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Re: Samples of describe and anaylse art essays

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From: Judie (judiej50_at_TeacherArtExchange)
Date: Sun May 25 2003 - 04:08:55 PDT

Following is a vocabulary the list of Elements and Principles I use for
students to critique their work. I can't find the critique sheet just yet.
Somewhere in my files. I'll look.

1. Elements of Art: The basic visual symbols used by the artist to create
works of art.
        Line, shape, texture, and color/value are elements of design.

 2. Line: An element of art that is a continuous mark made by a tool as
it is drawn
        across a surface.

 3. Shape: An element of art that is two-dimensional, and encloses space.
Shape
         can be divided into two categories--geometric shape and organic shape.

 4. Texture: An element of art that refers to the tactile quality of a
surface.

 5. Value: An element of art that refers to the relative darkness or
lightness of an area.

6. Color: An element of art that refers to the character of a surface,
derived from the
         response of vision to the light reflected from that surface.

7. Principles of Design: The means by which the visual elements are
organized and
         integrated into a unified arrangement or composition. The basic
principles of
        design are emphasis, balance, harmony, variety, movement, rhythm,
proportion,
         and unity.

8. Emphasis: Principle of art by which the artist combines contrasting
sizes, shapes,
        colors or other elements to place greater attention on certain
areas in a work
        of art.

9. Balance: Principle of art that arranges elements in a work of art so
that they seem
         to be "weighted" evenly throughout.

10. Harmony: A way of combining elements to accent their similarities and
bind the
         picture parts into a whole. It is often achieved through the use
of repetition.

11. Variety: The use of many different elements in a composition. An
assortment
        of lines, colors, shapes, forms or textures in a work of art.

12. Movement: Principle of art that uses elements to create the illusion
of action.

13. Rhythm: Principle of art that uses repetition of visual elements in a
work of art
        to create a feeling of movement.

14. Proportion: Relationship of elements to one another and to the whole
artwork in
            terms of their properties of quantity, size and degree of emphasis.

15. Unity: A principle of design that relates to a work of art whose many
different
         parts seem to connect well to one another.

16. Gradation: A gradual, sometimes subtle change from light to dark,
rough to
        smooth, or from one color to another.

>Somewhere out there, there is a list that fits on one page, that is
>helpful to anyone trying to learn how to discuss art. It has the art
>elements and principles listed, and below each one, there are
>descriptive words that can be used to discuss each element and
>principle. It gives kids a base to start from when they are describing
>E&P. Pretty soon they won't need the list any more. Chicago Art
>Institute has a list of questions to fit each category; describe,
>analyze, interpret, judge. Next time I'm back at school (yes, I'm
>off!!!!!) I'll look for mine and send a copy to Judy so she can post
>them on IAD. We have some great resources for our art a la carte parent
>docents to use to guide them along these lines.
>
>Linda
>
>
>--- 

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