Formal Elements of Art

All visual art—representational, mimetic, styled, or abstract—is formed from Formal components. Abstracts consist solely of line, form, and color. Traditional Representational Art uses line, form, and color to depict visual subjects. Formal qualities are always worth our attention

Line, Shape, Form

Visual Elements

  • Line: a 2-dimensional path through space including length but not width or depth.
  • Shape: a two-dimensional figure displaying only height and width
  • Form: a three-dimensional shape or object with height, width, and depth

A line can be straight, angled or curved. Ansel Adams’ image of the Tetons is dominated by the sinuous, curving line of the Snake River:

Ansel Adams. (1942). The Tetons and the Snake River. Gelatin silver print. Mosaic of the Donors: Emperor Justinian.
[Mosaic]. (547).		 Leonardo da Vinci. (1503-1506). Mona Lisa. Oil on panel.

A line can be directly drawn or formed by the contours of an object. In the Mosaic of the Donors, contours of fabric are directly drawn. Leonardo’s sfumato technique blurs the contour line with subtle brushwork.

  • Organic Form: irregular shapes or forms with the unpredictable, often curving lines and contours of the natural world: rocks, clouds, tree trunks, an animal’s skin
  • Geometric Form: precisely defined lines and arcs defined by human artifice, e.g. spheres, cones, triangles, rectangles, flat, polished surface
Geometric forms are generally associated with human artificiality or industry. Organic forms suggest uneven contours of most natural objects. Can you distinguish the organic and geometric forms in Kandinski’s semi-abstract canvas?
Wassily Kandinsky. (1925).  Yellow, Red, Blue. Oil on canvas.

Color, Light and Texture

In a limited space, we can’t begin to do justice to color, but we need to consider it. Color is frequently divided into three components: hue, saturation, and value. Hue refers to a specific color arising from wavelengths on the spectrum of light.

 

Color Relationships in the Color Wheel

  • Primary colors: Red, Yellow, and Blue, Hues unmixed with other colors
  • Secondary colors: Orange, Green, and Purple, Hues formed by mixing the colors on either side of the wheel
  • Complementary colors: Hues on opposite sides of the color wheel that enhance each other through maximum contrast, green with red, yellow with purple, orange with blue.
  • Color Temperature: the quality of warmth or chill imparted by pure color, red, orange, and yellow (warm) versus green, blue, and purple (cool)

Color temperature can be a matter of association—blue and the Blues—or of culture. In Asian cultures, white is often associated with death. The impact of a given hue is also affected by two closely related factors:

  • Saturation: a scale of purity of hue, with brightness and intensity arising from unmixed color
  • Value (or Tone): a scale of lightness or darkness

Notice the difference here. Saturation merely measures the intensity of pigment. The Value scale stretches from light to dark. At one extreme, white reflects all wavelengths of the light spectrum; black, at the other end, reflects none. Value affects the mood of a composition and its elements.

Texture

  • Texture: surface quality, how the actual surface of the medium feels or would feel
  • Simulated texture: illusions of texture consciously created by artists, e.g. fabrics and drapery
  • Actual texture: tangible textures of medium or technique, e.g. mosaic tiles, marble, canvas, paint, and brushstrokes

Some painters work hard at erasing all evidence of their materials and technique. Others Foreground an awareness of these dimensions of their work. A painter may intentionally feature the texture of paint in a strong brushstroke or the weave of the canvas. In Impasto, thickly textured daubs of paint are applied with a palette knife. Modern painters often add actual textures to the paint: sand, bits of string, paper cutouts, sticks.

Space and Movement

Line, shape, form, color, texture: these elements form spatial relationships:

  • Positive Space: the space in a visual Composition taken up by forms and subjects
  • Negative Space: open space surrounding forms and subjects
  • Picture Pane: the 2-dimensional visual space that comprises the surface of a painting, photograph, or mosaic.
  • 3-Dimensional Space: the illusion of depth created through Linear Perspective and Foreshortening
  • Sightlines: arrangements of elements that lead the viewers eyes in a controlled direction. Often suggested by the eye lines of figures in the composition

We have already explored techniques by which 2-dimensional paintings project the illusion of three-dimensional space. But what of time in a stationary painting or sculpture? Consider the Suggested Movement in Marcel Duchamp’s image—images?—of a descent down stairs.

Marcel Duchamp. (1912). Nude Descending a Staircase, No.2. Oil on canvas

Even in static images, viewers’ eyes are always moving. How does Mengs steer your eyes in his vision of Parnassus, the traditional home of the arts in Greek myth? Do you start with the central figure, the God Apollo? Do you then circle around the spiraling figures of the muses? Raphael’s similarly controls guides our eyes in a circle, this time following the Holy Family’s lines of sight.

Anton Raphael Mengs. (c 1760). Parnassus. Oil on panel Raphael da Urbino. (1506). Canigiani Holy Family. Oil on canvas

Design Principles: Composition

Towering over … individual elements [is] the way they [are] put together, the composition, how part relates to part and to the whole: composition [is] a dominant contributor to the expressive content (Taylor, 1981, p. 63).

We can think of Visual Composition as the arrangement of visual elements for expressive and aesthetic impact.

Color Schemes

Consider, for example, the matter of color scheme. Approaching a canvas, painters traditionally choose particular hues and prepare wet lumps of paint on a flat board known as a palette. The painter’s choices comprise an early stage of Composition: the selection of a range of colors to interact with each other and create a desired aesthetic whole.

  • Color Palette: the range of colors selected to compose a painting’s design
  • Monochromatic palette: a a noticeably narrow range of Hue and Value
  • Polychromatic palette: a noticeably wide range of Hue and Value
Raphael da Urbino. (1507).
Holy Family with the Lamb. Oil on panel.		 Georges Braque. (1911). Man with a Guitar.
Oil on canvas.		 Vincent van Gogh. (1888). The Sower. Oil on canvas

Integrating Principles of Composition

  • Unity: the degree to which elements in a work of art come together in an integrated whole.
  • Harmony: a correspondence between unlike elements that contributes to overall unity
  • Rhythm: an artistic effect generally achieved by repetition of forms. In visual art, a sense of movement arising from repeated elements in the composition

One way to achieve unity in a visual work is through rhythm. As we’ve seen in our discussion of Figures of Speech, rhythm arises from patterns of repetition. In visual art, rhythm arises from repeated or parallel elements in the composition.

Meindert Hobbema. (1689). The Avenue at Middelharnis. Oil on canvas. Vincent van Gogh. (1888).
Nuit Étoilée sur le Rhône (Starry Night over the Rhone). Oil on canvas

The rhythmic, formal repetition of Hobbema’s row of poplar trees pulls our eyes up along the road. van Gogh rhythmically aligns starbursts with parallel lines of light projecting on dark waters.

Unity and Harmony obviously make use of similarity. But they also work through contrast. After all, van Gogh gains rhythmic harmony from the juxtaposition of distant stars with light on water. Consider the Harmony in Ghirlandaio’s contrast between the homeliness of age and the beauty of youth, a contrast bridged by the love shared by the figures.

Domenico Ghirlandaio, D. (c 1490). Portrait of an Old Man and a Young Boy. Oil on canvas. Piero dela Francesca. (c.1455-60). Flagellation of Christ. Oil on canvas.

Some artists disdain Unity. Piero stitches three distinct subjects together, the flagellation scene, an architectural study, and a view of two gentlemen talking on the street.

Organizing Space

Above all, visual Composition organizes space. Some compositions strive to open out into Negative Space. Rodin’s figure of the prodigal son[1] pierces space with a rising, curving verticality.

[1] Prodigal Son (Luke 15.11-32): in Jesus’ parable of redemption, a wayward youth, having abandoned his home and wasted his money, repents and returns to a father who receives him with grace and joy.

Auguste Rodin. (1889). The Prodigal Son. Henry Moore. (1963). Reclining Mother and Child.

By contrast, Moore’s semi-abstract meditation on motherhood encloses a rectangular negative space of maternal nurture within a powerful organic form holding off the menacing expanse of the outside world.

Three Zones of Space

  • Foreground: in 3-dimensional space, the nearer zone of vision, often a Positive Space containing figures of primary interest
  • Middle ground (or middle distance): in 3-dimensional space, a moderately distant visual zone in which figures are partially visible
  • Background: in 3-dimensional space, the deep distance comprised of minimally visible figures and open, Negative Space

Painters expressively compose figures, objects, and space. Thomas Cole draws the viewer’s eye from the base of a bent tree in the foreground, past a middle distance and out into the vast Negative Space of the sky. By contrast, Leonardo encloses his figures in a cramped, sinister space filled with claustrophobically intrusive rocks.

Thomas Cole. (1836). The Oxbow. Oil on canvas. Leonardo da Vinci. (1485). The Virgin of the Rocks. Oil on panel.

Landscape painters face a compositional question: where shall they place the horizon? The three landscapes below range from low to high horizons. Raising or lowering the horizon dramatically shifts the balance between positive and negative space.

John Constable. (1813). View Towards The Rectory From East Bergholt House.
Oil on canvas.		 Jean Baptiste Raguenet. (1763). A View of Paris from the Pont Neuf. Oil on canvas. Vincent van Gogh. (1888). The Sower.
Oil on canvas.

Compositional Line and Form

Powerful, albeit implicit, lines and forms emerge as we notice the arrangements of elements in the Picture Pane. Notice how, in the first composition, the Holy Family forms a solidly grounded triangle; in the second, they are aligned on a diagonal line. Caravaggio aptly composes the Crucifixion of St. Peter[1] in a right angle suggesting an inverted cross.

Raphael da Urbino. (1506). Canigiani Holy Family. Oil on canvas. Raphael da Urbino. (1507). Holy Family with the Lamb. Oil on canvas. Caravaggio. (1600). The Crucifixion of St. Peter. Oil on canvas. 

[1] Crucifixion of St. Peter: according to legend, when the Apostle Peter was condemned to death, he insisted on being crucified upside down because he didn’t feel worthy of enduring the same fate that his Lord Jesus suffered.

Always pay attention to the design scheme that composes visual elements. Look for spirals, angles, and lines, lines, vertical, horizontal, or diagonal.

Balance

Balance: in visual art, the distribution of visual weight or placement of elements

Symmetrical balance: an equilibrium achieved by aligning like elements in a visual field on both sides of an implied central vertical or horizontal axis

Radial balance: an equilibrium achieved by arranging elements in a visual field so they seem to radiate around a central element

Asymmetrical balance: an equilibrium achieved between unequal elements in a visual field or along off center vertical or horizontal axes

Meindert Hobbema. (1689). The Avenue at Middelharnis. Oil on canvas. Anton Raphael Mengs. (c 1760). Parnassus. Oil on panel.

Hobbema’s landscape achieves Symmetrical Balance by dividing roughly equal spaces with a central vertical axis–the lines of trees. Mengs achieves Radial Balance by opposing circles of Muses.

Hasegawa Tōhaku. (16th Century). Pine Trees. Ink wash on paper.  Hopper, E. (1942). Nighthawks. Oil on canvas.

Balance can achieve striking results when it is off center or asymmetrical. Tōhaku balances Positive Space, the clumps of trees, with an open area to the right of center. Hopper similarly balances light and drama across the right and center with a smaller but menacing zone of dark mystery to the left.

Pay attention to Composition. How are elements arranged? How are your eyes being led through the work? How do elements relate to each other? Where are the balance points? Composition opens new dimensions of appreciation for Representational Art and can help you begin to grasp what abstract artists are doing.

Sources

Adams, A. (1942). The Tetons and the Snake River [Photograph]. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/ansel-adams/the-tetons-and-the-snake-river-1942.

Braque, G. (1911). Man with a Guitar [Painting]. New York City, NY: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/georges-braque/man-with-a-guitar-1911

Caravaggio. (1600). The Crucifixion of St. Peter. [Painting].  Rome, Italy: Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo. Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caravaggio-Crucifixion_of_Peter.jpg

Caravaggio. (c 1607). Flagellation of Christ  [Painting].  Naples, Italy: National Museum of Capodimonte. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/caravaggio/flagellation-of-christ

Claude, L. (1642). Cleopatra Disembarking at Tarsus [Painting].  Paris, France: Musée du Louvre. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/claude-lorrain/cleopatra-disembarking-at-tarsus-1642

Claude, L. (1646). L’embarquement d’Ulysse (Embarkation of Ulysses) [Painting].  Paris, France: Musée du Louvre. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/claude-lorrain/embarkation-of-ulysses-1646

Cole, T. (1836). The Oxbow [Painting]. New York City, NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met). WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/thomas-cole/the-oxbow-the-connecticut-river-near-northampton-1836

Constable, J. (1813). View towards the Rectory from East Bergholt House [Painting].  Private Collection. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-constable/view-towards-the-rectory-from-east-bergholt-house-1813

Constable, J. (1823). View of Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s Grounds [Painting]. London, UK: Victoria and Albert Museum. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-constable/view-of-salisbury-cathedral-from-the-bishop-s-grounds

Duchamp, M. (1912). Nude Descending a Staircase, No.2 [Painting]. Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia Museum of Art. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/marcel-duchamp/nude-descending-a-staircase-no-2-1912

Ghirlandaio, D. (c 1490). Portrait of an Old Man and a Young Boy [Painting].  Paris, France: Musée du Louvre. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/domenico-ghirlandaio/old-man-with-a-young-boy

Hobbema, M. (1689). The Avenue at Middelharnis [Painting].  London, UK: National Gallery. NG830. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/david-cox/the-poplar-avenue-after-hobbema-1835

Hopper, E. (1942). Nighthawks [Painting].  Chicago, IL: Art Institute of Chicago. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/edward-hopper/nighthawks

Kandinsky, W. (1925). Yellow, Red, Blue [Painting]. Paris, FR: Georges Pompidou Center. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/wassily-kandinsky

Leonardo da Vinci. (1503-1506). Mona Lisa. [Painting]. Paris: Musee du Louvre.  WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/leonardo-da-vinci/mona-lisa

Leonardo da Vinci. (about 1508). The Virgin with the Infant Saint John the Baptist adoring the Christ Child accompanied by an Angel (“The Virgin of the Rocks”) [Painting]. London: The National Gallery, NG1093. ArtStor https://library-artstor-org.ezproxy.bethel.edu/asset/ANGLIG_10313766642.

Malevich, K. (1916). Suprematist Composition [Painting].  Tula, Russia: Tula Regional Museum of Fine Arts. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/kazimir-malevich/suprematist-composition-1915

Mengs, A. R. (c 1760). Parnassus [Painting].  St. Petersburg, Russia: The Hermitage Museum. ГЭ-1327. https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/digital-collection/01.+Paintings/38284/

Mondrian, P. (1932). Composition No 10 [Painting]. Private Collection. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/piet-mondrian/composition-no-10-1942    Oil on canvas

Moore, H. (19). Reclining Mother and Child [Sculpture]. Minneapolis, MN: Walker Art Center. Accession No. 1963.11. https://walkerart.org/collections/artworks/reclining-mother-and-child

Mosaic of the Donors: Justinian. (547 CE). Ravenna, IT: Basilica di San Vitale. ArtStor https://library-artstor-org.ezproxy.bethel.edu/#/asset/LESSING_ART_1039490576

Piero della Francesca. (c.1455-60). Flagellation of Christ [Painting]. Urbino, Italy: Palazzo Ducale. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/piero-della-francesca/the-flagellation-of-christ-1450-1

Raguenet, J, B.. (1763). A View of Paris from the Pont Neuf. Oil on canvas. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Museum, ID 71.PA.26. Retrieved from http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/581/jean-baptiste-raguenet-a-view-of-paris-from-the-pont-neuf-french-1763/

Raphael da Urbino. (1506). Canigiani Holy Family. [Painting].  Munich, Germany: Alte Pinakothek. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/raphael/the-holy-family-with-saints-elizabeth-and-john

Raphael da Urbino. (1507). Holy Family with the Lamb [Painting].  Barcelona, Spain: Museo del Prado. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/raphael/the-holy-family-with-a-lamb-1507

Rodin, A. (1889). The Prodigal Son [Sculpture]. Rodin, A. (1889). Paris, France: Musée Rodin. WikiArt https://www.wikiart.org/en/auguste-rodin/the-prodigal-son-1889

Taylor, J. C. (1981). Learning to Look: a Handbook for the Visual Arts. 2nd edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Tōhaku, H. (16th Century). Pine Trees [Painting].  Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo National Museum. Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hasegawa_Tohaku_-_Pine_Trees_(Sh%C5%8Drin-zu_by%C5%8Dbu)_-_right_hand_screen.jpg Ink wash on paper

van Gogh, V. (1888). The Sower [Painting].  Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum. Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Sower.jpg

van Gogh, V. (September 22, 1888). Nuit Étoilée sur le Rhône (Starry Night over the Rhone) [Painting]. Paris: Musée d’Orsay. ArtStor https://library-artstor-org.ezproxy.bethel.edu/asset/SCALA_ARCHIVES_1039928884

van Gogh, V. (September 22, 1888). Nuit Étoilée sur le Rhône (Starry Night over the Rhone) [Painting]. Paris: Musée d’Orsay. ArtStor https://library-artstor-org.ezproxy.bethel.edu/asset/SCALA_ARCHIVES_1039928884
definition

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Encounters With the Arts: Readings for ARTC150 Copyright © 2020 by Dr. Mark Thorson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book