Composition and Principles of Design

1. Digital Photography Q1 1.3 Composition and Principles of Design

2. Art Basics 101 To discuss art, one needs to understand about composition and the elements and principles of art. Those are the basics. One might even call them “the science” of art. In a nutshell, the elements of art are building blocks. The principles are the ways the blocks can be used. The composition is the way in which specific blocks can be used to make a particular work of art. This slideshow will briefly cover composition and these elements and principles of design.

3. Elements of Art • Line • Color • Shape/Form • Space • Value • Texture

4. ELEMENT: Line A line in art is a continuous mark made on a surface by a moving object. It has length and direction. The main types of line are descriptive, expressive and implied.

5. ELEMENT: Color • Color  is the relationship of a surface to the spectrum of reflected light. There is a complex theory of color which can be studied in depth. • Basically, color has three properties: • Hue, - the name of the color such as “blue” or “red” • Intensity - the purity and saturation of the color translating into brightness or dullness • Value - the range of lightness to darkness of the color

6. ELEMENT: Shape or Form Shape is 2 dimensional but may give the appearance of being 3 dimensional. It is an enclosed space with recognizable boundaries. Form is 3 dimensional. It is a space that surrounds volume. Cylinders, spheres, and cubes are examples of various forms.

7. ELEMENT: Space Space refers to the area between, around, below, above or within things. It can be positive or negative. It can describe both 2 and 3 dimensional areas.

8. ELEMENT: Value Value describes the range of lightness and darkness both in color and in grayscale. Without value, volume could not be expressed on a 2 dimensional surface.

9. ELEMENT: Texture Texture is that element of art that describes the surface quality of an object. This description shows qualities such as roughness, softness, smoothness. In two dimensional art, texture is usually simulated and not actual. It visually shows what it would feel like to touch such a texture. Photography captures the actual three dimensional texture and documents it as two dimensional texture.

10. What is Composition? Composition is the organization or placement of visual elements in a work of art.

11. Principles of Art Fact is that not everyone agrees on exactly which qualities make up the principles of art. If you do a web search for the principles of art you will come up with similar lists, but not exact lists. Because of that, this slideshow will include the nine most commonly used rules or principles. Ordinarily, there are around seven.

12. Principles of Art • Unity • Variety • Emphasis • Balance • Rhythm • Movement • Proportion • Pattern • Contrast

13. Unity or Harmony Unity  is that quality seen in a work of art that gives the feeling that all the parts belong together as a whole.

14. Variety Variety is that quality in a work of art that welcomes differences in shape, color, texture, value or other elements.

15. Emphasis Emphasis refers to those points of interest or dominance that capture the viewer's attention

16. Balance • Balance is a sense of visual stability or equality. When an artwork is in balance, no part of the work appears to be heavier than the others. This is visual balance and not necessarily physical balance. There are three types of balance: • Symmetrical – when one side is the same as the other • Asymmetrical – when visual balance does not rely on symmetry (as in the image to the left) • Radial – vertical and horizontal balance radiating from a center focus (such as a mandala)

17. Rhythm Rhythm is an abstract principle of art that uses repetition in such a way as to create a pattern that moves the viewer through the art. Rhythm in visual art is similar to rhythm in music but is seen rather than heard. While rhythm is similar to the principles of “movement”, “repetition” and “pattern,” it remains a distinct principle because it combines all three.

18. Pattern and Repetition Repetition is when one or more of the elements of art are used repeatedly in a work of art. An art work can have repetition without having a pattern. A pattern is repetition that is used in such a way as to anticipate what comes next. Elements are repeated in a regular manner. The pattern can be a simple one or it can range to very complex.

19. Movement Movement  Is a visual flow that guides the viewer through the artwork. Movement gives the viewer a sense of action through “look” or “feel” or both. Because photography freezes a moment in time, movement is sometimes captured in such a way as to give the photograph tension and anticipation for the follow through of the movement as in the photograph to the left.

20. Proportion Proportion is the relationship of the size or amount of objects in an artwork both to each other and to the artwork as a whole.

21. Contrast In art, contrast generally means comparisons in the range of light from brightest to darkest. In digital photography contrast is important and a word that is used often to mean several different things. In the image at the left as you follow the blue tube you will see the varying degrees of contrast with the shadows on the tube and in the background.