An introduction to the element of color and the principles of unity and variety. Based on "Gateways to Art" (2012).

1. Art Appreciation
Professor Paige Prater
T, R, 9:30-10:50AM

2. 10 ELEMENTS of Art:
1. Color
2. Form
3. Line
4. Mass
5. Shape
6. Space
7. Texture
8. Time/Motion
9. Value
10. Volume

3. 10 PRINCIPLES of Art:
1. Unity
2. Variety
3. Balance
4. Emphasis
5. Focal Point
6. Pattern
7. Proportion
8. Rhythm
9. Scale
10. Contrast

4. Important Color Vocabulary
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hue
Value
Tint
Shade
Primary
Secondary
Complementary
Neutral

5. Color Wheel

6. Saturation

7. Monochromatic Color
Mark Tansey. Picasso and Braque, 1992. Oil on canvas. 5’4” x 7’

8. Complementary Color
Andre’ Derain. The Turning Road, L’Estaque, 1906. Oil on canvas, 4’3” x6’4’3/4 .
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX.

9. Analagous Color

10. Analagous Color
Mary Cassat, The Boating Party, 1893-94. Oil on canvas. 35 3/8 x 46
1/8”, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

11. National Gallery of Art

12. Optical Color:Pointillism
Georges Seurat, The Circus (detail of it), 1890-91, Oil on
canvas.

13. Color in Print: different color wheel!
CMY + K (key, which equals black)= CMYK! 

15. Color in Electronics: different, too!

16. Charles Csuri, Wondrous Spring, 1992. Computer image, 4’x 5’5”.

17. Color & Chromotherapy
• “I have tried to express with red and green the
terrible passions of human nature.” –Van
Gogh
• Which painting was he referring to?
• Do you think he captured passion? Why or
why not?

18. Unity: order, wholeness, harmony in a design
• Compositional – overall design
• Conceptual – idea behind the work
• Gestalt – ALL aspects ordered
VS
MONOTONY or
CHAOS

19. Unity
Katsushika Hokusai, “The Great Wave off Shore at Kanagawa,” from
Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, 1826–33 (printed later). Print, color
woodcut. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

20. Unity: 3 examples of COMPOSITIONAL unity

21. Unity: Conceptual
Romare Bearden, The Dove, 1964. Cut-and-pasted printed
papers, gouache, pencil, and colored pencil on board, 13⅜ x 18¾”.
MOMA, New York

22. Unity: Gestalt
• Whole greater than
sum of its
parts…concept, com
position, creation…
Vishnu Dreaming the
Universe, c. 450–500
CE. Relief panel.
Temple of
Vishnu, Deogarh, Utta
r Pradesh, India

23. Variety: visual diversity in one
composition
• Ideas
• Elements: shapes, values
• materials

24. Variety: materials
Robert Rauschenberg, Monogram, 1955–9. Mixed media with taxidermy
goat, rubber tire, and tennis ball, 42 x 63¼ x 64½”.
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden