The 7 Principles of Art and Design

The elements and principles of art and design are the foundation of the language
we use to talk about art. The elements of art are the visual tools that the artist
uses to create a composition. These are: line, shape, color, value, form, texture,
and space.

The principles of art represent how the artist uses the elements of art to
create an effect and to help convey the artist's intent. The principles of art and
design are: balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, and
unity/variety.

The use of these principles can help determine whether a painting is successful,
and whether or not the painting is finished.

The artist decides what principles of art he or she wants to use in a painting.
While an artist might not use all the principles of design in one piece, the
principles are intertwined and the use of one will often depend on another. For
example, when creating emphasis, the artist might also be using contrast or vice
versa. It is generally agreed that a successful painting is unified, while also
having some variety created by areas of contrast and emphasis; is
visually balanced; and moves the viewer's eye around the composition. Thus it
is that one principle of art can influence the effect and impact of another.

HERE ARE THE 7 PRINCIPLES OF ART

Balance refers to the visual weight of the elements of the composition. It is a

sense that the painting feels stable and "feels right." Imbalance causes a feeling
of discomfort in the viewer.

Balance can be achieved in 3 different ways:

1. Symmetry, in which both sides of a composition have the same elements in

the same position, as in a mirror-image, or the two sides of a face.
2. Asymmetry, in which the composition is balanced due to the contrast of
any of the elements of art. For example, a large circle on one side of a
composition might be balanced by a small square on the other side
3. Radial symmetry, in which elements are equally spaced around a central
point, as in the spokes coming out of the hub of a bicycle tire.

See the article, Balance, for some visual examples of how the elements of art can
be used to achieve balance.
Contrast is the difference between elements of art in a composition, such that
each element is made stronger in relation to the other. When placed next to each
other, contrasting elements command the viewer's attention. Areas of contrast
are among the first places that a viewer's eye is drawn. Contrast can be achieved
by juxtapositions of any of the elements of art. Negative/Positive space is an
example of contrast. Complementary colors placed side by side is an example of
contrast. Notan is an example of contrast.

Emphasis is when the artist creates an area of the composition that is visually
dominant and commands the viewer's attention. This is often achieved by
contrast.

Movement is the result of using the elements of art such that they move the
viewer's eye around and within the image. A sense of movement can be created by
diagonal or curvy lines, either real or implied, by edges, by the illusion of space,
by repetition, by energetic mark-making.

Pattern is the uniform repetition of any of the elements of art or any

combination thereof. Anything can be turned into a pattern through
repetition. Some classic patterns are spirals, grids, weaves. For examples of
different pattern types see the Artlandia Glossary of Pattern Design. A popular
drawing practice is Zentangles, in which an abstract or representational outline is
divided into different areas, each of which contains a unique pattern.

Rhythm is created by movement implied through the repetition of elements of

art in a non-uniform but organized way. It is related to rhythm in music. Unlike
pattern, which demands consistency, rhythm relies on variety.

Unity/Variety You want your painting to feel unified such that all the elements
fit together comfortably. Too much unity creates monotony, too much variety
creates chaos.You need both.

Ideally, you want areas of interest in your composition along with places for your
eye to rest.
How to Formally Critique Art

 1. HOW TO CRITIQUE ART

 2. We will Critique this artworktogether. The Starry Night Vincent
Van Gogh Oil on Canvas 1889
3. Critique Instructions1. When Critiquing you must use the following
four steps/slides in sequence!2. The Four Steps: 1. Describe 2. Analyze
3. Interpret 4. Evaluate/Judgement
4. Step One: Description FIRST- Write down the Title, Author, Date and Style of
the Artwork. Make a list of all the things they you see in the work. Describe the
subject matter. (What it is about, what is happening, if there is no subject describe
the elements) Quickly sketch the artwork in your sketchbook. Do not make any
kind of judgment about the work. It is Important to carefully, non-judgmentally
observe the art.
 5. Step 1 Swirls, stars, buildings, rolling hills, a large tree, the moon, trees, a
church. This appears to be a night time scene painted from an elevated
position. There is a town in the foreground, hills in the mid-ground, and a star-
filled sky in the background.
 6. Step Two: Analysis Pay close attention to which art elements the artist
used. Line, Shape, Color, Value, Texture, & Space. (Form is 3-d and will not
apply to painting critiques) LOOK for ways the elements were used to
organize the composition using rhythm, balance, movement, proportion, variet
y, emphasis, and unity.
 7. Step 2 The Artist has used a cool color palette of blues, greens and violets,
with a complimentary orange-ish yellow coloring the lights and stars. There is
a variety of line thickness and direction in the brush strokes of color. There is a
contrast of geometric shapes in the houses and the organic shapes of the
surrounding landscape. Movement is created by the swirls in the sky and the
brushstrokes used. Also the tree creates a sense of motion as it wavy lines
 8. Step Three: Interpretation List any feelings or moods you get from the
artwork. Think creatively and imaginatively at this stage. Base your
interpretation on what you’ve concluded in the first two steps of the critique
process.
 9. Step Three: Interpretation Calm, excited, mellow, sad, relaxed The colors of
this artwork create a sense of calm for me and yet the yellowish orange in the
moon appears like a fire craker and creates a sense of excitement at the same
time. The lines and waves of the colors used also add the calmness of this
artwork reminding me of rolling water.
 10. Step Four: Judgment/Evaluation Decide whether the work is successful
or has merit. Support you judgment with answers from the first three steps.
 11. Step Four: Judgment/Evaluation This is an artwork that has successfully
used the elements and principles of art to create a painting that shows emotion
 and life through expressive brushstrokes. The subject matter evokes a clam
feeling while the colors successfully use contrast to create a calm excitement
in the night time sky. An excellent post impressionist PAINTING!

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Year 1889

Catalogue F612 JH1731

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions 73.7 cm × 92.1 cm (29 in ×  36 1⁄4 in)

Location Museum of Modern Art, New York City

ASIAN ART
 Fujishima Takeji - Sunrise over the Eastern Sea
Fujishima Takeji was a Japanese painter, noted for his work in developing Romanticism
and Impressionist art within the yōga (Western-style) art movement in late 19th- and early 20th-
century Japanese painting. In 1905, he traveled to France, where he was influenced by French
movements of that time, particularly by Impressionism, which can be seen in his painting Sunrise
over the Eastern Sea that was executed in 1932.

Asian Art

The collection of Asian art at The Met—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the 3rd millennium B.C. to the
21st century—is one of the largest and is the most comprehensive in the West. Each of the many civilizations of Asia
is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the
world.

What's On View
The Florence and Herbert Irving Asian Wing, occupying 64,500 square feet, is devoted to Asian art, featuring
paintings, calligraphy, prints, sculptures, metalwork, ceramics, lacquers, works of decorative art, and textiles from
East Asia, South Asia, the Himalayan kingdoms, and Southeast Asia. As distinctive as the cultures of Asia are from
one another, many pieces in the collection reveal similarities in form and iconography occasioned by the sharing of
religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, or themes and techniques, such as those found in blue-and-white
ceramics or ink painting. Thus, even though the galleries are arranged geographically and chronologically, an
exploration of the works on view yields both an appreciation of the art of Asia's many cultures and an understanding
of the ties between these traditions. Certain gallery installations, such as those of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian,
and Tibetan paintings, rotate every six months, and displays of more fragile textiles, lacquers, and woodblock prints
change approximately every four months. These rotations enable the department to create focused installations and
thematic exhibitions that highlight different aspects of the permanent collection.

Arts of China
The Met collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy ranks among the finest outside China, with masterpieces
dating from the eighth to the 21st centuries. Another great strength is the collection of Chinese Buddhist sculpture
from the 5th through the 19th century. The collections of antiquities and works of art range from the 3rd millennium
B.C. to the 18th century, including jades, bronzes, lacquer, textiles, ceramics, and works in other media. An often
visited area of the Museum is the Astor Court, modeled after a courtyard in a 17th-century domestic residence in
Suzhou, a city famous for its gardens. Opening onto the courtyard is a room displaying hardwood furniture of the
same period.

Arts of Japan
The full range of Japanese art—from Neolithic ceramics (ca. 1500–300 B.C.) to Edo-period (1615–1868) woodblock
prints and textiles to contemporary ceramics and works of art—is presented chronologically in eleven rooms.
Traditional details, such as an altar platform (based on a 12th-century example) for the display of Buddhist sculptures
and a small shoin-style reception room typical of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, are at the heart of the Arts of
Japan galleries. Highlights include 13th- and 14th-century narrative paintings (handscrolls) known as emaki, a
collection of folding screens dating from the 15th through the 18th century, and Edo-period porcelains for domestic
use and export.
Arts of South and Southeast Asia
The visual traditions of India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Thailand,
Vietnam, and Indonesia, from the earliest civilizations to the 16th century, are represented in the collection. Areas of
particular strength include Buddhist stone and bronze sculptures from the Kushan dynasty (1st to 3rd century,
approximately); Kashmiri- and Pala-period sculptures (6th to 13th century); Hindu bronzes from the Chola period (9th
to 13th century); an unparalleled collection of early Southeast Asian metalwork; and monumental sculptures from the
Khmer empire in Cambodia and Thailand (about 9th to 14th century). On the third floor are galleries for the arts of
Nepal and Tibet, including religious images in painting and sculpture, mainly from the 11th to the 18th century, and
ritual implements. Also on the 3rd floor is a gallery for temporary exhibitions on special topics relating to Himalayan or
later Indian Art.

Arts of Korea
Buddhist paintings and ceramics of the Goryeo (918–1392) and Joseon (1392–1910) dynasties, together with
thematic exhibitions featuring loans from collections in the United States and abroad, provide a comprehensive
overview of Korea's artistic and cultural heritage.

East Asian Conservation Studio

For the conservation of its collections, the Department includes an East Asian Conservation Studio, with a highly
trained staff that specializes in the restoration and remounting of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean works on paper
and silk including handscrolls, hanging scrolls, albums, and folding screens.

History of the Department

The Met has been collecting Asian art since the late 19th century. Many of its earliest benefactors—Benjamin Altman,
the Havemeyers, the Rockefellers, and others—included objects from Asia in their large bequests to the Museum in
the first half of the 20th century, and in 1915, the Department of Far Eastern Art was established. The real impetus for
creating a comprehensive collection of Asian art came from Douglas Dillon, who was elected president of the
Museum's Board of Trustees in 1970. In 1986 the department's name was changed to the Department of Asian Art.

The history of Asian art or Eastern art, includes a vast range of influences from various cultures
and religions. Developments in Asian art historically parallel those in Western art, in general a few
centuries earlier.[1] Chinese art, Indian art,[2] Korean art, Japanese art,[3] each had significant influence
on Western art, and, vice versa.[4] Near Eastern art also had a significant influence on Western
art.[5] Excluding prehistoric art, the art of Mesopotamia represents the oldest forms of Asian art.
Huang Gongwang (黃公望, 1269–1354), original name Lu Jian (陸堅), went by the
courtesy name Zijiu (子久) and sobriquets Dachi Daoren (大癡道人, A Silly Daoist) and
Yifeng Daoren (一峰道人, Daoist of One Peak). A native of Changshu, Jiangsu, he came
from a poor family and was orphaned at an early age. Huang Le (黃樂) of Yongjia was 90
years old at the time and without a male heir. Appreciating the talents of the young boy,
he treated the child as his own. The Lu family thereupon consented to allow Huang to
adopt him and carry on the Huang name. Huang exclaimed by saying “Old Man Huang
has always longed for a son ( 黃 公 望 子 久 矣 )”. This became the basis of Huang
Gongwang’s name, which translates literally as “Old Man Huang’s Longing.”
Huang Gongwang was exceptionally gifted as a youth, mastering the Chinese
classics at an early age. He also studied Daoism and later became a follower of the
Quanzhen Sect (全真教). Traveling throughout the Songjiang and Hangzhou regions, he
made a living by fortune-telling. Like his interest in calligraphy and music, painting was
an activity practiced on the side. His landscape paintings are based on the manners
of Dong Yuan (董源) and Juran (巨然), 10th-century artists who depicted the soft rolling
landscape of the south. Along with Wu Zhen (吳鎮, 1280–1354), Ni Zan (倪瓚, 1301–
1374), and Wang Meng (王蒙, 1308–1385), Huang Gongwang is considered one of the
Four Great Masters of the Yuan and revered as their spiritual leader.
He worked on the painting “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains” on and off when the
mood struck him from about 1347 to 1350, when the major portions of this handscroll
were completed. This representation of the Fuchun Mountains was painted for a fellow
Daoist named Master Wuyong (無用師) and represents Huang’s greatest surviving
masterpiece, which is now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

he Master Wuyong Scroll (無用師卷)

Depicted in this handscroll is an idealized panorama of the Fuchun Mountains, west

of Hangzhou, to which Huang returned in his later years. Beginning with a vast expanse
of river scenery at the right, the painting moves on to the mountains and hills, then back
to areas of river and marsh that end with a conical peak. Finally the landscape ebbs out
in the distant ink-wash hills over the water. The composition was first laid out in light ink
and then finished with successive applications of darker and drier brushwork. Sometimes
shapes were slightly altered, contours strengthened, and texture strokes or tree groups
added here and there. In addition, brush dots were distributed across the work as
abstracted accents. Buildings, tree limbs and foliage are reduced to the simplest of forms
as Nature has been translated into the artist’s terms of brush and ink.

Huang Gongwang began working on the painting around 1347 and took about three
to four years to complete it. He presented it to Master Wuyong as a gift in 1350. A century
later, the painting was acquired by the Ming Dynasty painter Shen Zhou (沈周, 1427–
1509). During the Chenghua Reign (1464–1487), Shen Zhou sent the painting to
someone for inscription. However, the son of this calligrapher seized the painting which,
after a few changes of hands, reemerged on the market at a much higher price. Unable
to afford the price, there was nothing Shen Zhou could do except to make a copy of the
painting himself based on his memory. This imitation by Shen Zhou is also well acclaimed
and now in the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Art in Ancient India

Each era is unique in its distinctive culture. In the same way Indian art forms have continuously evolved
over thousands of years. In ancient India, various art forms like paintings, architecture and sculpture
evolved. The history of art in ancient India begins with prehistoric rock paintings. Such rock paintings
can be seen in the Bhimbetaka paintings, belonging to the prehistoric age. Thereafter, an advanced
town planning is seen in Harappa and Mohenjodaro, with their centrally planned cities indicating a
highly developed architecture. Another remarkable example of sculpture from Harappan civilization
comes in the form of the dancing girl from Mohenjodaro.

The use of symbolic forms in India is as old as the Harappan seals. The fire altars of the Vedic period,
with their astronomical and mathematical significance also play an important role in the evolution of
the later temples. It was followed by a period in the history of Indian art that is important for rock-cut
caves and temple architecture. The Buddhists initiated the rock-cut caves, Hindus and Jains started
to imitate them at Badami, Aihole, Ellora, Salsette, Elephanta, Aurangabad and Mahabalipuram. The
rock-cut art has continuously evolved, since the first rock cut caves, to suit different purposes, social
and religious contexts, and regional differences.

Alongside the art forms like architecture, paintings and sculpture, there have been evolving, changing,
transforming, folk and tribal art traditions in India. These art forms are expression of people belonging
to different cultural and social groups of India. It is the expression of people whose life is tuned to the
rhythms of nature and its laws of cyclic change and whose life is knotted with natural energy. It's been
a tradition in India that gods and legends are transformed into contemporary forms and familiar images.
Fairs, festivals and local deities play a vital role in the development of these arts forms.

It is an art where life and creativity are inseparable. The tribal arts have a unique sensitivity, as the
tribal people possess an intense awareness very different from the settled and urbanized people. Their
minds are supple and intense with myth, legends, snippets from epic, multitudinous gods born out of
dream and fantasy. Their art is an expression of their life and holds their passion and mystery.