To be able to create beautiful visual designs, you must first learn about the elements and principles in designing. What are design elements and principles? Elements refer to the basic units of a design, while design principles comprise the structural characteristics of the design’s composition. Both elements and principles are applied to all disciplines of visual designs, they may even sometimes overlap. There are many fields of visual design, to wit, fine arts, graphic design, architecture, industrial design, among others.
A design is basically a structured display of various design elements and principles. It is made in such a way as to serve an intention.
There is a wide variety of design principles. They largely depend both on the beliefs of the individual designers, and the many points of view of different art groups.
Design Elements
Let us first learn about the design elements.
- Space
Space alludes to the part you will use for your design. Space could be two dimensional- that is with a height and width; or three dimensional with a height, width and length. It also involves a foreground space, middle ground space and a background space. It could also mean areas or distances within, between and around components of a piece.
Space is of two types: positive and negative. The space that holds the subject is called the positive space. While the space between and around the subject is the negative space.
- Line
Line as a design element refers to any unbroken movement of a point on a surface. For example, a brush or pencil stroke that forms the edges of shapes. Without lines and curves you cannot create the forms and shapes for your design.
There are different kinds of lines such as horizontal, vertical, curve, zigzag, diagonal, wavy, dash, parallel and dotted lines. Each line is characterized by its thickness, length and direction.
- Color
Colors are grouped into primary, secondary or tertiary. Colors on opposite sides of the color wheel are called complementary colors. These are usually employed when you want to create contrast in your design. If the colors are adjacent to each other on the color wheel, they are referred to as analogous colors. These are useful in making harmony. Monochromatic colors, meanwhile, are different hues of one color. Red, yellow and orange shades are classified as warm colors. Cool colors, on the other hand, are shades of blue, green and purple.
You can see colors by light bouncing off of a surface or by using light sources with colors. You may use color, specifically contrasting color, to put focus on a particular point in the design.
- Shape
Shape is basically a space that stands apart from its surroundings due to a boundary set around it. This boundary could be explicit or implied. Boundary could be made by drawing lines or curves, of by contrasting colors, texture and value. Shapes can be organic or geometric.
In design, shapes can be used to define perspective by overlapping them. Shapes in interior design and house décor are used to define the style, theme and interest. It really depends on the function of the object. Natural shapes such as wood and stone patterns improve the visual appeal in interior design and decorating. In landscaping, natural shapes like trees can be used in contrast to geometric shapes like houses.
- Texture
Texture refers to the quality of the surface. There are two kinds of texture in art- tactile texture and implied texture. Tactile, or real, texture refers to the actual feel of the surface. Real texture can be felt on rock, fur, tree bark, cotton, sand paper and the like. Implied texture, on the other hand, alludes to how the surface seems to feel, visually. This kind of texture is employed by artists in their drawings or paintings. They can create objects that look like rough, gritty, fizzy, even if they cannot be actually felt.
- Form
Form refers to any object that has length, width and depth. The dimensions of a form are measurable. A form can be organic (a.k.a. natural), or geometric (a.k.a man-made). You can make a form by joining at least 2 shapes. Forms can be constructed into 3D creations or they could be drawn. Forms can be modified using color, tone and texture.
- Value
Value is also known as tone. It refers to the balance or contrast of dark and light on an object or surface. It enhances form as it provides depth and perception to the object.
Principles of Design
The principles of design administer all the elements used in an art work. They put to order the composition of the work. A good visual design is able to achieve the artist’s intent with the use of both design elements and principles. There is no set of guidelines or rules in using them. The right combination of elements and principles depends on the artist’s purpose.
The following are the design principles:
- Unity
Unity renders the work complete and unified. It refers to a feeling that everything in it are truly in their right places. By using repetition, harmony and/or balance, you can achieve unity.
- Contrast
Contrast makes use of opposing elements, such as size, value, color and others. It is important in drawing attention to a focal point in your work. It adds interest.
- Variety
Variety, or alternation, utilizes different elements to create distinctiveness and fascination. In interior design, variety is applied to prevent monotony. For example, by placing a painting on a wall or adding color to a house décor to enhance beauty.
- Emphasis
This is also referred to as dominance or focal point. Emphasis guides the viewer toward and out of an image. This is accomplished with the use of varying levels of focal points, such as primary, secondary, tertiary focal points, and so on. Emphasis, thus, means not giving all objects in a work the same treatment. One object is more dominant than the rest. You can give more emphasis to an object by any of the following: putting it in the foreground, increasing its size, making it more intricate or sophisticated, and others. Emphasis makes the art work more organized and gives it direction. Remember, the biggest emphasis should be given to the primary focal point in a design.
- Balance
Balance gives the art work a feeling that the dominant focal points are not placed in any one part of the work. You could employ symmetrical balance, asymmetrical balance or radial balance. Balance in a design could be accomplished by strategic placing of things, varying sizes and volumes of objects, and different colors. You can balance bold colors by adding lighter, neutral colors. While light colors can be balanced off by dark colors.
What is Contemporary Fine Art?
This is a good question for discussion; what is contemporary fine art? We are contemporary to modern times. No one should be sneered at for not knowing that The Art World has its own separate definitions for each of these terms.
Are modern art and contemporary fine art different?
In any other instance, the English language pretty much allows for “modern” and “contemporary” to be swapped at will, but not in this case. As you have already guessed, the single most important thing anyone needs to know about Modern Art is that Modern Art and Contemporary Art are two different things altogether.
A good rule of thumb is:
- Modern Art: Art is the period from the Impressionists (say, around 1880) up until the 1960′s or 70′s.
- Contemporary Art: Art is the period from the 1960′s or 70′s up until this very minute.
In Art History, Modern Art started with the winding of the Impressionists While this is acceptable, strong arguments can be (and have been) made that Modern Art does not have a fixed date in particular and that it began at a variety of different dates. Depending on the survey course that a person has taken, Modern Art can be said to have begun with:
- The early 1800′s Romanticism,
- The 1830′s Realism,
- Daguerre’s announcement, in 1839, that a direct positive image method was invented by him.
- The writer Baudelaire who, in 1846, called upon artists to “be of their time”,
- 1874’s The first Impressionist show or
- The “-isms” of the 1880′s (Tonal-, Symbol-, Post-Impression- and Neo-Impression-)
So then, which of above is right? Well, all we can say is that none of them are “wrong” for sure. (Here, it was simply a case of “1880″ working out well, for me, in terms of organization.) To keep it simple, let’s just agree on the fact that Modern Art began in the 19th-century, and ran through a whole slew of “-isms” up until the end of the 1960′s.
Regardless of chosen starting date, the crucial factor is that Modern Art means: “The point at which artists (1) felt free to believe in their inner visions, (2) express those visions in their creations, (3) use Real Life (social issues and images from modern life) as a source of inspiration and (4) experiment, innovate and be creative as often as possible.”
I know it’s wordy! Art has gone its own mess to deal with. It’s often easier to make it, than to try to explain it – and making it can be about as natural and easy as childbirth, it just takes some days. But that’s Modern Art (and Modern Life) for you. Say, now that you’re sure about the meaning of contemporary fine art, why not go have some fun poking around in all of those delicious “-isms”?
We are having an art sale online! Our images can help provide a visual and aesthetic appeal to your home. This is an opportunity to buy art from artist at a much lower price. Ranging in styles from abstract to figurative, it will not be hard to find a print that suits your tastes and styles. We provide you with the option to purchase a print that is large enough to cover an entire wall or smaller prints.
All or our prints are affordable which will allow you to make a firm statement or tell a story to your guests. We make it possible to collect fine art of high quality that is colorful and full of life.
These prints are of contemporary prints printed on museum quality papers.
But how do you define composition?
Pattern
As there are patterns to be seen everywhere, this is a good subject in art. You can achieve stunning images by focusing on these patterns. Highlighting broken patterns is also good.
Symmetry
Symmetry could go both ways. It could be good if you have a symmetrical view with an amazing point of interest and great composition. The key here is the point of interest. If you have a weak point of interest, or none at all, your photo could be boring. It is advisable to capture both situations to judge which one is better.
Texture
You can make your art come to life by adding texture. Texture can be achieved through strategic positioning of lighting. This way, the two dimensional piece could have a three dimensional effect.
Depth of Field
Depending on your depth of field, you can either separate your subject from the surroundings, or you can integrate your subject with the foreground and background. For the former, you can use a shallow depth of field, while the latter requires a larger depth of field. Depth of field, hence, will largely affect the composition of your art.
Lines
Lines can be used to lead the viewer to look at crucial elements in a picture and establish the feeling depicted in the image. Before capturing a scene, you should first be aware if there are any horizontal, vertical or converging lines covered in the shot. If there is, you should utilize it.
For artist who loves to paint, it’s easier and more comfortable to deal with a still object than a moving or changing one. Since the 17th century, western world has been using different life subjects are used with oil paintings and they have been quite popular there.. Working with still objects gives artist an opportunity to work with more control over the chosen subject. This type of still life paintings can also be a good start for those who are amateur and under training.
Through this art for the artists got a chance, to render their own type of poetry, or even a sense of spirituality, with the objects that they liked. There were some of the oil painting techniques where they would sometimes have to apply layers of paint and glazes. These ideas were originally started by some older masters of the art world and were handed down throughout the ages, which the contemporary artists took and improvised on, so that they can become more creative and expressive in their art work.
Flowers, tableware or fruits are best suited for this type of paintings. Artists also utilize the beauty and contrast in colors of these objects possess in their paintings. Also, depending on the artist’s creativity, the objects can be manipulated into various arrangements. Many artists from the past helped to make a way for the present future artist to become more creative in the art movement.
Like any other contemporary art, still life art too keeps experimenting with some traditional styles and keep developing itself. New ideas are always being created in it, and old topics and new techniques merge together to give progressive results all the time.
Still life paintings are a real work of art and depicting inanimate subjects like the objects which sometimes are of a natural nature like plants, rocks or flowers and shells. Even man made objects such as books, coins, vases or even jewelry along with an artificial setting can qualify as its subject. And with help of modern technology such as internet, the still life paintings can be generated all over the world with great ease.
Figure drawing is an art of drawing the human body in its various poses. “Life drawing” is the process of observing a live model and drawing the human figure accordingly. For an artist, figure drawing is arguably the most difficult subject and it requires entire classes for it to be understood properly.
When it comes to visual art, the human figure is one of the most enduring themes. Figure drawing can be applied to portraiture, cartooning and comic book illustration, sculpture, medical illustration, and other fields that use depictions of the human form. Figure drawing can be done very simply as in gesture drawing, or with greater details, using charcoal, pencil or other drawing tools. Any process that uses pigment may be called as figure painting.
Different artists take different approaches for drawing human figure. It can be drawn from live models, from photographs from skeletal models, or even from memory and imagination. Most of the instructions would focus on how to use models in “life drawing” courses. Using photographs as reference has been a common practice since the development of photography. But, this is often criticized or discouraged in figure painting as it could produce “flat” images, which often fail to capture the dynamic aspects of the subject. Drawing from imagination is often encouraged for creative reasons and criticized for the inaccuracies introduced by the artist’s lack of knowledge or limited memory. In visualizing the human figure; the experience of the artist with other methods has a large influence on the effectiveness of this approach.
Different artists prefer different approaches in developing an image. Some focus on the shapes created by the interplay of light and dark values on the surfaces of the body while others prefer an anatomical approach, which starts with approximating the internal skeleton of the figure, overlaying the internal organs and musculature, and covering those shapes with the skin, and finally (if applicable) clothing; this technique involves study of human internal anatomy. Another approach is to first construct a rough body out of geometric shapes, e.g., a sphere for the cranium, a cylinder for the torso, etc. and then refines those shapes to more closely resembling human forms.
If one is working without visual reference (or supervision), then he can consider the following proportions as references for figure drawing:
- An average person, in general, is about, 7-and-a-half heads tall (including the head). In a classroom, this can be illustrated by using paper plates to the students so that they can remember a visual demonstration for the length of human bodies.
- An ideal figure, reflecting nobility or grace, is drawn at 8 heads tall.
- A heroic figure, say that for gods or for any superhuman, is eight-and-a-half heads tall. The additional length is mostly added to make broader chest and longer legs.
The point that needs to be noted here is that these proportions are most useful for a standing model. Poses which introduce foreshortening of various body parts will result in variations.
In the years between the two World Wars the Art Deco movement thrived, mostly in architecture, but it was also greatly represented in the fine and applied arts. You can find various art deco prints created by myself. The main characteristic of Art Deco was the fresh modern air it brought to many artistic styles and themes of the old age. Its root of origin was the Art Nouveau style, but Art Deco images were designed to be closer to simplicity and mass production. The 1920’s were a time of change and hope for America, prosperity and progress left the old ideas behind, making room for daring, new concepts.
Exotic motifs, as nature inspired symbols arranged in geometric patterns, were applied on neo-classical style buildings, as people sensed the need to rebel on the austerity of the First World War and express opulence, lavishness and profligacy through Art Deco. All the symbols of the new world emerging from the war, as cinema theatres, train stations, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Barclay-Vesey building and even ocean liners needed the mark of Art Deco. The newly discovered alloys, as stainless steel and aluminum were now in vogue, being applied to everything in the most eccentric patterns. A parallel movement was Streamline Moderne, which distinguished itself by its modern aerodynamic designs, inspired by new technologies in aviation and ballistics.
Art Deco was even represented in the design of every day objects, such as cars and household appliances, which lead to its disparagement, as it became ubiquitous and ostentatious, showing a lack of taste. Some of the best examples of the original Art Deco are to be found in Cuba, Brazil, and Uruguay and of course, in North America, in states like: Florida, Tulsa, Oklahoma and Houston, Texas. After the devastating earthquake in Napier, New Zealand, which took place in 1931, the reconstruction was made in Art Deco style. Also, during their colonial reign in Asmara, Eritrea, the Italians used the Art Deco architectural style. Our Art Deco Prints as well as pop art prints are easy.
No matter what type of artist you are the issue of copyright will come up eventually. It doesn’t matter if you are using image editing programs or just painting it is important o understand these issues and how they apply to you.
Copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression. Copyright gives you exclusive rights to an image allowing you to sell it reproduce it and make derivatives of it.
You own the copyright the moment you create anything in tangible form. The copyright lasts for your life plus 70 years. You cannot copyright an idea but as soon as the idea is executed into a work of art that copyright is owned by you. It is the way you execute an idea that holds copyright and not the idea itself. You do not need to register for copyright it automatically exists. But in the case of copyright infringement than registration makes it less tricky. You can register for copyright here:
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl115.html
If you sell a work of art you still own the copyright. Unless the agreement is to sell the copyright with the work. A good way to make sure that this is clear is to include paperwork with your art sold that states that you retain copyright. That includes commissioned works. Owning the art is not the same as owning copyright. You can create prints and derivatives of the original.
A copyright symbol is not needed but it does make the copyright clear for those who are not familiar with copyright law.
In the case of derivatives; if you are using another artist’s work as a derivative you may do so and claim copyright provided that you could hold the two images next to each other and clearly see that they are different. Your end result must be completely different than theirs.
You may not use photos taken by another person as reference for a work of art that you are creating unless the photographer has stated that their image can be used in its entirety. However information within the photograph can be used as knowledge received and then used in your own work. For example: texture in tree bark or the shape of butterfly wings etc… Just be sure hat you are using the information as reference and not copying the image. In that case then your work is a derivative of the photo and not a copy of the photo.
You cannot create works based on copyrighted characters such as cartoons or superheroes. Those are owned copyrights.
Copyright law covers collage. The easiest way to stay out of copyright issues is to use elements created by you or purchase elements created for this purpose. If you were to purchase collage sheets from Michael’s you do not own the copyright to the sheets but you do own the copyright of what you created using the collage sheets.
In general if you can see it can become part of your art.
You are within your rights to make use of public building in works of art. This includes schools, churches, office buildings and such.
You can photograph private property provided that you are standing on public property. Privately owned venues such as movie theaters and concert halls are still public.
You can also include in your work public figures, people at the park, and cars in the street- provided that these are in public areas. If someone from a privately owned public venue asks you to stop taking pictures they can do so but they cannot ask you for what images you have already attained.
But publishing or selling is not the same. If you have a human figure in your work then you must get a model release to commercially publish this work and claim copyright. Newspapers are not required to do so but it is a needed step for artists to take as a lawsuit is possible with out a release. With that in mind it is a good idea to obtain a release when including private property in your work also. That also goes for painting/ drawing people. You may do so but if the work is intended to be sold then obtain a release from the person to avoid a possible lawsuit.
There is no international copyright that will protect you.
We can never truly comprehend art unless we understand its worth. Some might say, though, that an expression has no value when it is an end in itself. But we should clarify that what we are concerned about here is the worth of art in relation to the experience we have with it. Our focus will be on art’s intrinsic value.
In determining the total value of art, we should also consider the consequences it might invoke on other encounters. However, this will be dealt with later on when we already have a good understanding of what art really is.
In other words, for now, we are only interested in the inherent value of art. A work of art is only beautiful when it can evoke strong emotions from us. It is not quite enough that the piece has lovely colors, amusing strokes and enchanting sounds. It should be able to tell us, on a personal level, what message it wishes to convey.
What is the real value of art? Can anyone really put a price tag on a work of art? In an ideal world, you cannot place a monetary value on an artwork. Its value really depends on the one perceiving the creation. However, since we live in a world where everything has a price tag, we have to accept this truth. There are various factors that influence the price an artwork gets. Some factors are concrete and can be easily measured, while others are not. Read on to know more about the considerations in pricing your favorite artwork.
Take for instance, a Picasso piece. On one hand, you have the real deal, on the other, you have a replica. They both have the same beauty; they both convey the same emotions; and they both relay the same message. But which is worth more? Since they seem to be the same in all aspects, why does one costs much, much more than the other? Is it really a big deal if the real Picasso created it? Did Picasso leave his unique aura on his art piece? Considering the humongous difference in their prices, the answer is a resounding YES. The authenticity of the artwork and the proof that goes with it are important factors in pricing an artwork.
History of ownership, or provenance, of the artwork also influences its value. Compare an artwork that has been on display in your local library to a similar artwork that had been in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art. Which do you think would demand a higher price? The one that has a more reputable history would have a bigger price tag. This is similar to items previously owned by celebrities. Though these are ordinary things that anybody can have, they still command higher prices in auctions.
The size of the artwork is also considered. Generally, a larger sized painting will fetch a higher price than a smaller one. Medium also matters. For example, majority of the public believe that oil paintings should cost more than drawings using pastels or pencils. Thus, in the art market, this belief dictates the prices of many artworks. The subject of the artwork is also factored in. That is why, art pieces with people as subject sell higher than pieces with animals in it.
In art auctions, social interactions and pressures play major roles in determining the prices of the art pieces. The number of attendees in an auction will have an impact on the success of the sale. Also, ego plays a part in an auction. This may sound petty, but it is true. For example, take two business rivals attending the same auction and eyeing the same art piece. Since they are rivals they would naturally want to outbid one another resulting to much, much higher bids and driving the price of the artwork higher.
Other influences are the place where the artwork was bought (whether from Sotheby’s or Christie’s); its location- did you find it in London, New York or some other place? Media exposure is also a factor.
Lastly, brand recognition also matters. As an example, splatter paintings from Damien Hirst are more recognized and in demand by art lovers. Since he is already popular, his works could command higher prices than those of novice artists who have not yet built their reputation