Fine Painting And The Seven Elements Of Design

Design exists in everything around us, from the simplest flower to the complex human structure. One might say, to design is to have purpose.
So when we design in art, we are deliberately planning and arranging elements in a way that creates a united effect. When used together, all design elements help create unity in painting. When we speak of design elements in art we are actually speaking of the basic components critical to creating a work of art.
These elements are:
Shape which is a two-dimensional area having identifiable boundaries, created by lines, color, or value changes, or some combination of these.
Size which is very simply the relationship of the area occupied by one shape to that area occupied by another shape.
Line, which there are two ways to describe: a mark made by an instrument as it is drawn across a surface or the edge created when two lines meet.
Texture which is the surface or tactile quality of an object - its smoothness, roughness, softness, etc.- and trying to recreate this appearance in paint.
Value, the relative lightness or darkness of a hue, or of a neutral varying from white to black.
Color which is pigment (with the determining properties of tint, intensity, and value), and....
Form, the physical appearance of a work of art, its materials, style, and composition.
Learn more about the seven elements of design - shape, size, line, texture, value, color, and form- the building blocks of creating your own work of art in our Beginning Watercolor Painting Intensive course with Beatrice Cohen, June 19th-23rd at Banner Hill School.
Also in the Fine Arts series:
Canvas Stretching - July 8th - with instructor Candace Christiansen
Portrait Painting Workshop - July 9th-10th or Aug. 2nd-3rd - with instructor Roy Mendl
Please visit us at: BannerHillLLC.com for course descriptions and registration.