Elements of Art: Having an Eye for the Aesthetic

Stop and take a moment to look around. What do you see? More than likely you see a variety of lines, shapes, colors, and textures. All of these are elements of art. Art is all around us. It is something that can be enjoyed while visiting the Sistene Chapel in Italy, or while standing at the bus stop waiting for a ride home. We are surrounded by the elements of art. It is all a matter of how we look at things. Fine-tuning our eye to see the aesthetic elements of art all around us helps us to notice and appreciate the small things in life. Not to mention, it helps to jump start the creative side of us. What are the elements art and what do they mean? Here is a brief description of each element of art to help you divulge into your creative side.

Line: Line is simply the element of art that makes form and shapes. Lines are what the eye follows when looking at art. Line can be simple such as the lines of a box, or abstract such as the lines used to show the movement of lights in the sky.

Value: Value is used to describe the amount of light or dark seen on an object or in a color. Are there shadows? What is brighter and what is darker when looking at something? These variances affect the mood, flow, direction, and form of a piece. Value is an important aspect of photography.

Shape: Shape is the contour of a form. This form can be real, imaginary, or abstract. Shapes are in various sizes and can be either two or three dimensional. Shapes can overlap each other to create designs. Picasso used this element of art a lot in cubism by overlapping shapes to create abstract designs.

Form: Form is a three-dimension figure as opposed to a shape which is two-dimension or flat. It can be held and rotated around to see every possible angle. It is the whole of a piece's visible elements and the way these elements are united. Form is used to describe something that can be held or walked around. Examples are a clay pot, a building, or a bronze statue.

Pattern: This is the result of repetition. Pattern is formed when lines, shapes, colors, or textures are repeated in intervals. Pattern is vital for music, dance, and poetry. It is often found in textiles and pottery when lines, shapes, colors, or textures are repeated to get a pattern. It is also found a lot in nature, such as leaves, flowers, and animal skins.

Color: Color is life! It is a visual sensation that is experienced from pigment or light. It has hue, value, and intensity. It can be transparent or opaque in appearance. It has strong symbolism and can be an indicator of moods.

Texture: This is how the surface feels or looks. This surface can be touched and it can be seen. To create texture, line and color can be used to create an illusion or the texture can be real. Is it smooth, rough, hard, or soft? These are all words used to describe texture.

Emotional Content: This element of art is used to describe how a piece of work makes an individual feel. This can be evoked through color, texture, subject, and movement within the piece. It is the feeling or emotion which motivated the artist to create the piece. Paul Cezanne says, "A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art." A common form of art using emotional content as an element of art is expressionism.

Although this is a brief overview of the elements of art, I hope that it will help you to look at the world in a new way. Not to mention, it can be applied to a variety of skills such as web design, photography, interior design, and painting, just to mention a few. Get out there and see how many elements of art you notice everyday!

Sources:

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3902/

http://www.getty.edu/education/for_teachers/building_lessons/elements.html