This document provides an overview of key concepts in art appreciation taught by Professor Paige Prater. It outlines the 10 elements of art as color, form, line, mass, shape, space, texture, time/motion, value, and volume. For each element, important vocabulary and examples are defined, with analyses of works by artists such as Van Gogh, Derain, Cassatt, Seurat, and Balla. Shape and form, line types, and the 10 principles of art are also defined.

1. Art Appreciation
Professor Paige Prater
T, R, 9:30-10:20AM

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. Color

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

5. VALUE: lights & darks

6. Color Wheel

7. Saturation

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

9. 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.

10. Analagous Color

11. 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.

12. National Gallery of Art

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

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

16. Color in Electronics: different, too!

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

18. 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?

19. SHAPE vs. FORM
• 2D – two-dimensional = shape (think FLAT!)
• 3D – three-dimensional = form (think
TACTILE!)

20. Three-dimensional:
• FORM (think TACTILE!)
-VOLUME = amount of SPACE
-MASS = solid
-TEXTURE = looks tangible

21. Line
Mel Bochner, Vertigo, 1982. Charcoal, conte’ crayon, and pastel on canvas,
9’x6’2”. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

22. Line
• Regular/irregular
• Actual/implied
• Vertical/Horizontal/Diagonal

23. Regular/Irregular LINE
Andre Masson, Automatic Drawing, 1925-6. Ink on
paper, 12 x91/2”. Muse’e National d’Art Moderne.
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France.

24. Actual/Implied LINE

25. Vertical/Horizontal/Diagonal LINE

26. TIME/MOTION
Bernini. Apollo and
Daphne, 1622-24.
Giacomo Balla. Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, 1912.

27. 10 PRINCIPLES of Art
1. Balance
2. Contrast
3. Emphasis
4. Focal Point
5. Pattern
6. Proportion
7. Rhythm
8. Scale
9. Unity
10. Variety