Value: the degree of light and dark in a design. It is the contrast between black and white and all the tones in between. Value can be used with color as well as black and white. Contrast: the extreme changes between values Shape: created when lines are combined to form a square, triangle, or circle. Shapes can be organic or geometric. Form: a three-dimensional shape with length, width, and depth. Balls, cylinders, boxes and pyramids are forms. Space: the area between and around objects. Increasing or decreasing the amount of space around an object affects the way we view that object. Color: differentiates and defines lines, shapes, forms, and space. Even black and white images have a huge number of different shades of gray |
Texture: the surface quality that can be seen. Textures can be rough or smooth, soft or hard. Textures are often implied. For instance, a drawing of a rock might appear to have a rough and hard surface, but in reality is as smooth as the paper on which it is drawn.
Balance: created in a work of art when textures, colors, forms, or shapes are combined harmoniously. In this image, notice how the photographer achieves a sense of balance by dividing the image into two sections: one half occupied by trees, and the other half by the water.
- Emphasis: or focus is created in a work of art when the artist contrasts colors, textures, or shapes to direct your viewing towards a particular part of the image.
- Pattern: the repetition of a shape, form, or texture across a work of art.
- Unity: created when the principles of analysis are present in a composition and in harmony. Some images have a complete sense of unity.
- Rhythm: the repetition of pattern to create the expectation that the pattern will continue.