Certain qualities inherent in the choice and arrangement of elements of art in the production of a work of art.

Artists “design" their works to varying degrees by controlling and ordering the elements of art.

Considering the principles is especially useful in analyzing ways in which a work is pleasing in formal ways. How any work exhibits applications of these principles can further or modify other characteristics of a work as well.

Some principles overlap or oppose others, and some are viewed as more important,

more ideal, more relevant or irrelevant (or even undesirable) than others.

1) BALANCE

2) MOVEMENT

3) RHYTHM

4) CONTRAST

5) EMPHASIS

6) PATTERN

7) UNITY

ProportionVariety (often contrasted with unity) Harmony* (compare to unity, tension and variety) Tension* (compare to unity, harmony and variety)

7

Balance refers to the way the elements of art are arranged to create a feeling of stability in a work; a pleasing or harmonious arrangement or proportion of parts or areas in a design or composition.

Balance can be symmetrical, or formal; or it can

be asymmetrical, or informal. It can also be radial.

Balance comes to us from those devices having two pans or plates, and a pivoting suspension from a central axis that permits comparison of the weights of things on the two pans. When the weights on the two sides are equal, the pans are level — balanced.

(the several kinds: symmetry, asymmetry and radial)

Symmetric balance occurs when the two sides are identical — they reflect each other.

Young Woman with a Water Jug by Johannes Vermeer (Dutch , 1632-1675), oil on canvas; 18 x 16 inches (45.7 x 40.6 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. This painting is renowned for the elegant asymmetrical balance of its composition.

Asymmetric balance is different: the Latin prefix a- means not, so asymmetry lacks balance.

Radial balance is the kind found in another device: a gyroscope — essentially a spinning wheel.

History of Human Spirit Chua Mia Tee, 1983Oil on Canvas

LucasChuck Close,1986–87

Oil and Pencil on canvas, 254 x 213.4 cm

The act or process of moving, especially a change of place or position, an effort. This can either be actual motion or it can be implied — the arrangement of the parts of an image to create a sense of motion by using lines, shapes, forms, and textures that cause the eye to move over the work.

Movement can be a way of combining elements of art to produce the look of action. In a painting or photograph, for instance, movement refers to a representation or suggestion of motion.

In sculpture too, movement can refer to implied motion. On the other hand, mobiles and kinetic sculptures are capable of actual motion as well.

Nude descending the Stairs by Marcel Duchamp

Cathedral by Jackson Pollock

Bicycle Wheel by Marcel Duchamp

A visual tempo or beat. Rhythm refers to a regular repetition of elements of art to produce the look and feel of movement. It is often achieved through the careful placement of repeated components which invite the viewer's eye to jump rapidly or glide smoothly from one to the next.

In any artwork, it is possible to distinguish between rhythm of color, line, and form. In the continuity of the three comes the whole rhythm of that work.

Each artist, every period, every culture produces a characteristic sort of rhythm. Recognizing a work's rhythmical peculiarities often aids in identify the culture or time in which it was produced, if not the individual artist who produced it.

Rhythm's importance can be demonstrated by noting how many important rhythmic cycles we observe in nature — consider the alternating tension and relaxation in the heart's beating or in the ocean's waves, the revolutions of the earth around the sun, the comings and goings of generations. Each of us has personal rhythms to our days, weeks, and years. Life, indeed, would be chaotic without rhythm. Participating in the tempo of this flow gives us excitement and calm, yearning and contentment, yin and yang. It is natural that we would employ rhythms to organize and unify our works, much as they do the rest of our experience.

(often paired with pattern)

There are several types of visual rhythm.

These include:

regular rhythms

alternating rhythms

progressive rhythmsprogression occurs when there is a gradual increase or decrease in the size, number, color, or some other quality of the elements repeated.

some examples:ABA-CDC-ABA-EFE-ABA-CDC-ABA-EFE-ABC-ABC-ABC-DEF-DEF-DEF-ABC-ABC-ABC-DEF-DEF-DEF-

ABCD-DCCBBA-ABCD-DCCBBA

AB-AABB-AAABBB-AAAABBBB

AB-AB-AB-AB-AB-ABAB-AB-AB-AB-AB-AB-

ABC-ABD-ABE-ABF-ABG-ABH-ABI

Golconda by Rene MagritteUrban Class by Dede Eri Supria

Broadway Boogie Woogie by Piet Mondrian 1942-43. Oil on canvas, 50 x 50" (127 x 127 cm)

Dance was commissioned by S.I.Shchukin to decorate the staircase in his Moscow mansion. Matisse took the motif of the round dance, used as a symbol back as far as French Renaissance, to represent the rhythm and expression of the 20th century. The spaciousness and expressive lines emphasize the dynamics of the figures. Simplified and schematic forms intensify the brightness and resonance of the three colors — red, blue and green. See music. Dance, Matisse once said, meant "life and rhythm."

Dance by Henri Matisse1869-1954, Oil on canvas; 260 x 391 cm

A large difference between two things; for example, hot and cold, green and red, light and shadow.

Closely related to emphasis, another principle of

design, this term refers to a way of juxtaposing elements of art to stress the differences between them. Thus, a painting might have bright color which contrast with dark colors, or angular shapes which contrast with curvaceous shapes. Used in this way, contrast can excite, emphasize and direct attention to points of interest.

When paired with compare, as in "compare and contrast," "compare" emphasizes similarities while "contrast" emphasizes differences.

Vision after the SermonPaul Gauguin Oil on canvas Church at Auvers by Vincent Van Gogh

Oil on canvas

Chua Mia TeeNational Language ClassOil on canvas

Close up of Lucian Freud’s Self Portrait Close up of Chuck Close’s Self Portrait

Odalisque in Red Trousers, c.1924-1925 Henri MatisseOil on canvas

Child on EdgeLucia Hartini

Oil on Canvas

Any forcefulness that gives importance or dominance (weight) to some feature or features of an artwork; something singled out, stressed, or drawn attention to by means of contrast, anomaly, or counterpoint for aesthetic impact.

Often, emphasized elements are used to direct and focus attention on the most important parts of a composition — its focal point.

A design lacking emphasis may result in monotony.

(largely synonymous with dominance)

Ong Teng Cheong by Lai Kui FangOil on Canvas

The Third of May, 1808 by Francisco De GoyaOil on Canvas, 266 X 345 cm

(often paired with rhythm)

The repetition of any thing — shapes, lines, or colors. Pattern can also appear as motifs on objects that are painted or presented.

Patterns can be regular or irregular

The quality of wholeness or oneness that is achieved through the effective use of the elements and principles of design. A totality that combines all of its parts into one complete, cohesive whole.

Often it is realized through a deliberate or intuitive balancing of harmony and variety. However, this balance does not have to be of equal proportions.

Harmony might outweigh variety, or variety might outweigh harmony. Harmony aids efforts to blend picture parts together to form a whole. Variety adds visual interest to this unified whole. A composition is unified when the relationships between its parts interact to create a sense that no portion of the composition may be changed without altering the aesthetic integrity and meaning of the artwork.

When unity is achieved with insufficient harmony and variety, the result is monotony.

(largely synonymous with coherence and homogeneity)

Composition by Wassily KandinskyOil on Canvas

1) BALANCE 2)

MOVEMENT

3) RHYTHM 4)

CONTRAST

5) EMPHASIS 6)

PATTERN

7) UNITY

7 71) LINE 2) SHAPE

3) FORM 4) COLOUR

5) VALUE 6) TEXTURE

7) SPACE

1) Balance2) Movement3) Rhythm4) Contrast5) Emphasis6) Pattern7) Unity

1) Line2)

Shape

3) Form4)

Colour

5) Value6)

Texture

7) Space

FORMAL ANALYSIS OF ARTWORKS

(Eg. of Question: Analyze the formal qualities presented in this painting.)

1) Balance2) Movement3) Rhythm4) Contrast5) Emphasis6) Pattern7) Unity

1) Line2)

Shape

3) Form4)

Colour

5) Value6)

Texture

7) Space

FORMAL ANALYSIS OF ARTWORKS

(Eg. of Question: Analyze the formal qualities presented in this painting.)

Rhythm of Dance by Ho Ho Ying