The subject is the what of a work of art – people, places, things, themes, processes, events, ideas. Content refers to a work’s array of intangible aspects: the emotional, intellectual, psychological, symbolic elements. Form refers to the totality of a composition or design – the arrangement or organization of all its visual elements; it is the work of art as a whole. Iconography is the study of themes and symbols – figures and images that, when deciphered, reveal the underlying meaning of a work of art.
The following are the visual elements of art:
- Line is the shortest distance between two points and is the thing created by the connection of these points.
- Shape, in two-dimensional art, is a flat area created when two ends of a line are connected and an area is enclosed. It is the fundamental visual component of much three-dimensional art.
- Value describes the relative lightness or darkness of an image.
- Color is the thing that the human eye and brain perceive that is associated with descriptive words like red, or blue, or yellow.
- Texture is the surface character of materials as experienced by the senses of touch and sight.
- Space describes the area around or within the components of a work of art.
- Time and motion in art are connected: motion occurs over time and distance.
The following are principles of design:
- Unity is defined as a sense of oneness or cohesiveness.
- Variety can be described as contrast and diversity.
- Emphasis in a composition describes an attention-grabbing aspect that directs the viewer’s eye to a particular area.
- Focal point describes the main point of interest in a work of art.
- Balance is the distribution of weight – actual or visual – in a work of art.
- Rhythm describes recurrent visual motifs (like patterns) and compositional accents, movement, and flow.
- Scale is defined as the size of something relative to the human dimensions of a viewer.
- Proportion is the size of elements or images within a work of art in relation to each other or to the whole.
The materials and tools that artists use to create a work of art comprise its medium. Artistic techniques are the specific ways in which mediums are handled, controlled, and applied; technique also implies skill or facility.
Style is the distinctive mode of expression that results from the way in which an artist handles materials and the elements and principles of art and design; it is the “signature look” of an artist’s work. Realism refers to the replication – through artistic means – of people and things as they are seen by the eye or really thought to be, without idealization, without distortion. The term representational is used to describe forms in the natural world that most people would find recognizable even if the maker has not rendered the details with meticulous realism. Expressionism can be defined as a style that reflects a subjective, “inner world” – a style that conveys the psychological and emotional state of the artist. Abstract art is usually defined as art that does not imitate or clearly represent visible reality. Nonobjective art does not begin with objects in the visible world but contains compositions from teh elements of art – line, shape, color, texture, and so on.
—September 2020
Lance Jones 