Visual Elements

Elements to Avoid

• Iconography / symbolism
• Commission / patron
• Political / social / economic context

Elements to Look For

• Scale

  • Where we stand in relation to painting
  • Standing back, coming close

• Composition

  • Arrangement of forms
  • Background, foreground
  • Framing with landscape
  • Framing by trees, vertical architecture

• Pictorial space

  • The illusion of 3D space
  • Overlapping of objects
  • Atmospheric and linear perspective

• Form

  • Representation of solids in space
  • Curvilinear, rectilinear shapes
  • Some feel very solid, some are delicate

• Line

  • Defines form or edge

• Color

  • Contrast, blues versus brown earth

• Light

  • Illumination, shadow
  • Moving tones from light into dark
  • Chiaroscuro

• Tone

  • Lightness or darkness of color

• Texture

  • The visual tactility of surfaces

• Pattern

  • Repetition of decorative design
  • Organic patterns (leaf forms, grass forms)
  • Often denies pictorial space