The Artist Principle

What is the artist's principle?

The principles of art (or the principles of design) are essentially a set of criteria used to explain how the visual elements are arranged in a work of art. These principles are possibly the closest thing we have to a set of objective criteria for analyzing and judging art.

Art is a notoriously gray area for objectively defining what is great and what is not. An artist of one era may be mocked during his lifetime, yet revered after his passing (such as Vincent van Gogh). The principles of art help combat this gray area to some extent. They allow us to communicate what makes a great painting great with an element of objectivity and consistency.

The following is an explanation of the principles of art and how you can use them to benefit your own artworks.

Pattern

The pattern is an important design concept that refers to the visual arrangement of elements with a repetitive form or intelligible sequence.

The pattern is not always obvious. It could be a simple underlying notan design that dances between light and dark in some sequence. Or it could be the use of similar color patterns throughout your painting.

Balance

Balance is concerned with the visual distribution or weight of the elements in a work of art. A painting could be balanced if one half is of the same visual weight as the other half. You could have a small area of heightened significance balanced against a much larger area of less significance.

Emphasis

Emphasis is a way of using elements to stress a certain area in an artwork. Emphasis is really just another way to describe a focal point in your artwork. In the painting below, there is a strong emphasis on the moon through color contrast.

Contrast

Contrast is everything in art. Without it, the artwork would be nothing but a blank surface. Contrast can come in many forms:

Texture contrast: A contrast between smooth and textured. Many of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings are great examples of texture contrast in action.

Color contrast: A contrast between light and dark, saturated, and dull or complementary colors (hue contrast).

Shape contrast: A contrast between different shapes (rectangles and circles). For example, the curving shapes created by the winding paths, water, and trees contrast against the buildings' rectangular shapes.

Interval contrast: A contrast between long and short intervals. The interval contrast can be used to create a sense of rhythm in your artwork.

Harmony And Unity

Harmony is a bit vague compared to some of the other principles. Generally speaking, it refers to how well all the visual elements work together in a work of art. Elements that are in harmony should have some logical progression or relationship. If an element is not in harmony with the rest of an artwork, it should stick-out and be jarring to look at—kind of like an off-note in a song.

You will usually be able to tell just from judgment if all the elements are in harmony. It will just look right. However, if the painting looks off, then it can be difficult to tell if that is because there is no harmony between the elements or if there is some other issue.

When I think of harmony, I think of the peaceful arrangements of color in Monet’s water lilies series. Or like a Steven King novel, which to me, has all these elements of harmony and more.

Unity refers to some connection between all the visual elements in a work of art. Like harmony, this is a bit of a vague term that is difficult to use to analyze art objectively. There is a strong contrast between light and dark areas. A sense of unity is created through similar hues (dark yellows, oranges, and greens are used in the foreground, and light yellows, oranges, and greens are used in the background).

Variety

Variety refers to the use of different qualities or instances of the visual elements. Variety can be used to break up monotonous or repetitive areas.

Movement

Your paints cannot physically move, but you can arrange the paints in a way that gives the illusion or suggestion of movement.

One of the most effective techniques for creating movement in your painting is to use bold and directional brushwork. By doing this, you can suggestively push your viewer around the painting as you please. You could also suggest movement through repetition or pattern.

Also, I could not talk about using movement in the art without some mention of Vincent van Gogh.

Proportion

Proportion concerns the relationship between the sizes of different parts in an artwork. For example, the width compared to the length, the area of the sky compared to the land, or the area of foreground compared to the background.

Some proportions are considered to be visually pleasing, such as the rule of thirds and the golden ratio.

In the painting by Giovanni Boldini, I notice how the proportions of the female subject’s hands, face, feet, and torso are all accurate. If Boldini painted the hand too large compared to the rest of the subject’s body, there would be an issue of proportion.

Scale

Scale refers to the size of an object compared to the rest of the surroundings. For example, the size of a man compared to the tree he is sitting under or the size of a mountain compared to the clouds. The scale is different from the proportion in that scale refers to the size of an entire object, whereas proportion refers to the relative size of parts of an object.

Summary Of The Principles Of Art

I hope this post clarifies the principles of art and how you can use them to understand and communicate your thoughts about art, writing, and music.

It is also important to understand that a great painting does not have to tick all the boxes in terms of art principles. Most of the great paintings will only demonstrate a few of the principles.

So do not think of art's principles as a set of overarching rules that you must comply with. They are merely a way to help us understand and communicate our thoughts about art.

The art principles allow us to place some objective reasoning behind why a great painting is great. This is important as it keeps us from falling into a vague space where art is no longer able to be defined or critiqued (much like what has happened with modern art).

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