• teaching with this page
• visual elements
• principles of design and composition
• visual effects
• opposition
• depth by atmospheric perspective
• types of balance
• using size
• overlapping
• teaching tip
• teaching tip
• teaching tip
  

In addition to subject matter*, the formal aspects of visual composition are like the grammar of a language. In writing, a story is written with words - subject matter. Like good literature and good poetry is more than words and subject matter, art is more than pictures. The organization, the sentence structure, the style, and so on can make or break a good story. In art, the way the formal elements are arranged can make or break a good picture idea.

The use of design principles applied to the visual elements is like visual grammar. When children learn art, it is like learning to read and write the language of vision. When they develop a style of expressing visual ideas, it helps them become visual poets. Looking for the visual effects of design principles does not have to limit an artist's options. It can focus an artist's experimentation and choice making.

TEACHING TIP 
Art vocabulary can be taught along with every project. Children can understand terms if the teacher explains them and posts them with illustrations. Including new art words in the weekly spelling list is a good way to integrate and reinforce new terms.

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We think of the elements as the basic visual material with which to make art. Is hard to imagine anything visual without the use of one or more of these elements. 
We think of the principles as ways to work with and arrange the elements.

• Emphasis - say "Center of Interest." It is about dominance and influence. Most artists put it a bit off center and balance it with some minor themes to maintain our interest. Some artists avoid emphasis on purpose. They want all parts of the work to be equally interesting. 
• Harmony - but pleasing visual combinations are harmonious. 
• Unity - nothing distracts from the whole you have unity. Unity without variation can be uninteresting - like driving on a clear day through Western Kansas on the interstate. Unity with diversity generally has more to offer in both art and in life.  Of course some very minimal art can be very calming and at times even very evocative, and even a simple landscape can have a powerful effect.
  
• Opposition - on contrasting visual concepts. That same Western Kansas "big sky" landscape becomes very dramatic and expressive when a storm builds in the southwest.
  

Examples to observe, study, and practice, are: curved and straight, high and low, dark and light (low key - high key), open and closed, positive and negative, soft and hard, smooth and rough, parallel and branching, spiral and concentric, and so on.

Balance is the consideration of visual weight and importance. It is a way to compare the right and left side of a composition.                                top of page

© marvin bartel Asymmetrical balance is more interesting. Above both sides are similar in visual weight but not mirrored. It is more casual, dynamic, and relaxed feeling so it is often called informal balance. Radial balance is not very common in artist's compositions, but it is like a daisy or sunflower with everything arranged around a center. Rose windows of cathedrals use this design system. Of course a sunflower can have many meanings and feelings beyond its "radiant" feeling. Farmers might hate it as weed cutting into their corn production. On the other hand, many of us can't help thinking about Vincent Van Gogh's extraordinarily textured painted sunflowers. Once we have contemplated those thickly expressed colors and textures with their luscious painterly surface, every sunflower we see becomes an aesthetic experience filled with spiritual sensations.

The butterfly below by itself is essentially symmetrical.  Both sides are similar in visual weight and almost mirrored. Because symmetrical balance often looks more stiff and formal, sometimes it is called formal balance. Of course a butterfly, even though it is symmetrical, doesn't look stiff and formal because we think of fluttering butterflies as metaphors for freedom and spontaneity. It is a case of subject matter and symbolism overpowering formal design effects. This is a simple diagram of radial balance.

• Variety - You create variety when elements are changed. Repeating a similar shape but changing the size can give variety and unity at the same time. Keeping the same size, but changing the color can also give variety and unity at the same time. In visual composition, there are many ways you can change something while simultaneously keeping it the same.
• Depth - effects of depth, space, projection toward the viewer add interest. Linear perspective in the real world makes things look smaller in the distance. Some artists try to avoid depth by making large things duller and small things brighter, and so on, to make the objects contradict realism. Many artists don't believe in realism even though they could do it if they wanted to. It seems too boring to them. Realism wouldn't be art for some artists.
• Repetition - Some ways to use Repetition of the Visual Elements are:

• Size Variation can apply to shape, form, etc. Notice how size can effect how close or far something can appear to be from the viewer.          top of page

top of page - © marvin bartel Here the same butterfly is shown twice.  Which one appears closer? Note how size relationships create depth or space in a composition. Children in first grade can already recognize closer and farther based on size even though they wouldn't typically use this in their pictures unless they were motivated to do so.

• Repetition can be used on all of the Visual Elements. If things are repeated without any change they can quickly get boring. However, repetition with variation can be both interesting and comfortably familiar. Repetition gives motion.
• Variation can be used with all of the visual elements. See "Variety" above. You can do this with all the elements. Artists do this all the time.

Color saturation, sometimes called "color intensity" or brightness can also give a feeling of depth and space. Which of these butterflies are farther away? Most second graders can see this effect when they are asked to look for it. These butterflies create the illusion of depth even though they are all the same size.

© marvin bartel  TEACHING TIP By the third grade, most children can reproduce effects like this that they observe in nature if the teacher has them observe these effects in the landscape. A foggy morning is an excellent time for a lesson in "atmospheric perspective". Atmospheric perspective causes colors and shapes to get blurrier and foggier in the distance.

Overlapping is often used by artists to create depth. Young children try to avoid overlapping in their work.  TEACHING TIP   By first grade if asked, most can explain how overlapping makes some things look closer and other things farther away.

© marvin bartel

Visual Effects
When we analyze artwork we often start with visual effects. We notice something happening. Then we try to figure out why it happens.                                       top of page

• Motion. Motion isn't a principle. It is one those magic effects when a still picture has motion. There are lots of ways to get motion. 
 
MOTION EXAMPLES

Sometimes it has to do with orientation.

• A diagonal line is more dynamic than a horizontal or vertical line.
Sometimes motion depends on the character of the element itself.
• A straight line may be less dynamic than a zigzag or a curving line.
• A blended area may appear to flow.


Depth. Depth is another magic effect. Illusion and magic are two threads of the same cloth.

DEPTH EXAMPLES
Sometimes the illusion of depth has to do with orientation.

• If you want a chair or person to appear further away, you can place them higher on the picture plane.
Sometimes the illusion of depth depends on the character of the element itself.
• A warm color can appear to project and cool color can appear to recede, other things being equal.
• A light tone (value) can appear to project and dark tone can appear to recede.

Teaching Creative Thinking Habits with this page - top of page

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Photos, layout, and text © Marvin Bartel 1999, 2000 - author bio
Updated January 16, 2008.

Goshen College Art Department

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