Elements of Art

Form, Value, Texture and Space

Form

• A form is a three dimensional object.

It has length, width and depth.

• Architecture, sculpture and pottery are all examples of forms.

• There are many types of forms…..

Form: closed

• A closed form does not interact with the space around it

• This sculpture of the

Pharaoh Kafra,

ca. 2570 b.c. is an example.

Form: open

• An open form interacts with the space around it.• This sculpture, Recumbent Figure, by Henry Moore,

1938, allows space to flow through the piece as well as around it.

Form: relief

• A form carved in relief can

not be viewed from all

sides, as shown here in

this ancient Greek carving.

Value

• Value is the element of art that deals with how light or dark the colors are.

Value: shade

• If you add black to a color, you create a shade of that color. Adding black to blue, will create a midnight-blue shade.

Value: tint

• If you add white to a color, you are creating a tint of that color.

• Pink is a tint of red.

Value

• Here we see a value scale for green.

Value: uses

• Value is often used to create the illusion of form or depth. Here the different values create the illusion of 3-D.

Value: uses

• In the Mona Lisa, you

can see how the lighter

values appear further

away than the darker

values.

Value: uses

• Value can be used in art to create dramatic effects.

• In Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, the different values draw the eye to specific parts of the work.

Value: uses

Texture

• Texture is the element of art that deals with the actual feel or touch of the surface of the artwork, or the way it looks as though it would feel.

• All surfaces have textures.

Texture

• Michelangelo's Pieta, appears to have a smooth, cool texture.

Texture

• Texture is an important quality in Vincent van Gogh’s Starry

Night, as shown in this

close-up of the work.

Space

• Space is the element of art that deals with the perception of depth or dimension.

• It defines how objects are organized.

Space

• 2-dimensional works can imply more space than is actually present.

• The use of perspective creates the illusion of space on a 2-D surface.

• An example is Raphael’s The School of Athens, 1509. The Vatican. It uses linear perspective (the use of a vanishing point).

Space: linear perspective

Space: linear perspective

Space: atmospheric perspective

• Another technique for creating the illusion of space on a 2-D surface is atmospheric perspective.

• Atmospheric perspective creates depth by changing the colors, values and details.

• We see all of these in Albert Bierstadt’s Among the Sierra Nevada, California, 1868.

Space: atmospheric perspective