TOPIC: Nature of Visual Arts

The visual arts are art forms that create works that are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics,
drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, photography, video, film making and architecture.
Definitions of visual art usually encompass the following:

1. Fine Arts
All fine art belongs to the general category of visual arts. These include activities such
as: Drawing, Painting, Printmaking and Sculpture, along with associated activities like Graphic art,
Manuscript Illumination, Book Illustration, Calligraphy and Architecture.

2. Contemporary Arts
The visual arts also include a number of modern art forms, such as: Assemblage, Collage,
Mixed-media, Conceptual Art, Installation, Happenings and Performance art, along with film-based
disciplines such as Photography, Video Art and Animation, or any combination thereof. This group of
activities also includes high tech disciplines like computer graphics and Giclée prints. Another modern
visual art, is the new environmental or Land art, which also includes transitory forms like ice/snow
sculpture, and (presumably) graffiti art.

3. Decorative Arts & Crafts.

In addition, the general category of visual arts encompasses a number of decorative
art disciplines and crafts, including: ceramics and studio pottery, mosaic art, mobiles, tapestry, glass
art (including stained glass), and others.

4. Other
Wider definitions of visual art sometimes include applied art areas such as graphic design,
fashion design, and interior design. In addition, new types of Body art may also fall under the general
heading of visual arts. These include: tattoo art, face painting, and body painting.

TOPIC: Elements of Visual Arts

Elements pertains to the component of something. The elements of visual arts pertain to what the
artists used to create an artwork. The basic elements of visual arts include: Line, Shape, Form, Color and
Texture. Each element could be associated with in-depth meaning such as emotion, historical events,
representations and etc.

1. Lines - In terms of art, line is considered to be a moving dot.

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 Associated
Kinds of Line Figure Sample Artwork
Meaning
Denotes height,
nobility and
strength

Vertical Line

VINCENT VAN GOGH

Road with Cypress and Star, 1980
Denotes lying
down, rest, sleep,
calmness, peace,
Horizontal Line comfort, and width.

CHRISTOPHER COX
Painted Horizon, 2010
Denotes action and
motion. Rising and
falling, decay or
chaos.
Diagonal Line

LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452-1519)

A Study for an Equestrian Monument,
1488
Denotes fluid
movement,
calmness, softness,
grace and human
Curve Line body
KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI (c.1760-
1849)
The Great Wave off Kanagawa,
1823–29

2. Shape - is a flat, enclosed area of an artwork created through lines, textures, colors or an area
enclosed by other shapes such as triangles, circles, and squares.

TYPES OF SHAPES
Type of shape Description Figure Sample artwork

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 Shapes that are
mathematically
deduced, with clear
sharp edges and the
Geometric shape regular/ common
shapes

Piet Mondrian
Tableau No. IV, 1924/1925
Organic shapes are
natural shapes which
can be symmetrical
Organic Shapes and asymmetrical.

Vincent van Gogh

Roses, 1890
RELATIONSHIP OF SHAPES
Type of Relationship Description Figure Sample Artwork
Adjacent shapes are
right beside each
other.
Adjacent Shapes

Olumide Egunlae
Blue Abstract
Shapes that are
juxtaposed are
overlapping or
Juxtapose Shape interconnected.

Lucy Roberge (from

Pinterest)

3. Form - In terms of art, form refers to objects that are 3-Dimensional, or have length, width, and height.
(Fusell, n.d.)
Type of Form Description Figure Sample artwork
Geometric forms have
specific names
associated with them
Geometric Form and are typically man-
made.
Serge Popoff
Spring, 2020

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 Organic forms do not
have specific names
associated with them
and are often
Organic Form associated with
naturally occurring
forms. Ben Snell
Dio

4. Color - has the strongest effect on our emotions. It is the element we use to create the mood or
atmosphere of an artwork. There are many different approaches to the use of color in art (Artyfactory,
2020):

APPROACHES OF DESCRIPTION SAMPLE ARTWORK

COLOR IN ART
Color as light. Color is the sensation that is
stimulated in our brain by different
wavelengths of light. One wavelength will
stimulate our perception of red, another
orange, another yellow and so on through
all the colors of the spectrum.

GIACOMO BALLA (1871-

1958)
Street Light, 1909 (oil on
canvas)
Color as pattern. In Cubism the artist selects the
essential features from multiple
viewpoints of the subject and reconstructs
them as an abstract composition. At the
drawing stage of a cubist painting, the
artist was often confronted with a
confusing structure of lines and shapes to
which he/she would apply patterns of
JUAN GRIS (1887-1927)
color, tone and texture in an attempt to
organize the spatial arrangement of the Violin and Checkerboard,
composition. 1913 (oil on canvas)
Color as Form To create the illusion of form in a
painting, artists traditionally added lighter
and darker pigments to the main color of
an object in order to render the
naturalistic effects of light and shade.
Chris Carter, 2010

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Color as harmony. Harmony is the compatibility,
balance or progression of similar
elements. “Blue Dancers” by Edgar
Degas is a carefully composed pastel
painting that illustrates the harmony of
color as well as several other visual
elements:

 The shape of the painting is square

while the rotational movement of the
figures is composed within a diamond
forming a harmony of rectangular
shapes (click on flip icon to view).
 The decorative frills around the
bodices of the dresses form a subtle EDGAR DEGAS (1834-1917)
harmony of curves. Blue Dancers, 1899 (pastels)
 The pointed projections of arms,
elbows and wrists create a rhythmic
harmony of angles.
 The warm ochers of the background
should clash with the cool blue
dresses in the foreground as they are
opposite colors.
Color as Contrast The use of contrasting colors to
emphasize intensity of events and impact
of each element in the artwork.

In Joseph Turner’s “The Burning

of the Houses of Lords and Commons”
(1835), the hot colors of the flames and
their reflections (fire and water) are JOSEPH MALLORD
intensified by the cold colors of the sky WILLIAM TURNER (1775-
and bridge (earth and air). A similar 1851)
tension is established by the tonal The Burning of the Houses of
contrast of the dark crowd against the Lords and Commons, 1835
light river which is counterbalanced by the (oil on canvas)
light sandstone of Westminster Bridge
against the darkening
sky.
Color as movement. When you look at an abstract
artwork your brain instinctively searches
for signs of rhythm and order to try to
make spatial sense of the image.

Victor Vasarely makes use of this

impulse to create an impression of VICTOR VASARELY (1906-
movement by combining graduated 1997)
squares and sequential colors. These Vonal KSZ, 1968 (silkscreen
lead print)
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 increasing and decreasing acceleration.

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 The squares, which graduate from large
to small, are aligned on their horizontal
axes but are staggered on their vertical
axes to create the illusion of a tunnel
whose dizzying perspective unfolds as
they travel
towards the vanishing point at its center.
Color as Mood. Color is also associated with mood or
emotions. The following are the most
common mood associated to color:

 RED - Color of fire and blood.

Warmest, most vigorous, and most
exciting of the colors. It stands for
passion and energy.
 YELLOW - Color of light. Most
brilliant, cheerful, and exultant of the
colors. It suggests cheerfulness,
magnificence, life and splendor. It
serves to balance the warm colors
like red and orange.
 ORANGE - Suggests deliciousness,
warmth, food. Orange is an PABLO PICASSO (1881-
invigorating, playful color. 1973)
 BLUE - It arouses the feelings of The Old Guitarist, 1903-04 (oil
peace, quietness and sadness. on panel)
trustworthiness and maturity
 GREEN - Color for vegetation and
symbolizes life and freshness.
 VIOLET/ PURPLE - Represents
shadows, mysteries, royalty.

5. Texture - Texture refers to what the surface feels like.

- Tactile (or Real) Texture is the way the surface of an object actually feels.
Examples would be sandpaper, cotton balls, tree bark, puppy fur, etc.

- Implied Texture is the way the surface of an object looks like it feels. This is
the type of texture that artists use when they draw and paint. Textures may
look rough, fuzzy, gritty, or scruffy, but can’t actually be felt.
WILLSON LAU
Original Peacock Oil Painting
6. Space - It refers to the distance between or the area around and within shapes, Textured Palette Knife
forms, colors and lines.

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 - Positive vs Negative Space
Positive space is the area or part of the composition that an object or
subject occupies while Negative space is that empty or open space that
surrounds an object.

- Open vs Close Space

A closed composition tends to be kind of static, getting the viewer to focus
ILEANA HUNTER on the subject matter within boundaries while an Open space, the parts of the
Fragments II: elements are extending off the picture and you can imagine them beyond the
Becky boundaries.

Simply, if the viewer’s eyes are led off the

canvas, the space is open, or the painting has an open
frame. If the viewer’s eyes are kept in the center of the
canvas and all the characters and action are within the
edges of the frame, the artist has composed a closed
space or closed frame.

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CLOSE SPACE OPEN SPACE

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