Elements of Art

Lines are used by artists and designers to describe objects, add detail or create expression. Lines define an artwork and reveal the artist’s techniques.

Choices of colour and the relationships between colours have a huge influence on how a piece or art or design looks and feels and the emotions it provokes.

Tone means how light or dark something is. The tones artists and designers use and the contrast between them can create very different moods and visual effects.

Shapes are two-dimensional. Positive shapes represent solid objects and negative shapes show the surrounding space. Geometric shapes are perfect and regular. Organic shapes are irregular and natural.

Form refers to three dimensional objects. While shapes have two dimensions (height and width), forms have three dimensions (height, width and depth).

Three-dimensional work creates real space. Two-dimensional works can create implied space using artistic technique. Objects take up positive space, while negative space is the empty space around them.

Artists and designers can use actual texture in their work or they can suggest how something feels using techniques that imply texture.

A pattern is a design in which lines, shapes, forms or colours are repeated. The part that is repeated is called a motif. Patterns can be regular or irregular.