Project #1: Elements and Principles of Art

http://s46.photobucket.com/user/Renderduselez665/library/Elements%20And%20Principles

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://s46.photobucket.com/user/Renderduselez665/embed/slideshow/Elements%20And%20Principles"></iframe>

Elements:

1. Line
 The dark vein lines in this leaf draw your eye along its shape.  They also direct your eye to the contrast of the purple color of the leaf which isn't an often seen color.

2. Value
Our shadows demonstrate value. Our shadows are very dark in comparison to the grey hue of the wooden walkway.

3. Shapes
The shapes of each floor of this building are created by lines.  They form this organic kidney bean shape.

4. Forms
 Forms are 3D shapes with depth, width and height.  Here the water droplets are forming off of recently watered flower petals.

5. Space
Space is demonstrated here by this cactus. You can see the sharp edges of the tips of the cactus spikes and space also allows you to tell that each one is grouped with several others that grow out of the same space.

6. Color
The coloring on this flower is very unique.  The petals themselves use color to differentiate between the circle shapes of brown.  Color is also used to outline the brown spots on the leaves in yellow.

7. Texture
The surface quality of this leaf can be seen and felt.  It is rough and abrasive to the touch, which you can even tell from this photograph.

Principles:

1. Balance
Balance is created in this photo of a pathway next to the lake.  The lush greenery is split down the middle by the dirt walkway.  The colors here are all earthy greens and browns.  The textures are smooth leaves and lush foliage paired with spindly vines and sticks.  The balance here is left/right.

2. Contrast
The contrast in this piece is fairly obvious.  The ocean in contrast to the pier is one way; the soft ebb and flow of the water around the harsh wood of the pier.   There is also the contrast of the perspective.  You are looking out from a low point on the pier over the ocean to a man standing at another area of the pier, also looking out over the ocean.  The eye follows the beams of the pier that are evident in the left hand side of the photo out onto the area where the man stands overlooking the ocean, and out among the water.

3. Movement
This boardwalk among the swamps of Maine creates movement through the marshlands.  The contrast of the shadows between each plank and the recurring lines of the plank spaces draw your eye upward through the photo. From there the contrasting foliage draws your eye outward to the edges of the photo.

4. Emphasis
The emphasis here is on the spiraling nature of the leaf.  You can tell the plant is present in the background but the edge of the leaf in the foreground draws your eye into the center, where the leaf spirals in onto itself.   Even the color of the leaf leads the eye to that middle spiral.

5. Pattern
 Is the repetition of a shape, in this case a square.  Each space of the checker board is a repeated element as well as the shape of the board as a whole, itself.  The squares are also repeated in the shape of the tiles on the ground and draw your eye from the table down and outward.  I also think that the concentric circles of the table is another patter that helps to draw your eyes out from the checker board, as it is a more organic shape where a square has harsh corners.

6. Proportion
Proportion plays on the fact that things appear as they should.  In this case the skyscrapers are looming over the people on the walkways and the cars passing by, just as one would think.

7. Unity
There is a strong balance in this piece, with the subject (me!) breaking apart the photograph evenly.  The colors are all subdued and there is also an equal amount of the sky and ground.