Elements and principles of design - MichaelAldana.com

The Elements of Design:
• Line
• Shape/Volume
• Texture
• Space
• Value
• Color

The Principles of Design
•Balance
•Emphasis/Dominance
•Rhythm/Movement
•Unity/Harmony
•Scale/Proportion

The elements and principles of design
work in tandem to help the creator
(artist) develop a more dynamic
representation of the subject matter.
These tools become the building blocks
of all great works.

Our Still Life

Line is a powerful tool.

An example of how much line can do alone: Here is an ink
drawing from my sketchbook where only the same width line
is used repeatedly to create shape, value and texture.

Line’s most important role has usually been
to define shape (forms) and space.

Still Life by Van Gogh

It is good practice to look at master paintings and dissect them into
their basic elements. Since visual art is like a language, the more you
observe art, the more fluent you will be when you render art. Here
you can see how I revealed the basic shapes in Van Goghs painting
just as I have in our own still life.

Now that the basic shapes in our composition have
been identified and rendered we may move onto
other elements such as texture and value.

By adding lines for texture and hints of value to create
spatial depth and the appearance of mass, the
composition becomes more interesting and engaging.

With the elimination of the polka dots in the background,
we can focus on the movement created by the stripes
and the dominant emphasis made by the circular shape
in the teapot.

The circle is a powerful dynamic form. Still life work may be
broken down into basic shapes as previously shown. However,
the circular forms created in a still life (our teapot) become
dominant by nature of their shape. We can create balance by
adding similar shapes throughout. Here, even with dynamic
diagonal lines, the circle is still the most dominant shape.

With the addition of the smaller circles, the larger circle is
less dominant . Now the tendency for the viewer is to
visually move their eye throughout the composition.

With the addition of the polka dots on the fabric from
behind we can see how the dominance of the teapots
shape is challenged. The eye now begins to follow a
path around the composition.

Color is often the most used element chosen to provide
emphasis because color is direct. What makes it so powerful is
a reaction to slight muscle movements in the eye. This can
make color more powerful than shape and scale.
On the left we have an example of the design principle of balance at work. The left side of
this painting by Miro is weighted heavily by the shapes and values. The eye doesn’t want to
move the right side much. With the element of color, the red now dominates attention and
challenges all the shapes on the left, leaving the piece more balanced.

With the addition of a few colors the composition becomes
even more dynamic and now the viewer is more likely to move
their eye throughout the piece. I want to note how dominant
the teapot is even with the addition of the bright color.

Here we have the basics on how to develop a still
life.