T he Visual

Elements are Line - Shape - Tone - Color - Pattern - T
exture - Form. They are the building blocks of
composition in art. When we analyse any drawing,
painting, sculpture or design, we examine these
component parts to see how they combine to create
the overall effect of the artwork.
The Visual Elements have a relationship to one
another:
 Most images begin their life as line drawings.
 Lines cross over one another to form shapes.
 Shapes can be filled with tone and color, or
repeated to create pattern.
 A shape may be rendered with a rough surface to
create a texture.
 A shape may be projected into three dimensions
to create form.
Each of the elements may also be used individually to
stress their own particular character in an artwork.
Different elements can express qualities such as
movement and rhythm, space and depth, growth and
structure, harmony and contrast, noise and calm and a
wide range of emotions that make up the subjects of
great art.
The Visual Elements - Line

LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452-1519)

A Study for an Equestrian Monument, 1488 (metalpoint on blue
paper)
L ine is the foundation of all drawing. It is the first

and most versatile of the visual elements of art. Line in

an artwork can be used in many different ways. It can
be used to suggest shape, pattern, form, structure,
growth, depth, distance, rhythm, movement and a
range of emotions.
We have a psychological response to different types of
lines:
 Curved lines suggest comfort and ease
 Horizontal lines suggest distance and calm
 Vertical lines suggest height and strength
 Jagged lines suggest turmoil and anxiety
The way we draw a line can convey different
expressive qualities:
 Freehand lines can express the personal energy
and mood of the artist
 Mechanical lines can express a rigid control
 Continuous lines can lead the eye in certain
directions
 Broken lines can express the ephemeral or the
insubstantial
 Thick lines can express strength
  Thin lines can express delicacy
Great artworks that feature the use of line.
The Visual Elements - Shape

FRANCIS CAMPBELL BOILEAU CADELL (1883-1937)

The Blue Fan, 1922 (oil on canvas)
S hape can be natural or man-made, regular or

irregular, flat (2-dimensional) or solid (3-

dimensional), representational or abstract, geometric
or organic, transparent or opaque, positive or
negative, decorative or symbolic, colored, patterned or
textured.
The Perspective of Shapes: The angles and curves of
shapes appear to change depending on our viewpoint.
The technique we use to describe this change is
called perspective drawing.
The Behaviour of Shapes:
 Shapes can be used to control your feelings in the
composition of an artwork
 Squares and Rectangles can portray strength and
stability
 Circles and Ellipses can represent continuous
movement
 Triangles can lead the eye in an upward
movement
 Inverted Triangles can create a sense of imbalance
and tension
Great artworks that feature the use of shape.
The Visual Elements - Tone

JOHANNES VERMEER (1632-1675)

Girl with the Pearl Earring, 1665 (oil on canvas)

T one is the lightness or darkness of a color. The

tonal values of an artwork can be adjusted to alter its

expressive character.
Tone can be used:
 to create a contrast of light and dark.
 to create the illusion of form.
 to create a dramatic or tranquil atmosphere.
 to create a sense of depth and distance.
 to create a rhythm or pattern within a
composition.
Great artworks that feature the use of tone.
The Visual Elements - Color
WASSILY KANDINSKY (1866-1944)
Autumn Landscape with Boats, 1908 (oil on board)

C olor is the visual element that has the strongest

effect on our emotions. We use color to create the

mood or atmosphere of an artwork.
There are many different approaches to the use of
color:
 Color as light
 Color as tone
 Color as pattern
 Color as form
 Color as symbol
 Color as movement
 Color as harmony
 Color as contrast
 Color as mood
Great artworks that feature the use of color.
The Visual Elements - Pattern

PAUL KLEE (1879-1940)

Dream City, 1921 (warercolor and oil)

P attern is made by repeating or echoing the

elements of an artwork to communicate a sense of

balance, harmony, contrast, rhythm or movement.
There are two basic types of pattern in art: Natural
Pattern and Man-Made Pattern. Both natural and man-
made patterns can be regular or irregular, organic or
geometric, structural or decorative, positive or
negative and repeating or random.
Natural Pattern: Pattern in art is often based on the
inspiration we get from observing the natural patterns
that occur in nature. We can see these in the shape of
a leaf and the branches of a tree, the structure of a
crystal, the spiral of a shell, the symmetry of a
snowflake and the camouflage and signalling patterns
on animals, fish and insects.
Man-Made Pattern: Pattern in art is used for both
structural and decorative purposes. For example, an
artist may plan the basic structure of an artwork by
creating a compositional pattern of lines and shapes.
Within that composition he/she may develop its visual
elements to create a more decorative pattern of color,
tone and texture across the work.
Great artworks that feature the use of pattern.
The Visual Elements - Texture

JAN VAN HUYSUM (1682-1747)

Detail of Bouquet of Flowers in an Urn, 1724 (oil on canvas)

T exture is the surface quality of an artwork - the

roughness or smoothness of the material from which

it is made. We experience texture in two
ways: optically (through sight) and physically (through
touch).
Optical Texture: An artist may use his/her skillful
painting technique to create the illusion of texture. For
example, in the detail from a traditional Dutch still life
above you can see remarkable verisimilitude (the
appearance of being real) in the painted insects and
drops of moisture on the silky surface of the flower
petals.
Physical Texture: An artist may paint with expressive
brushstrokes whose texture conveys the physical and
emotional energy of both the artist and his/her
subject. They may also use the natural texture of their
materials to suggest their own unique qualities such
as the grain of wood, the grittiness of sand, the
flaking of rust, the coarseness of cloth and the smear
of paint.
Ephemeral Texture: This is a third category of textures
whose fleeting forms are subject to change like
clouds, smoke, flames, bubbles and liquids.
Great artworks that feature the use of texture.
The Visual Elements - Form

IGOR MITORAJ (1944-2014)

Tindaro Screpolato (Tyndareus Cracked), 1998 (bronze)

F orm is the physical volume of a shape and the

space that it occupies.

 Form can be representational or abstract.

 Form generally refers to sculpture, 3D design and

architecture but may also relate to the illusion of
3D on a 2D surface.
Three-Dimensional Form can be modelled (added
form), carved (subtracted form) and constructed (built
form). It can be created from sculptural materials like
clay, wax, plaster, wood, stone, concrete, cast and
constructed metal, plastics, resins, glass and mixed
media. It may also be kinetic, involving light and
movement generated by natural, mechanical and
electronic means. More recently the CAD process of
3D printing has be been added to the list of sculptural
processes.
Two-Dimensional Form constructs the illusion of 3D in
2D media by a skilful manipulation of the visual
elements. Perspective drawing, trompe l'oeil [1], 3D
computer graphics programs and holograms are
examples of 2D form.
 

The Visual Element of Line is the foundation of all drawing. It is the first and most versatile of the visual
elements. Line in an artwork can be used in many different ways. It can be used to suggest shape,
pattern, form, structure, growth, depth, distance, rhythm, movement and a range of emotions.

We have a psychological response to different types of lines:

Curved lines suggest comfort and ease

Horizontal lines suggest distance and calm

Vertical lines suggest height and strength

Jagged lines suggest turmoil and anxiety

The way we draw a line can convey different expressive qualities:

Freehand lines can express the personal energy and mood of the artist

Mechanical lines can express a rigid control

Continuous lines can lead the eye in certain directions

Broken lines can express the ephemeral or the insubstantial

Thick lines can express strength

Thin lines can express delicacy

Our selection of artworks illustrated below have been chosen because they all use line in an inspirational
manner. We have analyzed each of these to demonstrate how great artists use this visual element as a
creative force in their work.
Line as Tone and Form

HENRY MOORE (1898-1986) 'Sheep' 1972, (intaglio print on paper)

HENRY MOORE (1898-1986)

Sheep, 1972 (intaglio print on paper)

In 1972, while preparing for a major retrospective exhibition of his sculptures in Florence, Henry Moore
would relax by drawing the sheep in a field outside his studio. As a sculptor, Moore was fascinated by
the subtle variations in the cushioned forms of their woolly fleeces and he recorded these observations
in a sketchbook using a ballpoint pen. Some of these images were later reworked as etchings like the
one above.

The vocabulary of scribbled and hatched lines that Moore developed for these drawings is very
compatible with their subject. His swirling scribbles correspond perfectly to the bouncy texture of a
fleece. He gradually builds up the density of line to render the darker areas of tone and reduces it to
suggest the lighter. In the background of the work he uses hatched lines to draw the row of trees and
the gate but any inconsistency in their style is immediately concealed in a haze of scribbles.

In this etching of 'Sheep', a singular style of line multi-tasks to express form, tone and texture with such
empathy for the subject that you almost feel you could pull on the end of a line to unravel the entire
drawing like a ball of wool.

Line as Texture

PETER DOIG (1959-) 'The Architects Home In The Ravine', 1991 (oil on canvas)

PETER DOIG (1959-)

The Architects Home In The Ravine, 1991 (oil on canvas, 200x275cm.)

The Architects Home In The Ravine is an enchanting painting by Peter Doig based on photographs and
childhood memories of Beaumont House, the home of the famous Canadian architect, Eberhard Zeidler.
This is a vast postmodern landscape that draws on many different artistic influences and ideas. You can
see its Canadian heritage in the art of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. The painting is as much
about surface as it is about depth, recalling the woodland scenes of Paul Cézanne and Gustave Klimt; it
is as much about abstraction as it is about representation, evoking both the dense dribble and spatter of
a Jackson Pollock and the isolation and emptiness of an Edward Hopper; and it is as much about the
relationship between man and his environment, with nature reclaiming its own habitat as the
architecture is menacingly encircled by the encroaching forest.

Detail of 'The Architects Home In The Ravine'

Detail of 'The Architects Home In The Ravine'

Viewed from a high eye-level, an impenetrable weave of frosted branches glisten with snow and hang
like a veil, obscuring the ice-cold building and its frozen pool. If an artist from an earlier and more
traditional era had painted this picture, he or she would have started with the distant features of the
background, building the image layer upon layer until they finished in the foreground with the veil of
branches. Doig, however, establishes this dense tracery of lines earlier in the painting process and uses
it as a device to pull your eye to the surface of the work. He then begins to explore the expanse of that
surface by painting between the branches to develop a rich patchwork of color and texture that focuses
on the abstract and expressive qualities of the medium. 'The place is a kind of portal to possibilities in
painting. The painting is what it becomes, and when I start I don’t know what that will be. That’s what
makes the process so fascinating.' [1]

Line as Structure

ROBERT DELAUNEY (1885-1941) 'Eiffel Tower' 1910 (oil on canvas)

ROBERT DELAUNEY (1885-1941)

Eiffel Tower, 1910 (oil on canvas)

Line can be used to transmit the dynamic energies in the composition of an artwork. In his painting of
the 'Eiffel Tower', one from a series of eleven painted between 1909-11 when the tower was the tallest
man-made structure on the planet, Robert Delaunay adapts the rhythmic lines of its structure to suggest
its staggering power as it ascends into the skies. The contrasting curves of the clouds double up as
billowing dust as this colossal construction bursts through the municipal buildings to become the global
symbol of modernity at the onset of the Modernist age.

Line as Movement

KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI (c.1760-1849) 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa', 1829–32 (woodblock print from
'36 Views of Mount Fuji')

KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI (c.1760-1849)

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, 1823–29 (woodblock print from '36 Views of Mount Fuji')

All the lines in Katsushika Hokusai's woodcut sweep with tremendous force, rising to a crescendo on the
crest of the 'Great Wave off Kanagawa'. The swell of the wave is reinforced by the contour lines that
describe the density of its wall, while its breaking surf claws the air to maintain its seismic energy. The
power of this movement is further amplified by the helpless boats, cast adrift on the merciless sea. To
heighten the drama, Hokusai freezes the action just at the critical point where the 'Great Wave' breaks,
threatening to engulf the distant peak of Mount Fuji.

Line As Emotion

PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973) 'Weeping Woman' 1937 (oil on canvas)

PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973)

Weeping Woman, 1937 (oil on canvas)

Picasso's 'Weeping Woman' was the last of nine paintings and twenty seven drawings on the tragic
theme that was developed from 'Guernica', his vast monochromatic masterpiece of the same year. It
symbolized the grief and suffering of the innocent victims of Guernica, the Basque town that was
bombed by the German Luftwaffe and the Italian Fascist Aviazione Legionaria in support of General
Franco during the Spanish Civil War.

In 'Weeping Woman', Picasso combines a synthetic cubism with a stained glass like structure. Jagged
lines, fractured shapes and acid colors set the despairing tone of the work. The desolate woman's
tortured emotions are heightened by the artist's careful balance of bold lines, exaggerated color and
simplified drawing. Picasso uses strong dark lines to pull the fragmented image together and to subdue
the optical shock of opposite colors (red/green, yellow/purple, blue/orange). Despite this, his heavily
laden pigments can still generate enough chromatic intensity to provoke a state of alarm. The woman's
eyes are like shattered headlights, pierced by the fractured shards of the handkerchief; her chattering
teeth gnawing convulsively on its cloth. These combine in a pale aqueous blue - a dramatic contrast of
monochrome against color. Even the stitching in her jacket weaves a mesh of thorns and all is sharp and
angular in this visual definition of despair.

Line as Energy

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN (1606-1669) 'Two women teaching a child to walk' c.1635-37, (Red chalk on
paper)

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN (1606-1669)

Two women teaching a child to walk, c.1635-37 (red chalk on paper)

This sketch by Rembrandt is a masterful study in line done for the simple joy of the subject. To be able
to capture the sensitivity of this tender moment with such economy of means is not only a remarkable
testament to the power of line as an expressive force but also an illustration of Rembrandt's outstanding
drawing skills. Although it does not contain a great deal of detail, this is a work of intense observation
and energy. In a quick sketch that took less than a minute to complete, Rembrandt manages to capture
the unsteady balance, the emotional bond and the generational relationship of the figures. He also
achieves remarkable accuracy in the drawing of the child's hat which has been recognized as a
contemporary model designed to protect young children from falls. In the hands of a great master like
Rembrandt, a simple line sketch can communicate more in a minute than the average artist can convey
in a month.
Line as Form

ALEXANDER CALDER (1898-1976) Edgar Varèse and Unknown Man, 1929-30 (wire sculpture)

ALEXANDER CALDER (1898-1976)

Edgar Varèse and Unknown Man, 1929-30 (wire sculpture)

Before Alexander Calder developed a reputation as one of the great abstract sculptors of the 20th
century, he created figurative works with wire and pliers. He would bend, twist and crimp wire to form
three-dimensional portraits of celebrities and friends that had all the vitality and spontaneity of a line
drawing in space. These works had an element of caricature about them but they still retained a
remarkable likeness to their subjects who often received them as tokens of friendship. Calder would
suspend these 'portraits' from twine which allowed them to rotate slowly, revealing a surprising
impression of volume for such limited means and demonstrating that unique control of line that is so
often seen in the drawings of sculptors.

Line as Abstraction

PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973) 'Bull - plate 11', January 17 1946 (lithograph)

PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973)

Bull - plate 11, January 17 1946 (lithograph)

At the top of this page we said that line was the first visual element in an artwork. In Picasso's 'Bull' it is
also the last. This drawing is the last in a series of eleven studies that lead you through a process of
abstraction, refining form, tone and texture to extract the essence of the 'Bull' in a single line. You can
follow the entire process on another of our pages: Pablo Picasso - Bull: a Mastercla
THE VISUAL ELEMENTS - SHAPE