Shapes are defined as two-dimensional figures that we can discern as familiar. Once we are able to recognize that a line is not just a line, but that it has a certain shape, it becomes, well – a shape. A style of painting, brush-stroking, drawing or dripping is something each of us does differently. A freeform line drawn by a single individual is generally inimitable, which ultimately helps us recognize the author of a painting or a drawing when there is no name attached. As discussed above, lines are the primary tools of artistic expression, and therefore analogous to handwriting in terms of expressing individuality. The line is particularly important for one other reason as well, and it is its potential to convey the personal touch of an artist. Nonetheless, the human capacity to translate these visual stimuli into something as simple as a line attests to the significance of abstract thinking, and basically sums up the reasons why we are able to create something as artificial, albeit nature-like, as art. An object adjacent to the surface of another, the outline of a figure against a distant landscape, the edges of mountains facing the sky – all of them present themselves as “lines”, while in reality, they are much more or less complex. The way objects are arranged in space offers an image that usually consists of an endless number of various lines, even if these lines do not exist in physical space. This includes the things we see in everyday life that exhibit linear features, but also the phenomena we perceive as lines due to our vision, which is instructed by linear perspective. In reality, we tend to simplify all elements that are greater in length than in width, depth or diameter, and to perceive them as lines. Leonardo da Vinci - Study for the Adoration of the Magi, circa 1481Ī line is mathematically defined as a path that connects two dots or a path of an imagined moving dot. It is also a very interesting thing to observe and analyze, given that a line is, in general, an abstract phenomenon basically invented by humans. What this means is that lines are, in a way, our most valuable companions when it comes to expressing our feelings or thoughts, both for artistic and practical reasons. Even the occurrences that do not have strictly outlined edges, such as the sun, the clouds or water, are depicted with lines rather than smudges of color in young children’s drawings. After all, it is usually the first and the most pristine outcome of our contact with writing tools, pens, pencils, crayons, etc, and typically the first thing we choose to use in order to represent the reality around us. Saying that the line is the most essential of all art elements somehow comes naturally. Raphael - The School of Athens (1510-1511) - a classic example which manifestly embodies line, shape, color, space (its representation) and texture in a single painting Hardly anything that belongs to the domain of the visual can be achieved without at least one of these elements. Even if most of today’s art is not essentially based on the traditional forms of visual arts anymore, the elements of art continue to build our ocular perception. The latter is a phenomenon more common for modern art, which emerged at the turn of the 19th century when the visual representation was challenged by an endeavor to deconstruct the existing assumptions which determined the way we understand the role of art and culture. Thanks to the way our brain functions, we rarely interpret these units individually, unless we deliberately choose to focus on each of them in particular, or in case the artist aims to emphasize a single element in order to achieve a certain effect or to make a statement. As you can already imagine, these are supposed to be the basic units deployed to constitute a visual arrangement, ultimately perceived as a whole. Some also mention value, which is described as a parameter that determines the intensity of color, and pattern, which refers to repetition. You might find form singled out as a separate category, defined as a three-dimensional alternative to shape. Do you know an answer to a question What are the elements of art exactly? Traditional way of looking at art, namely the visual arts, suggests that there are five basic elements of an art work – line, shape, color, texture and space.
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