This is to show students how artists use these elements in different ways in their

work. In the unit, students will answer questions as they look carefully at paintings
and sculpture to identify the elements and analyze how they are used by different
artists.
Basic elements of the fine arts
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.

Subject
Medium
Line
Color
Texture
Volume
Perspective
Form
Style

A. Subject provides the answer to the questions What is the painting or piece
of sculpture about? Two distinct, but interrelated, elements of a work of art are the
crucial means of projecting its sense of life: the subject and the stylewhat an
artist chooses to present and how he presents it.
The subject of an art work expresses a view of mans existence, while the style
expresses a view of mans consciousness. The subject reveals an artists
metaphysics, the style reveals his psycho-epistemology.
The choice of subject declares what aspects of existence the artist regards as
importantas worthy of being re-created and contemplated.

B. Medium refers to the materials which an artist uses.

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Many mediums have been used by painters, but we shall consider only 4
a. Fresco in which pigment is mixed with water and applied to wet plaster

It is the most noble and monumental, is adapted to large wall surfaces. It is the
most exacting because it must be done quickly while the plaster is wet, and once
applied cannot be changed.
b. Tempera in which the pigment is mixed with egg and applied to very
hard smooth surface usually several layers of rubbed plaster (gesso)
Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium
consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium (usually a
glutinous material such as egg yolk or some other size). Tempera also refers to the
paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and
examples from the 1st centuries AD still exist. Egg tempera was a primary method
of painting until after 1500 when it was superseded by the invention of oil painting.
A paint consisting of pigment and glue size commonly used in the United States as

poster paint is also often referred to as "tempera paint," although the binders and
sizes in this paint are different from traditional tempera paint.
c. Oil on canvas or prepared wood panel
Through the 18th century most painters used a series of transparent glazes which
produced a very smooth surface as you can see in any Van Dycks portraits. Later,
the tendency has been to apply pure color directly from the palette to the canvas,
even allowing the paint to stand out in great blobs or thick swirls. This is called
impasto
Water color, in which pigment mixed with water and applied to smooth or rough
white paper
Medium, basically has certain advantages and limitations
Materials Used in Sculpture
The materials used in sculpture are stone, wood, metal and recently junk.
Marble has been the favourite material, especially in countries like Greece and Italy
where there is a plentiful supply near at hand
In modern times, architects have generally used the materials which they found
readily. There is also in Italy an abundance of reddish clay called pazzuolia
C. Lines
Horizontal are restful, the vertical is more forceful and dynamic. Diagonal lines are
lines of action. In the former, the lines are predominantly horizontal, giving a
peaceful effect; in fact were it not for the vertical tree on the left, we might fall
asleep.
D. Color
Color is the decorative element in painting.
When the value and intensity are low and all the colors tend towards gray or
brown, and we say the painting is monochromatic.
When the value and intensity are high and all colors are strongly opposed we say
the painting is polychromatic
E. Texture
It is an element of two-dimensional and three-dimensional designs and is
distinguished by its perceived visual and physical properties. Use of texture, along
with other elements of design, can convey a variety of messages and emotions. In
painting, texture is an illusion. He must make an object look real.

F. Volume refers to solidity or thickness

The architects primary concern because a building encloses space. His problems
are too technical for our concern here, but suffice it to say that the building must
look shipshape from whatever angle the lights fall on it or from whatever vantage
point we look at it, inside or out.
The sculptor is concerned with the volume because his figures actually occupy
space and are observed from any direction depending on where the beholder
stands.
G. Perspective
Perspective (from Latin: perspicere to see through) in the graphic arts is an
approximate representation, on a flat surface (such as paper), of an image as it is
seen by the eye. The two most characteristic features of perspective are that
objects are smaller as their distance from the observer increases; and that they are
foreshortened, meaning that an object's dimensions along the line of sight are
shorter than its dimensions across the line of sight.
H. Form
Form is one of the seven elements of art. At its most basic, a form is a threedimensional geometrical figure (i.e.: sphere, cube, cylinder, cone, etc.), as opposed
to a shape, which is two-dimensional, or flat.
I. Style
Every artist has a personal style which is the result of his temperament, outlook on
life, and training.
This refers to the ways a writer presents his or her thoughts. Elements like word
choice, descriptions, and creative devices are the accessories writers use to make
their work pop.
Elements of Music
Music is often referred to as the universal language. This characterization is false
because only words can express concrete thought. Music is abstract. It appeals to
us intellectually when we understand how the composer has manipulated his
material, and emotionally when apprehend the feelings he has expressed
Literature is the vehicle for telling a story, and painting for showing the picture.
Basic elements of music are:
a. Rhythm most basic element of music; the over-all movement or swing

Meter means measure and refers to the number of beats in a rhythmic unit, or
measure. Western measure seems to respond naturally to tow-beat or three-beat
measure or multiples of these
Tempo refers to speed, whether the music moves fast or slowly. Musicians
erroneously use the word time to refer to all these terms.
This depends upon repetition of a pattern that is short enough to memorize.
b. Melody we mean an orderly succession of tones, or musical sounds
1. Tone is a musical sound designating pitch and depends on the vibration
rate per second
A musical tone is a steady periodic sound. A musical tone is characterized by its
duration, pitch, intensity (or loudness), and timbre (or quality).
2. The smallest melodic unit is the motif which expands a phrase, a
succession of tones easily encompassed in one breath. The Phrase usually
rises to a high point from which it falls to a point of rest or cadence.
In music, a motif (pronunciation) (help. info) or motive is a short musical idea, a
salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some
special importance in or is characteristic of a composition: "The motive is the
smallest structural unit possessing thematic identity".
In music and music theory, phrase and phrasing are concepts and practices
related to grouping consecutive melodic notes, both in their composition and
performance. A musical work is typically made up of a melody that consists of
numerous consecutive phrases. The notation used is similar to a tie and a slur.
An entire melody is formed out of repeated and contrasting phrases.
c. Dynamics refers to force or percussive effects: degrees of loud and soft.
a. Forte means loud
b. Piano means soft
Dynamics marking were not written on musical scores until the 17th century
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also
refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic (staccato,
legato etc.) or functional (velocity). The term is also applied to the written or
printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics.
d. Harmony the simultaneous sounding of two or more tones. Hence
harmony is the musical third dimension loosely analogous to depth painting.
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches (tones, notes), or chords.
The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord
progressions and the principles of connection that govern them.

e. Texture refers to the number of tones we are asked to apprehend

simultaneously.
f. Form structure is as necessary to a work of music as a blueprint to an
architect or a pattern to a dressmaker. Without structure, the work would be
chaos, lacking direction or finality
g. Color is the result of the differences in timber (quality of tone) in the
various instruments and voices
h. Style What was said style in the fine arts applies equally to music style
Elements of Literature
Literature results from the communication of thought and feeling through
consciously organized language. Speech is the basis of the written language.
Through speech we pass on accumulated wisdom from one generation to another.
But this was a slow process until men learned to write.
Myths the purpose of these oral storytellers was not only to entertain but also to
teach the ideals and aspirations common to the race.
In the broadest sense of the term literature we have all been speaking and
writing it for most of our lives, perhaps not with great skill.
Inspiration comes to the writer of great literature in the three channels:
through the senses, through the intellect, and through the emotions
No matter how skilful the writer is, he cannot be a great artist without keen
sensory impressions, profound thoughts and powerful emotions to convey. But
these are not present in the same degree in all types of literature. Reasons and
thought predominate in prose, while emotion predominates in poetry. And since
man tends to feel first and think afterward, it is natural that poetry should develop
before prose.
Elements of Poetry
The poetic experience which the poet seeks to convey is too complex a
subject for us at this point, but we will try to sketch certain guiding principles
in judging poetry.
First: words are not only informative but also evocative in that they call up
the same response in us share his experience.
Second: etc
Epic Poetry
Lyric Poetry
Dramatic poetry theatre should have such powerful attraction for audiences is
due to the skill of the playwright and our natural interest in seeing how people
react to live situations

Novels
The race problem has inspired a rash of modern novels. If their purpose is
propaganda rather than imaginative creation, these novels usually do not
stand up
The environment or setting of a novel involves not only geography but also
the entire climate of beliefs, habits, and values of a particular region and
historical period.
It is an interesting but not indispensable exercise to try to put the theme of a
novel into words. By theme is usually meant a universal truth of which the
story is a particular instance. There may be almost as many themes as
readers, because every reader has his own idea of what is universally true.
Since World War II, the novel seems to have declined somewhat in popularity.
This decline may be due to a craving for sensation which is satisfied more
effortlessly watching television and movies than in reading book.
Elements of the Story
The short story as an form developed in early 19th century America s an art
considerable segment of the population began to read magazines. (!!!!!!!!)
Granville Hicks says that a good short story is an attempt to make the reader
share in a unique moment of insight. This moment continues to reverberate in the
imagination of the reader.
Elements of the Essay
Essayists write because they enjoy giving their opinions on a variety of subjects.
What they write be purely entertainment.