, and, if we follow
symbolic content. The innovation them as lines, would converge at the
of linear perspective, an implied same vanishing point.
geometric pictorial construct dating from
 the front right of the picture to the
building’s front edge on the left, which,
like a ship’s bow, acts as a cleaver to
plunge both sides toward the horizon. In
the midst of this visual recession a lamp
post stands firmly in the middle to arrest
our gaze from going right out the back of
the painting. Caillebotte includes the
little metal arm at the top right of the
post to direct us again along a horizontal
path, now keeping us from traveling off
the top of the canvas. As relatively
spare as the left side of the work is, the
Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1498. Fresco
artist crams the right side with hard-
edged and organic shapes and forms in
Two-point perspective occurs when a complex play of positive and negative
the vertical edge of a cube is facing the space.
viewer, exposing two sides that recede
into the distance, one to each vanishing Three-point perspective is used when
point. an artist wants to project a “bird’s eye
view”, that is, when the projection lines
recede to two points on the horizon and
a third either far above or below the
horizon line. In this case the parallel
lines that make up the sides of an object
are not parallel to the edge of the
ground the artist is working on (paper,
canvas, etc).

Two Point Perspective, 11 July 2012, Creator: Oliver

Harrison

View Gustave Caillebotte’s 'Paris Street,

Rainy Weather' from 1877 to see how
two-point perspective is used to give an
accurate view to an urban scene. The
artist’s composition, however, is more
complex than just his use of
perspective. The figures are deliberately Three-point perspective (with vanishing points above and
placed to direct the viewer’s eye from below the horizon line shown at the same time).
The perspective system is a cultural After nearly five hundred years using
convention well suited to a traditional linear perspective, western ideas about
western European idea of the ‘truth’, how space is depicted accurately in two
that is, an accurate, clear rendition of dimensions went through a revolution at
observed reality. Even after the the beginning of the 20th century. A
invention of linear perspective, many young Spanish artist, Pablo Picasso ,
cultures traditionally use a flatter moved to Paris, then western culture’s
pictorial space, relying on overlapped capital of art, and largely reinvented
shapes or size differences in forms to pictorial space with the invention
indicate this same truth of observation. of Cubism ushered in dramatically by his
Examine the miniature painting of painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon in
the ‘Third Court of the Topkapi 1907. He was influenced in part by the
Palace’ from 14th century Turkey to chiseled forms, angular surfaces and
contrast its pictorial space with that of disproportion of African sculpture (refer
linear perspective. It’s composed from a back to the ‘Male Figure’ from
number of different vantage points (as Cameroon) and mask-like faces of early
opposed to vanishing points), all very Iberian artworks. For more information
flat to the picture plane. While the about this important painting, listen to
overall image is seen from above, the the following question and
figures and trees appear as cutouts, answer.Picasso, his friend Georges
seeming to float in mid air. Notice the Braque and a handful of other artists
towers on the far left and right are struggled to develop a new space that
sideways to the picture plane. As relied on, ironically, the flatness of the
‘incorrect’ as it looks, the painting gives picture plane to carry and animate
a detailed description of the landscape traditional subject matter including
and structures on the palace grounds. figures, still life and landscape. Cubist
pictures, and eventually sculptures,
became amalgams of different points of
view, light sources and planar
constructs. It was as if they were
presenting their subject matter in many
ways at once, all the while shifting
foreground, middle ground and
background so the viewer is not sure
where one starts and the other ends. In
an interview, the artist explained cubism
this way: “The problem is now to pass,
to go around the object, and give a
plastic expression to the result. All of
this is my struggle to break with the two-
dimensional aspect*”(from Alexander
Third Court of the Topkapi Palace, from the Hunername, Liberman, An Artist in His Studio, 1960,
1548 page 113). Public and critical reaction to
Ottoman miniature paintingTopkapi Museum, Instanbul.
cubism was understandably negative,
but the artists’ experiments with spatial
relationships reverberated with others
and became – along with new ways of
using color – a driving force in the
development of a modern art movement
that based itself on the flatness of the
picture plane. Instead of a window to
look into, the flat surface becomes a
ground on which to construct formal
arrangements of shapes, colors and
compositions. For another perspective
on this idea, refer back to module one’s
discussion of ‘abstraction’.
You can see the radical changes cubism
made in George Braque’s landscape ‘La
Roche Guyon’ from 1909. The trees,
houses, castle and surrounding rocks
comprise almost a single complex form,
stair-stepping up the canvas to mimic
the distant hill at the top, all of it
Juan Gris, The Sunblind, 1914, Gouache, collage, chalk and
struggling upwards and leaning to the charcoal on canvas.
right within a shallow pictorial space. Tate Gallery, London

It’s not so difficult to understand the

importance of this new idea of space
when placed in the context of
comparable advances in science
surrounding the turn of the 19th century.
The Wright Brothers took to the air with
powered flight in 1903, the same year
Marie Curie won the first of two Nobel
prizes for her pioneering work in
radiation. Sigmund Freud’s new ideas
on the inner spaces of the mind and its
effect on behavior were published in
1902, and Albert Einstien’s calculations
on relativity, the idea that space and
time are intertwined, first appeared in
1905. Each of these discoveries added
George Braque ‘Castle at La Roche Guyon’ 1909 Oil on
canvas to human understanding and realligned
Stedelijk van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, Netherlands. the way we look at ourselves and our
world. Indeed, Picasso, speaking of his
As the cubist style developed, its forms struggle to define cubism, said “Even
became even flatter. Juan Gris’s ‘The Einstien did not know it either! The
Sunblind’ from 1914 splays the still life it condition of discovery is outside
represents across the canvas. Collage ourselves; but the terrifying thing is that
elements like newspaper reinforce despite all this, we can only find what
pictorial flatness. we know” (from Picasso on Art, A
Selection of Views by Dore Ashton,
(Souchere, 1960, page 15).
VALUE
Three-dimensional space doesn’t
undergo this fundemental Value is the relative lightness or
transformation. It remains a visual tug darkness of a shape in relation to
between positive and negative spaces. another. The value scale, bounded on
Sculptors influenced by cubism do, one end by pure white and on the other
however, develop new forms to fill this by black, and in between a series of
space; abstract and non-objective works progressively darker shades of grey,
that chanllenge us to see them on their gives an artist the tools to make these
own terms. Constantin Brancusi, a transformations. The value scale below
Romanian sculptor living in Paris, shows the standard variations in tones.
became a leading artist to champion the Values near the lighter end of the
new forms of modern art. His sculpture spectrum are termed high-keyed, those
‘Bird in Space ’ is an elegant example on the darker end are low-keyed.
of how abstraction and formal
arrangement combine to symbolize the
new movement. The photograph of
Brancusi’s studio below gives further Value Scale, 11 July 2012, Creator: Oliver Harrison
evidence of sculpture’s debt to cubism
and the struggle ‘to go around the
object, to give it plastic expression’. In two dimensions, the use of value
gives a shape the illusion of mass and
lends an entire composition a sense of
light and shadow. The two examples
below show the effect value has on
changing a shape to a form.

Edward Steichen, Brancusi’s studio, 1920. Metropolitan

Museum, New York

Now that we’ve established line, shape,

spatial relationships and mass, we can
turn our attention to surface qualities 2D Form, 11 July 2012,
and their importance in works of art. Creator: Oliver Harrison

Value (or tone), color and texture are

the elements used to do this.
 3D Form, 11 July 2012,
Creator: Oliver Harrison

This same technique brings to life what Caravaggio, Guiditta Decapitates Oloferne, 1598, oil on
begins as a simple line drawing of a canvas
National Gallery of Italian Art, Rome
young man’s head in
Michelangelo’s .) from 1508. Shading is
created with line (refer to our discussion COLOR
of line earlier in this module) or tones Color is the most complex artistic
created with a pencil. Artists vary the element because of the combinations
tones by the amount of resistance they and variations inherent in its
use between the pencil and the paper use. Humans respond to color
they’re drawing on. A drawing pencil’s combinations differently, and artists
leads vary in hardness, each one giving study and use color in part to give
a different tone than another. Washes of desired direction to their work.
ink or color create values determined by
the amount of water the medium is Color is fundamental to many forms of
dissolved into. art. Its relevance, use and function in a
given work depend on the medium of
The use of high contrast, placing that work. While some concepts dealing
lighter areas of value against much with color are broadly applicable across
darker ones, creates a dramatic effect, media, others are not.
while low contrast gives more subtle
results. These differences in effect are The full spectrum of colors is contained
evident in ‘Guiditta and Oloferne’ by the in white light. Humans perceive colors
Italian painter Caravaggio, and Robert from the light reflected off objects. A red
Adams’ photograph Untitled, object, for example, looks red because it
Denver from 1970-74. Caravaggio uses reflects the red part of the spectrum. It
a high contrast palette to an already would be a different color under a
dramatic scene to increase the visual different light. Color theory first
tension for the viewer, while Adams appeared in the 17th century when
deliberately makes use of low contrast English mathematician and scientist Sir
to underscore the drabness of the Isaac Newton discovered that white light
landscape surrounding the figure on the could be divided into a spectrum by
bicycle. passing it through a prism.
The study of color in art and design each other on the color wheel. These
often starts with color theory. Color are the "elemental" colors; not produced
theory splits up colors into three by mixing any other colors, and all other
categories: primary, secondary, and colors are derived from some
tertiary. combination of these three.
 The secondary colors are orange (mix
The basic tool used is a color wheel, of red and yellow), green (mix of blue
developed by Isaac Newton in 1666. A and yellow), and violet (mix of blue and
more complex model known as the color red).
 The tertiary colors are obtained by
tree .), created by Albert Munsell, shows
mixing one primary color and one
the spectrum made up of sets of tints secondary color. Depending on amount
and shades on connected planes. of color used, different hues can be
obtained such as red-orange or yellow-
There are a number of approaches to
green. Neutral colors (browns and
organizing colors into meaningful grays) can be mixed using the three
relationships. Most systems differ in primary colors together.
structure only.  White and black lie outside of these
categories. They are used to lighten or
Traditional Model darken a color. A lighter color (made by
Traditional color theory is a qualitative adding white to it) is called a tint, while
a darker color (made by adding black) is
attempt to organize colors and their
called a shade.
relationships. It is based on Newton's
color wheel, and continues to be the
Color Mixing
most common system used by artists.
A more quantifiable approach to color
theory is to think about color as the
result of light reflecting off a surface.
Understood in this way, color can be
represented as a ratio of amounts of
primary color mixed together.
Additive color theory is used when
different colored lights are
being projected on top of each other.
Projected media produce color by
projecting light onto a reflective surface.
Where subtractive mixing creates the
impression of color by selectively
Blue Yellow Red Color Wheel absorbing part of the spectrum, additive
mixing produces color by selective
Traditional color theory uses the same projection of part of the spectrum.
principles as subtractive color mixing Common applications of additive color
(see below) but prefers different primary theory are theater lighting and television
colors. screens. RGB color is based on additive
color theory.
 The primary colors are red, blue, and
yellow. You find them equidistant from
 The primary colors are red, blue, and light source's spectrum are absorbed by
green. the material and not reflected back to
 The secondary colors are yellow (mix of the viewer's eye. For example, a painter
red and green), cyan (mix of blue and brushes blue paint onto a canvas. The
green), and magenta (mix of blue and chemical composition of the paint allows
red).
all of the colors in the spectrum to be
 The tertiary colors are obtained by
mixing the above colors at different absorbed except blue, which is reflected
intensities. from the paint’s surface. Subtractive
color works as the reverse of additive
White is created by the confluence of color theory. Common applications of
the three primary colors, while black subtractive color theory are used in the
represents the absence of all color. The visual arts, color printing and processing
lightness or darkness of a color is photographic positives and negatives.
determined by the intensity/density of its The primary colors are red, yellow, and
various parts. For instance: a middle- blue.
toned gray could be produced by
projecting a red, a blue and a green light  The secondary colors are orange, green
at the same point with 50% intensity. and violet.
 The tertiary colors are created by mixing
a primary with a secondary color.

· Black is mixed using the three

primary colors, while white represents
the absence of all colors. Note: because
of impurities in subtractive color, a true
black is impossible to create through the
mixture of primaries. Because of this the
result is closer to brown. Similar to
additive color theory, lightness and
darkness of a color is determined by its
intensity and density.

Additive Color Representation

This image is in the public domain.
The primaries are red, green and blue.
White is the confluence of all the
primary colors; black is the absence of
color.

Subtractive color theory ("process

color") is used when a single light
source is being reflected by different
colors laid one on top of the other. Color Subtractive Color Mixing
is produced when parts of the external
The primaries are blue, yellow and red
Color Attributes this in Mark Tansey’s 'Derrida Queries
de Man' from 1990.
There are many attributes to color. Each
Analogous Color
one has an effect on how we perceive it. Analogous colors are similar to one
another. As their name implies,
 Hue refers to color itself, but also to the analogous colors can be found next to
variations of a color. one another on any 12-part color wheel:
 Value (as discussed previously)refers to
the relative lightness or darkness of one
color next to another. The value of a
color can make a difference in how it is
perceived. A color on a dark
background will appear lighter, while
that same color on a light background
will appear darker. Analogous Color, 11 July 2012, Creator:
 Tone refers to the gradation or subtle Oliver Harrison
changes made to a color when it’s
mixed with a gray created by adding two
complements (see Complementary You can see the effect of analogous
Color below). You can see various color colors in Paul Cezanne’s oil painting
tones by looking at the color tree ‘Auvers Panoromic ’.
mentioned in the paragraph above.
 Saturation refers to the purity and Color Temperatre
intensity of a color. The primaries are
the most intense and pure, but diminish Colors are perceived to
as they are mixed to form other colors. have temperatures associated with
The creation of tints and shades also them. The color wheel is divided
diminish a color’s saturation. Two colors into warm and cool colors. Warm colors
work strongest together when they range from yellow to red, while cool
share the same intensity. This is colors range from yellow-green to
called equiluminance (Links to an violet. You can achieve complex results
external site.).
using just a few colors when you pair
them in warm and cool sets.
Color Interactions
Beyond creating a mixing hierarchy,
color theory also provides tools for
understanding how colors work
together.
Monochrome Warm cool color, 11 July 2012, Creator:
The simplest color interaction is Oliver Harrison
monochrome. This is the use of
variations of a single hue. The
advantage of using a monochromatic
color scheme is that you get a high level
of unity throughout the artwork because
all the tones relate to one another. See
Complementary Colors
Complementary colors are found
directly opposite one another on a color
wheel. Here are some examples:

 purple and yellow

 green and red
 orange and blue

Split Complementary

Complementary Color, Color Subtraction refers to a visual

phenomenon where the appearance of
one color will lessen its presence in a
Blue and orange are complements. nearby color. For instance, orange (red
When placed near each other, + yellow) on a red background will
complements create a visual tension. appear more like yellow. Don’t confuse
This color scheme is desirable when a color subtraction with the subtractive
dramatic effect is needed using only two color system mentioned earlier in this
colors. The painting Untitled by Keith module. Color subtraction uses specific
Haring is an example. You can click the hues within a color scheme for a certain
painting to create a larger image. visual effect.
A split complementary color scheme Simultaneous Contrast
uses one color plus the two colors on
each side of the first color’s complement Neutrals on a colored background will
on the color wheel. Like the use of appear tinted toward that color's
complements, a split complement complement, because the eye attempts
creates visual tension but includes the to create a balance. (Grey on a red
variety of a third color. background will appear more greenish,
for example.) In other words, the color
will shift away from the surrounding
color. Also, non-dominant colors will
appear tinted towards the complement
of the dominant color.
Color interaction affect values, as well.
Colors appear darker on or near lighter
colors, and lighter on or near darker loaded with paint. The artist fixes his
colors. Complementary colors will look gaze sternly at the viewer, his spiky red
more intense on or near each other than beard and flowing hair rendered so
they will on or near grays (refer back to texturally you want to reach out and
the Keith Haring example above to see touch them.
this effect).

Simultaneous Contrast

Self Portrait, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, oil on canvas Musee

d'Orsay, Paris.

TEXTURE
Joan Stuart Ross’s mixed media
Texture is the tactilesense we get from work On the Spokes (below)
the surface of a shape or volume. incorporates both actual and visual
Smooth, rough, velvety and prickly are textures. A strong radial composition is
examples of texture. Texture comes in enhanced with over one hundred raised
two forms: paper blocks containing bits of images
and text. The surface in relief provides
 Actual: the real surface qualities we actual texture while our eyes are treated
perceive by running a hand over an to a complex array of visual textures
object
 Visual: an implied sense of texture
created by staccato rhythms of colors
created by the artist through the and patterns.
manipulation of their materials.

An artwork can include many different

visual textures and still feel smooth to
the touch. Robert Rauschenberg’s
mixed media print Skyway includes
rough and smooth visual textures that
add layers of perception and animate
the work, drawing attention to specific
areas within it. A self-portrait by Vincent
van Gogh below swirls with actual
textures created with brushstrokes
 Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre, Still Life in the Artist’s
Studio, 1837

Joan Stuart Ross, On The Spokes, 2009, mixed media.

Photographs can hold lots of examples

of visual texture. A grainy film exposure
adds to this effect. Louis Daguerre’s
early photograph of his studio below
shows many objects with textures
jumbled across the smooth
photographic paper. These, along with
the strong contrast in dark and light
tones, enrich the photograph with a
sense of drama not necessarily inherent
to the objects themselves.