Junior Docent School Program - Milwaukee Art Museum

Tour: Elements of Art 1
Background
The elements of art are the basic visual factors or vocabulary common to all that we see
– sensory properties. They are the ingredients that artists use to create a work of art.
This tour will examine line, shape (and form), and color (and value) in works of art.
Objectives:
Students will be able to recognize and discuss the elements of line, shape and
color in two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of art
Students will develop their vocabulary for looking at and discussing visual art
Docents will incorporate activities involving touching real objects, physical
movement, music, and poetry when possible
Line
The two basic characteristics of line are its direction or movement and its
quality of weight. The direction of a line may be vertical, horizontal,
diagonal, or curved. Lines can be thick or thin, continuous or interrupted. A
line is a visual element of length. It is created by setting a point in motion,
and it moves from the point in any one of a number of directions. Lines are
also formed when two objects meet or overlap, such as the line made by
the meeting of your upper and lower lips. A line is a point in motion, a path
of action, an enclosure of shape, and/or an edge of mass.
Artists often rely on line characteristics or “personality” to convey a
specific mood or feeling.
Shape
Similar to a silhouette or an outline, a shape is two-dimensional. It has
height and width, but no depth. Shapes fit into two basic categories:
geometric and abstract. Geometric shapes are precise and sharply
defined (circles, squares, and triangles). Abstract shapes (organic, lyrical,
or suggestive) are often curved or rounded and appear in a variety of
informal and irregular shapes.
While shape is two-dimensional, form is three-dimensional. Form refers to
a mass that takes up space, such as a sculpture, and exists in a physical
sense. Implied form refers to images on flat surfaces, such as paintings,
that appear to have volume.
Color
Colors appear in a “color spectrum.” Three primary, or pure colors – red,
blue, and yellow – combine to create all other secondary (orange, purple,
green) and complementary (two colors that are opposite each other on the
color wheel – for examples, violet and yellow, as are red-orange and bluegreen)
colors in the spectrum.
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JDSP – Docent Packet
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