Principles of Design

Asymmetrical Balance

Asymmetrical balance is when balance is achieved in a composition when neither side reflects or mirrors the other. The asymmetrical balance is balance that does not weigh equally on both sides, as in James Mcneil Whistler's 1872 oil painting, Nocturne in Blue & Gold:  Old Battersea Bridge.  The bridge pile is slightly left of the center and is balanced with the smaller boat and figure.



Repetition/Rhythm

When the same element or shape is repeated over and over again in a composition a visual rhythm results.

Contrast/Variety

Contrast is the opposition or juxtaposition of different forms, lines, or colors in a work of art to intensify each element's properties and produce a more dynamic expressivenessas as in Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1874 oil painting "La Loge" The Theater Box, where he contrasts the difference between white and black.

Visual Movement

Visual movement is the the direction or flow in artwork or the path that our eyes follow when we look at a work of art.  This also refers to an implied motion the arrangement of elements in an image that create a sense of motion by using lines, shapes, forms, and textures that cause the eye to move over the work.  In Henry Matisse 1909 painting Dance 1, the women seem to be dancing in a circle, starting with the left direction switching to the right direction.

Scale and Proportion

Proportion is the relationship of parts to each other and a whole work, scale is the relative size of an object compared with the others of its kind or setting. The relative size of elements against each other can attract attention to a focal point. When elements are designed larger than life, scale is being used to show drama and amusement, as in Rene Magritte 1952 painting Personal Values. 

Emphasis

Emphasis is the principle of creating a centered interest in an art work, often achieved by color contrast and by lines.  The artist makes part of the work stand out, in order to draw the viewer's eye there first.

Jan Steen placed the emphasis on the youngest daughter of the family in the 1665 oil painting "The Feast of Saint Nicholas."  He painted a golden child, in a golden smock and showing golden locks of hair.

Formal Elements

CROSS HATCHING

Cross Hatching uses two or more sets of fine parallel lines drawn closely together, to create the illusion of shade or texture in a drawing, describing light and shadow.  Multiple layers in varying directions can be used to create textures as in Vincent van Gogh's 1889 drawing called the Fountain in the Hospital Garden at Saint-Rémy where you can see the crosshatching in the fountain bricks.

Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro is the technique using light and shade to achieve a three-dimensional quality, it's an Italian word meaning light-dark.  In this 1609 oil painting by Peter Paul Ruebens, chiaroscuro is used to highlight the muscles on Samson and the curves on Delilah's chest.

 

Analogous Color

The analogous color scheme uses 3 colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel. One color is used as a dominant color while others are used to enrich the scheme.  They are pleasant to the viewer because they are closely related.  Vincent Van Gogh uses Orange, yellow-orange, and yellow in his 1888 oil painting  called Sunflowers.

Primary Colors

Primary colors are red, yellow and blue.  They are the original colors on the color wheel and can not be created by mixing other colors.  In the 1627 painting by Nicolas Poussin red, yellow and blue are the main colors in his painting.

Pattern

pattern is the repetition of an element in artwork and the artist achieves a pattern through the use of colors, lines, or shapes.  There are patterns of colors and lines in Fernand Léger's 1914 painting called the "Exit the Ballets Russes". 

Op Art

Optical painting is when the artist manipulates light, color fields or repeated patterns of lines to produce an optical illusion.  An example of this type of artwork is Frank Stella's 1964 painting Fez (2), where Stella creates the illusion of movement in the lines where the colors meet.