The Principles and Elements of Art Create Successful Paintings

Learning the basic principles of art made me a better painter.

Painting takes practice and while we are practicing, it's good to learn the fundamentals of good art.

The art elements and principles work together to create successful artwork.

Successful paintings all use art elements according to the principles of art.

What made Country Barns successful?

How Are the Art Elements and Principles Different?

The principles of art govern how an artist uses the elements in painting.

Let's see how this works:

How Many Principles of Art Are There?

Artists have different opinions about the number of art principles.

We will look at about ten principles and see how they are used in paintings.

About artist Carol May

They are: rhythm, movement, proportion, balance, emphasis, contrast, unity (harmony), pattern, repetition and variety.

Whew! That sounds like a lot. Several of the principles are overlapping or may be used together.

"Country Barns" (the painting above) has won two best of show awards. It's my pleasure to share the elements and art principles that made it a successful painting.

What Are the Elements of Art?

Paintings are made with the seven elements of line, shape, form, space, texture, values and color. Learning and using these elements will speed up your art journey.

See how the elements were used in the flower painting below.

Shape, Form and Texture Elements

Shape is a two-dimensional representation of an object. We see it as the height and width of an object.

Form is the three-dimensions of an object, the height, width and depth.

Texture refers to the surface of items. Silk has a smooth texture and wool is rough textured.

Artists may paint the textures using various values and colors. Or actual texture may be created in the paint with brush marks or palette knives.

This flower was painted as viewed from above.

So, we can see only 2 dimensions, the height and width.

Texture bring definition to the subject.

The shadow indicates a third dimension, the depth of the flower.

The texture was created with color and values.

Values and Space Elements

Space may be defined as positive or negative space.

Values are the light and darkness of an item.

Positive and negative spaces

The flowers in this painting occupy the positive space.

The areas around them are considered negative spaces.

Light and dark values bring attention the subject.

High contrast in the focal area

The center flower has the lightest value in the painting.

It contrasts well with dark blue value in the background.

The artist value scale has nine shades of grey between white and black. Colors also have values. Yellow is the lightest value and purple is the darkest color value.

The Element of Color

If it wasn't for color, I probably wouldn't be an artist. I absolutely love color!

Artists can paint love, peace, confusion or harmony all by using color.

Color is the joy of painting art.

How to Mix Colors answers common questions:

How do we mix vibrant colors?
How do we shade and tone other colors?
What's the best way to lighten colors?
How do we to prevent muddy colors?
How do we use less paint for mixing?

Once you master color you may love color, too.

Using Principles and Elements in Painting

Let's see how to use art elements in accordance with the principles of art.

We will take them one step at a time and see how I used them in the award-winning "Country Barns" painting.

Rhythm and Movement

A painting can flow like rhythm of music.

The viewer moves through the painting.

Rhythm is created by the spaces between the elements in the painting.

The red line on the left indicates the rhythm created by the patches of sun and shadow on the road.

Movement maneuvers the viewer's eyes through the painting for example a boat sailing or a man running.

In this painting a line element (indicated by the straight red line) moves the viewer into the painting and up the road to the large barn.

A good composition provides a way for the viewer to enter the painting.

Line Elements

Since we read from left to right, the lower left is the recommended place to bring a viewer into a painting.

Moving the viewer's eyes through a flower painting.

Move the viewer into the artwork.

Lines may be actual elements like the road above, or implied lines.

The viewer enters this painting from the lower left following the line of flowers.

The curved line of the flowers moves the eyes up into the painting.

The top flower curves to the left of the two bottom right flowers. This keeps the viewers inside the painting.

There are good and bad ways to use lines in paintings.

Balance and Proportion

This painting beautifully demonstrates the principles of balance and proportion.

Balance the painting.

Balance in painting works like a teeter-totter.

If there is a heavy object on one side, put more space on the other side to balance the heavy object.

The rule of thirds is an easy way to create balance in our paintings.

Proportion means the objects in a painting relate to each other's size naturally.

Pop-art may be an exception, but we use proportion when we want things to look natural.

This "Surf Catcher" bird was painted in relation to the rocks he's walking on.

Emphasis and Contrast

Emphasis and contrast are the principles used to create focal points.

Use emphasis and contrast in the focal point.

Emphasis brings attention to things in the painting, in this case the large barn.

The barn's form (showing three dimensions) and value elements (light and dark) emphasize it.

Contrast brings attention to things in the painting. The front wall of the big barn is the lightest value in the painting. It contrasts well with its dark entry door.

Squint your eyes and look at the things in the large red circle. Notice everything in the large circle is a darker value than the light barn wall.

In real life the sky would be the lightest thing, but the barn wall was painted lighter to emphasize it.

In addition to values, artists may use contrasting colors, texture and hard edges to create emphasis and contrast on the main subject.

Create engaging artwork with a focal point.

Unity and Harmony

Unity and Harmony are quite similar. They mean all the parts of the painting are working together. The items in the painting relate to each other.

Different parts of the painting are not competing with each other. The painting feels complete and peaceful.

Patterns and Repetition

Patterns and repetition give the viewers more to see. It keeps them in the painting longer.

Patterns and repetition provide interest.

Patterns are things repeated over and over to create a design. That's great on fabric, but in paintings we need to vary our patterns.

Notice the shadow patterns on the front barn. Each shadow varies in shape and color. Some shadows go up on the roof for more variation.

Repetition of objects, colors or lines can be useful. There is a repetition of rocks in the right foreground.

A single, lone rock would detract from the focal point. Multiple rocks added interest without detracting from the barn.

The leaves of the large tree on the right have more repetition. They are painted with a variety of shape, color and values to keep them from being boring.

Variety

Variety keeps our paintings interesting.

Notice in the barn painting there are three separate buildings.

Each building is a different size.
Each building is a different color, a different shape and a different value.
There is a variety of colors, even in the same object.

That's variety! It keeps our paintings from being boring.

Variety is the main key to painting good art!

Let's Combine Repetition with Variety

Paint shapes with variety.

Paint patterns and repetition with variety.

In the flower painting you see there is an obvious repetition of shapes.

But for variety and interest each flower faces a slightly different angle.

When the flower angle was very similar to another, I pulled up the petals on one side to change the shape from a circle to an ellipse.

Variety is a key to good composition in art.

What Have We Learned?

Artists use the elements of line, shape, form, space, texture, values and color according to the principles of art.

How do the principles use the art elements?

Rhythm is made by repeating shapes, colors or values.
Movement pulls the viewer in and thru the painting.
Balance in painting works just like a teeter-totter.
Proportion means the size of each object is true to reality.
Emphasis makes things stand out in the painting.
Contrast is created by opposing colors, values or edges.
Unity and harmony are when everything is working together.
Patterns and repetition are repeating things in the painting.
Variety resists boredom.

Now that we understand these individual elements and principles, let's see how they all work together in the act of painting.

A Checklist for Creating Good Art

When I was doing the barn painting, was I consciously checking off a list of ten different principles or seven elements? No.

While I'm painting, they work together to help me focus on four main goals:

A Strong Composition: I use the principles of balance, movement, and rhythm to arrange the elements in a pleasing way.
Accurate Values: Understanding value contrast is key to getting my lights and darks right.
Harmonious Color: The principle of unity helps ensure my color choices work together.
A Clear Focal Point: I create a focal point using emphasis and contrast.

See how it works?

Art elements and principles aren't a list of technical rules to memorize and forget. They are the building blocks of good art.

By learning them, you develop an instinct for what makes a painting work.

When we focus on composition, values, color, and a focal point - we are using the art elements and principles - whether we think about them or not.

That makes painting a joy!

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