Elements and Principles

Although many art education teachers are now advising to stay far, far away from the elements and principles. I disagree. I know that some aspiring art teachers and artists might want away with the elements and principles because throughout school they are individually dissected for you. I do firmly believe they are of great importance. So much of art can be broken down in to simple reasons, based on elements and principles, of why a painting works.

Through Mill Street Loft Art Institute Todd Poteet asks his painting students to sit and list every element and principle they can think of. The list normally looks something like this:

Line, Form, Shape, Color- Analogous, Complimentary, Quadrad, Triad, Spilt complimentary, double split complimentary, primary, secondary, tints, shades, monochromatic, neutral, grayscale.

Unity, repetition, movement, space, rhythm, pattern, proportion.

Perspective- 2 point perspective, 3 point perspective, atmospheric perspective, linear perspective

Shadow, highlight, Contrast, variety, emphasis, depth, point, value, texture, size, gradation, harmony, dominance, balance- symmetrical, asymmetrical.

We would list all that we know, Todd would add a few we forgot, and he would go over the Golden Section. He would apply the mathematics of the golden section to paintings such as The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci.

Students are able to have a Big Idea as the basis of the lesson plan, but with the elements and principles, a very well constructed composition can be planned out. With this, students are also able to discuss paintings and why they are so visually appealing.