Design Elements

Dots and Lines

The dot can be described as the most basic mark. Lines can either stand alone or be connected. A line can follow the general outlines of a subject. Lines can also have different qualities; they can be thick or thin, light or dark, free-flowing or rigid. Richmond Teye Ackam positions lines and dots to create a cohesive image in his painting Red and Black, below.

Shape

We can create a shape by joining several lines together. The shape can also be referred to as the figure - whether it is an object or a person - and the space between the shapes and on which the shapes rest is called the ground. The relationship between the figure and the ground, known as the figure/ground relationship. is important in the composition of the whole image. In Rogier van der Weyden's Portrait of a Lady (p. 19), the use of a dark background mirroring the dark tones of the costume serves to accentuate the paler, more ethereal qualities of the face, neck and veil.

There are occasions, however, when it is useful to blur the distinction between the figure and the ground, and this is known as figure/ground ambiguity. Joan Brown's Self-portrait with Fish and Cat (p.12), demonstrates this, where both the background and foreground of the image are painted in red, achieving an imaginary and symbolic space.

Similar to the concepts of the figure and the ground is the design elements of negative space (see also p. 76). If you consider a mark on the picture plane as a positive shape, then the area surrounding it is negative space. The tendency of new artists to view the outside lines that form objects or figures as the most important often gets in the way of understanding their relationship to the negative space. One way to demonstrate negative space is to attempt to draw the negative space first, such as the inside lines of a picket fence. What remains is the fence itself. The term negative space is not meant to be disparaging; it is a means of visually separating the figure from the ground.

Like figure/ground relationship, negative space is important in terms of composition on the square or rectangular surface. A successful composition will be one where the shapes of the negative space are also considered as part of the design. Beginning painter Kelly Smith's Fruits and Vegetables painting (right) is an illustration of effective and inventive overall use of negative space. Here the negative space is formed by the pale blue material on which the fruit and vegetables are placed, and the shapes created as a result are as interesting as those of the objects in the still life arrangement itself. Together, the fruits and vegetables and the pale blue of the negative space create a dynamic composition.

Smith's painting also shows the effective use of cropping to create a visually interesting composition with a sense of continuation. Here the edges of the picture plane have been considered as a frame to the image, allowing a carefully chosen portion of the still life arrangement to be included within it, as it demonstrated by the cutting off, or cropping, of some of the fruits and vegetables. Cropping the image through composition is also illustrated in van der Weyden's Portrait of a Lady.

Texture

Texture in a painting can be both tactile, through the tactile nature of the paint, and visual, in the rendering of textures such as feathers or fur. It can be created through the use of repetition. In design, this is a mark or shape that is repeated throughout the image. A checkerboard is a good example. In nature, this phenomenon is called similarity. An example is a field of grass in which each blade appears to be exactly the same, but in reality they are all different. As we have seen, Kako Ueda's Vanitas (overleaf) shows both repetition and similarity. The repeating of shapes and colours in this image also creates a motif.

A motif occurs when visual elements are combined and this new combination is repeated, creating a pattern, which becomes a visual theme. A motif can be in the form of strict repetition, or it can merely suggest similarity.

Almost the opposite of repetition is variety, where many dissimilar shapes form the core of the design. More of a random quality is conveyed, as demonstrated in Norman Rockwell's Shuffleton's Barbershop (p.27), where all the pieces of furniture and objects in the room combine to create one cohesive whole. Most designs and artwork employ a combination of repetition and variety.

--Color Painting: Using the Full Palette, Diane Edison, Page 16-17, Design Principles and Visual Elements.