The "Artist's Toolbox"                                               BACK TO ART DOCENT HOME
  

 

Line:  Line is a mark made by a pointed tool – brush, pencil, stick, pen, etc. and is often defined as a moving dot.  It can vary in width, direction, curvature, length, and even color.  A line is created by the movement of a tool and pigment, and often suggests movement in a drawing or painting.

Shape:  Shape is an area that is contained within an implied line, or is seen and identified because
of color or value changes.  Shapes have two dimensions, length and width, and can be geometric or
freeform (organic).  Design is basically the planned arrangement of shapes in a work of art.

Form:  Shape and form have the same qualities except shape is two-dimensional and form is three-
dimensional; it describes volume and mass.  Both may be organic or inorganic, freeform or
geometric, natural or man-made.

Color:  Color depends on light because it is made of light.  There must be light for us to see color. 
A red shirt will not look red in the dark, where there is no light.  The whiter the light, the more true
 the colors will be.   There are three properties or characteristics of color; hue, value, and intensity. 
Hue is simply another name for a color.

Value:  Value refers to dark and light; the value scale refers to black and white with all gradations
of gray in between.  Value contrasts help us to see and understand a two-dimensional work of art. 
Value contrast is also evident in colors, which enables us to read shapes in a painting.

Texture:  Texture refers to the surface quality of artwork and describes the feel of an actual surface.
  Sculptures, ceramic ware, or collages may have rough or grainy surfaces – or actual textures you can
 feel.  A drawing, print, or painting can be made to look like a textured surface and has simulated or
 implied texture because it may look like texture, but actually is on a smooth flat surface.

Space:  Actual space is a three-dimensional volume that can be empty or filled with objects.  It has
width, height, and depth.  Space in a painting is an illusion that creates a feeling of depth.  The
object or the picture plane is divided into positive space (the object itself) and negative space (the
surrounding area, or background).  Various techniques can be used to show space.

The PTSA is the school's Parent Teacher Student Association. We are a registered not-for-profit comprised of parent volunteers, just like you, who help provide many programs and events at Creekside.