Point, Line, Shape, Mass and Volume, Texture, and Value

POINT

• The simplest of elements– Used singularly to highlight– Series can suggest lines– Clusters can suggest density

LINE

• Line types– Actual– Implied

• Line in Two-dimensional Art

• Line in Three-dimensional Art

Line Variations. a. Actual line.

Line Variations. b. Implied line.

Line Variations. c. Actual straight lines and implied curved line.

Line Variations. d. Line created by an edge

Line Variations. e. Vertical line (attitude of alert attention); horizontal line (attitude of rest).

Line Variations. f. Diagonal lines (slow action, fast action).

Line Variations. g. Sharp, jagged line.

Line Variations. h. Dance of curving lines.

Line Variations. i. Hard line, soft line.

Mysterious Marks Near Dunhuang, China

GESTURAL LINE

• Line that conveys the energy of the artist’s hand as it moves across the drawing surface.

Jackson Pollock. Drawing. 1950.11 1/8" x 60".

Curvilinear lines

IMPLIED LINE

• A series of points that the eye recognizes as a line; a perceived line where areas of contrasting color or texture meet.

Zander Olson

CONTOUR LINE

• An actual line or implied line that defines the outer limits of a three dimensional object or two-dimensional shape; used synonymously with “outline”.

SHAPE

• Geometric or Organic• Figure and Ground• Positive and Negative

Shape• Amorphous Shape• Three-dimensional

Shape

POSITIVE SHAPE

• A dominant shape on a ground.

NEGATIVE SHAPE

• A shape “left over” or around a dominant shape.

FIGURE

• A shape on a background.

GROUND

• A background on which marks, shapes, or figures are placed.

Figure (or ground) can be either dark or light…

Geometric Shapes

Organic Shape

Amorphous (irregular) shape

MASS and VOLUME

• Mass: the physical bulk• Volume: the measurable area that an

object occupies• Mass and volume can be actual or implied

http://www.lisahamilton.net/

MASS

• An actual or illusory three-dimensional bulk.

VOLUME

• The measurable area that an object occupies-its height, width, and depth.

Jen Stark

TEXTURE

• Actual Texture• Implied Texture

– Visual texture: an illusion of tactile qualities

• Invented Texture

TEXTURE

• INVENTED TEXTURE: The illusion of tactility through the arrangement of lines, colors, and other design elements.

• ACTUAL TEXTURE: The tactile quality of the material used to make an artifact.

• IMPLIED TEXTURE:• The tactile quality of

elements in an artifact rendered in a way that gives the impression of texture.

VALUE

• Highlights• Shadow• Contrast

VALUE

• The relative degree of light or dark.

VALUE

CONTRAST

• The degree of value difference in an image; high contrast is a wide separation between dark and light; low contrast is a narrow range of values in an image.