Value

The title of this piece showing the element of value is "Avocados". The artist is Debi Starr and was painted with graphite on paper and posted on 7/28/12. It was painted to demonstrate value as seen by the darkness of the avocados. Value becomes important in a piece of work which has no colors other than black, white or gray.  
       The element of value is being used here showing only black, white and slight gray colors. Value will be lost if using colors. Think of value as a black and white photograph. When only black, white and gray are used, it makes you focus more on the item itself and not the stuff that is secondary like colors. Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color.                                                                                                               

Space

Space is an area that an artist provides for a particular purpose.  Space includes the background, foreground and middle ground. Space refers to the distances or areas around, between and within things. When a small amount of space is used between two people in a drawing, it can mean affection while a larger space between them can mean just friendship. Space can be thought of as distance or closeness. The principle of space in this picture is being used to show closeness or affection. In the two different pictures, the background is different, making one of the pictures a little more obvious than the other. When you first glance at these two pictures, you see what looks like a wooden candle holder. The one with the white background,(black faces), stands out first. I think that space and contrast are working together in these pictures. This piece was painted by John Smithson in 2007 and he wanted to demonstrate negative and positive space.

Scale/proportion/balance

Balance refers to the way elements like shapes, textures, lines, and colors are arranged in a piece. Elements are given equal "weight", unlike the picture at the top. I used this picture because it is a perfect example of the opposite of balance. Using 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. You can minimize the scale to decrease the importance of something as well. Larger scales or proportions attract a persons eyes more than a smaller scale. The main character of a movie can be drawn to a much larger scale than the other characters to show his importance or his main roll. The eyeball is what catches the viewer's eye. If this picture were balanced, the eyeball would be much  smaller and blend in with everything else. When I think of balanced, I think of one of those scales used in chemistry and both are equal or level.

     The painting on the bottom shows the element of  balance. It was painted by Kathie del Hierro in 1974. Ms. del Hierro is an art teacher at Hill Country Middle School. Her painting uses oil paints and is on canvas. Her painting shows balance because the trees are equal or symmetrical. Both trees catch the viewer's eyes equally unlike the big eyeball on the top picture.

Colors

Color can aid organization of a painting. It can give emphasis to create a hierarchy and the piece of art. Bright colors can give a sense of spring, happiness, or brightness. Dark colors can give a feeling of sadness or gloominess. Colors can tell a lot about the artist's feeling or emotions.

     This painting shows the element of colors and was painted by Farrah Diani. The artist used acrylic paints on canvas. The painting was completed in 2013 at the Phillips Continuing Education Program Department. I believe that the artist painted a good layout of colors because it shows a variety of colors and also because of the way they blend in with each other.

Line

Lines and curves are marks that span a distance between two points (or the path of a moving point). As an art element, line pertains to the use of various marks, outlines and implied lines in artwork and design. A line has a width, direction, and length. Lines can be used to mark a boundary in a picture or drawing. Lines can give an impression of movement or distortion. In this drawing, lines can look like roads or train tracks. The principle of lines is used showing length, direction, and width. With so many lines crossing each other, it makes your eyes move all over.  With all the different directions of these lines, it gives the picture some action.
     This painting was created by Scott Hayes and is an optical painting. He completed it in 2002. Oil paint was used on canvas.

Texture.

Texture in painting gives the look and feel that the paper is raised. It is based on the paint, and its application, or the addition of materials such as ribbon, metal, wood, lace, leather and sand. Texture stimulates two different senses, sight and touch.
For example, use of rough surfaces can be visually active, while smooth surfaces can be visually restful. Texture can give the feeling of "liveness" to a painting. This painting was created by Vincent Van Gogh and he called it "Roses". He completed the painting in 1890 in the last year of his life. He painted it with oil paints on canvas. He completed this painting while in the Saint-Remy-asylum in France.

      The texture in this picture gives an image of deepness like carvings. The principle of texture is being used here because you can close your eyes and pass your hands over this piece and guess exactly what it looks like. I think that a blind person could appreciate this texture piece. This texture appears to be smooth and deep. The effect is that feeling it gives you a better idea than describing it with words.

Movement

Although a picture does not move it can give an optical illusion of movement.  Movement can appear horizontal or vertical. Movement can sometimes appear circular. Movement shows actions, or  the path the viewer's eye follows throughout an artwork. Techniques such as scaling and proportions can be used to create an effect of movement in visual artwork. For example, an element that is further into the background is smaller in scale and lighter in value. In this painting showing movement, the artist is David F. Heatwole. He completed the painting in 2008 using oil paints on canvas. He did this in Hedgeville West Virginia.

     In this piece, the effect of movement is present. It looks like the large ball in the center is turning or spinning. Because the outer squares of the ball are smaller and appear flatter, it gives the image of spinning or movement. "Moving" pictures are my favorite because you know it isn't really happening but it looks real. Movement is a very important element for magicians because without it they wouldn't be able to do illusions.