ART 251 - Study Guide for Final Exam Dec 15, 2015

1. 1 ‐ ART 251 – Study Guide for Final Exam December 15, 2015
ART 251 – Study guide for Final Exam December 15, 2015
Elements of Art: The building blocks used by artists to create a work of art.
 Line is a mark with greater length than width. Lines can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal; straight or
curved; thick or thin.
 Shape is a closed line. Shapes can be geometric, like squares and circles; or organic, like free‐form or
natural shapes. Shapes are flat and can express length and width.
 Forms are three‐dimensional shapes expressing length, width, and depth. Balls, cylinders, boxes, and
pyramids are forms.
 Space is the area between and around objects. The space around objects is often called negative space;
negative space has shape. Space can also refer to the feeling of depth. Real space is three‐dimensional; in
visual art, when we create the feeling or illusion of depth, we call it space.
 Color is light reflected off of objects. Color has three main characteristics: hue (the name of the color, such
as red, green, blue, etc.), value (how light or dark it is), and intensity (how bright or dull it is).
 Texture is the surface quality that can be seen and felt. Textures can be rough or smooth, soft or hard.
Textures do not always feel the way they look; for example, a drawing of a porcupine may look prickly, but
if you touch the drawing, the paper is still smooth.
Principles of Design: Describes the ways that artists use the elements of art in a work of art.
 Balance is the distribution of the visual weight of objects, colors, texture, and space. If the design was a
scale, these elements should be balanced to make a design feel stable. In symmetrical balance, the elements
used on one side of the design are similar to those on the other side; in asymmetrical balance, the sides are
different but still look balanced. In radial balance, the elements are arranged around a central point and
may be similar.
 Emphasis is the part of the design that catches the viewer’s attention. Usually the artist will make one area
stand out by contrasting it with other areas. The area could be different in size, color, texture, shape, etc.
 Movement is the path the viewer’s eye takes through the work of art, often to focal areas. Such movement
can be directed along lines, edges, shape, and color within the work of art.
 Pattern is the repeating of an object or symbol all over the work of art.
 Repetition works with pattern to make the work of art seem active. The repetition of elements of design
creates unity within the work of art.
 Proportion is the feeling of unity created when all parts (sizes, amounts, or number) relate well with each
other. When drawing the human figure, proportion can refer to the size of the head compared to the rest of
the body.
 Rhythm is created when one or more elements of design are used repeatedly to create a feeling of
organized movement. Rhythm creates a mood like music or dancing. To keep rhythm exciting and active,
variety is essential.
 Variety is the use of several elements of design to hold the viewer’s attention and to guide the viewer’s eye
through and around the work of art.
 Unity is the feeling of harmony between all parts of the work of art, which creates a sense of completeness.

2. 2 ‐ ART 251 – Study Guide for Final Exam December 15, 2015
Color Theory:
Isaac Newton (1642 1726).
The first scientist to reveal the true nature of color. He studied how sun rays going through a glass prism broke into
a visible spectrum of the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. These colors are physically
described as frequencies of wave lengths, lowest being purple, highest being red.
He discovered that the light rays reflect color from object. A red surface absorbs green and blue, but not red. A
green surface absorbs all rays except for those reflected back as green. A blue surface absorbs all rays except for
those reflected back as blue.
Additive Color System ‐ LIGHT
 If you mix red, green, and blue light, you get white light. Red, green, and blue (RGB) are referred to as
the primary colors of light.
 Mixing the colors generates new colors. This is additive color. As more colors are added, the result becomes
lighter, heading towards white.
 The primary colors of light are red, green, and blue. If you subtract these from white you get cyan, magenta,
and yellow.
 RGB is used to generate color on a computer screen, a TV or any digital monitor
Subtractive Color System – PIGMENT
 What we perceived as color is emitted light from objects
 When you mix colors using paint, or through the printing process, you are using the subtractive color
method
 Mixing these three primary colors generates black. As you mix colors, they tend to get darker, ending up as
black.
 Subtractive colors are opaque surfaces that reflect light, rather than being source colors, such as light itself.
 Subtraction – colored surface subtracts (absorbs) all colors. A red surface absorbs all other colors except
what’s reflected red (R) and seen bye eye – and hits the R of the R G B cone cells.
 2 Subtractive color models: CMYK > creates R B G in print. R Y B creates all colors in painting.
Color Perception:
Color is a human experience and how we describe what we see. Color is an illusion, but because of our reference
system to color, a norm has been developed. This evolution has led to identification of food, objects, and threats.
Physically explained, the eye, equipped with so‐called color cones, “read” the reflected red, blue, and green.
The color of an object depends on both the physics of the object in its environment and the characteristics of the
perceiving eye and brain. Color differences between objects can be discerned mostly independent of the lighting
spectrum, viewing angle, etc. The color of any object appears darker in the evening light. This effect is known as
color constancy.
Color is an individual experience, but the brain is trained to see e.g. the color red. But you can also say that one
person’s concept is distinct and varies from one person to another.
What meets the eye has these aspects:
 Scattering – interaction of light with gas molecules that make up air. Explains color of sky, sunset.
 Incandescence –color derived from a heat source
 Luminous – color derived from chemical (e.g. phosphor)
 Subtraction – colored surface subtracts (absorbs) all colors ‐ except what’s reflected (R) and seen bye eye –
and hits the R G B cone cells
 Color appears differently next to another. If in art, film, or any design field, one must understand this.

3. 3 ‐ ART 251 – Study Guide for Final Exam December 15, 2015
OUR BRAIN UNDERSTANDS COLOR IN THESE WAYS:
Local Color: The natural color of a thing in ordinary daylight, uninfluenced by the proximity of other colors. A
realistic painting e.g. would use local color, as does a color photograph
Optical Color: How the brain understands color when use place them side by side. Pointillism artist Seurat is most
notable. Pointillism could be described as a “branch” of Impressionism, a major art movement at the end of the
19th century.
Contemporary artist who experimented with optical color is Chuck Close, whose paintings, when viewed through
magnifying glass, consists of tiny pieces that, when in a distance are perceived as a hue of different value and
intensity. The result is photographic likeness.
Subjective Color: A color changes in your head dependent on how your eyes and brain perceives it. A subjective
color is the color the way you see it. Color is perception and needs a reference.
Blind people cannot use seeing people’s accepted reference system.
Color standards
For practical reasons, colors have been given names more than the basic ones. Pink (light red) Cadmium Red,
Hansa Yellow, Phthalo Blue are all various names of colors deriving from the hues red, yellow, and blue.
International color standards have been developed for practical purposes. The most well‐known example is the
Pantone Matching System (PMS), a color matching system that identifies each color in this system by a unique code
name.
Color mixing aspects
Different results in mixing colors in RGB versus RYB (or CMYK in print)

4. 4 ‐ ART 251 – Study Guide for Final Exam December 15, 2015
Color Wheel
A way to organize all colors, invented by Newton, but pursued and developed by physicists / psychologists /
artists / designers over the centuries after Newton. The artists didn’t contradict Newton, but had to develop a
parallel color wheel for pigment/painting purposes. Goethe, Munsell, Runge, and Itten were important for the
development of variations of the color wheel. They all serve their individual purposes, but have more things in
common than not. Goethe, first to explore paint color, said about Newton, the physicist: “Newton’s error was
trusting math over the sensations of his eye.”
In painting with pigment, the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue (RYB). In light reflection (physics) they are
red, green, and blue (RGB).
Color groups and schemes ‐ RYB
Primary colors: in painting are Red, Yellow, Blue
Secondary colors: Mixes from primaries ‐ Orange Green Purple
Tertiary colors: Added primary color to the secondary mix. Red‐Orange, Yellow Orange, Yellow‐green, Blue Green
(close to cyan) , Red Purple (close to magenta), Blue‐Purple.
All these 16 are typically organized in RYB pigment/painting color wheel.
The color wheel is divided into two warm color and cool color halves. As applied in pictures, Warm colors appear
near, cool colors appear far
COLOR SCHEMES
Harmony – when colors in picture appear pleasant and organized, relate to each other (as “schemes”, listed below):
Color Discord ‐ when colors in picture appear disorganized and show no particular color scheme as listed below:
 Monochromatic (only one color, but of different value and intensity)
 Warm‐cool (Warm colors appear near, cool colors appear far)
 Complimentary (contrast)
 Analogous (harmony)
 Split Complimentary (contrast)
 Double split complimentary (contrast)
 Triadic Color scheme
 Rectangle (tetradic)
 Square (tetradic)
 Chromatic grays (harmony)
Complimentary
Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel are considered to be complementary
colors (example: red and green).
Analogous color schemes use colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. They
usually match well and create serene and comfortable designs.

5. 5 ‐ ART 251 – Study Guide for Final Exam December 15, 2015
Triadic color scheme
A triadic color scheme uses colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel.
Split-Complementary color scheme
The split-complementary color scheme is a variation of the complementary color scheme. In
addition to the base color, it uses the two colors adjacent to its complement.
Rectangle (tetradic) color scheme
The rectangle or tetradic color scheme uses four colors arranged into two complementary pairs.
Square color scheme
The square color scheme is similar to the rectangle, but with all four colors spaced evenly
around the color circle.Square color schemes works best if you let one color be dominant.You
should also pay attention to the balance between warm and cool colors in your design.
Properties of color
VALUE – lightness or darkness (not necessarily included mixed in white or black. Yellow light color, purple is dark
color)
TINT – added white
SHADE – added black (or compliment)
CHROMA or INTENSITY. More or less of color. Often defined by surrounding colors value or intensity.
Chromatic and achromatic grays
Chromatic – mixed with small certain amount of color. Recersly, this color gets duller and duller the more gray is
mixed with it.
Achromatic gray – no other color than a mix of black and white in various proportions
Tone scales in color circle. Achromatic Gray in center = absence of all color. White and Black
also Achromatic.
Chromatic gray contains various amount of other hue than white, gray, or black.
As shown in this color circle, the hue becomes less intense the more grey is mixed in
towards the center, which is completely achromatic.

6. 6 ‐ ART 251 – Study Guide for Final Exam December 15, 2015
History of Color Theory ‐ Color Wheel ‐ Philip Otto Runge (1770‐1810)
German painter. Introduces hue, value and saturation in a color model, or wheel, that looked
more like a sphere. Purest hue in center, lighter and darker towards pole
History of Color Theory ‐ Color Theory ‐ Color Wheel – Albert Henry Munsell (1858 – 1918)
American painter, teacher of art, and the inventor of the Munsell color
system. Demonstrated difference and relationship hue > value and intensity in ac arefully
designed model withvalue scale in the center, horizontal chroma scale with the pure hue in
the center of it.
History of Color Theory ‐ Color Theory ‐ Color Wheel ‐ Johannes Itten (1888‐1967)
Swiss expressionist painter, designer, teacher, writer and theorist associated with the
Bauhaus school of design, crafts and fine arts (1930s Germany).
Continued work with Traditional Color Circle in the steps of Runge and Munsell. Itten’s
color wheel was like a star and essentially an exterior view of the color sphere, cut apart and
spread out 2‐dimensionally. On the “equator” of sphere are pure hues, its inner circles has
tints gradating towards a white center, and the outer points have incremental shades
toward black.
His color study addressed aspects, attributes of color. Organized The 7 Contrasts of Color.
Color interaction – Itten
7 color contrasts:
Contrast of Hue Illustrated by undiluted colors in their most intensity.
Contrast of Light‐Dark Illustrated by the expression of extremes in value. Darkest dark to lightest light
Contrast of Warm‐Cool Requires a knowledge of warm & cool colors.‐ Warm colors advance/demand
attention in a design; Cool colors appear to recede.
Complementary Contrast Illustrated by the juxtaposition of complementary colors (opposites on the color
wheel), or a couple of analogous complementary pairs.
Contrast of Saturation Illustrated by the contrast between pure, intense colors & dull colors.
Simultaneous Contrast Colors are affected by surrounding colors/values of colors
Contrast of Extension Involves the relative areas of two or more color patches.

7. 7 ‐ ART 251 – Study Guide for Final Exam December 15, 2015
Color interaction – Joseph Albers
Also from School of Bauhaus, but like most of Bauhaus teachers, left for the US in the late 30s. Artist, teacher,
created The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation in Connecticut.
Experimented and formed principles of color interactions: Light/Dark Value Contrast Complementary Reaction
Effect, Subtraction – the “leaning” towards cooler or warmer (subtraction of hue), duller or brighter (subtraction of
value), depending in ground color. He is most famous for his square and rectangle paintings “Homage to the
Square” or Homage to the Rectangle”. He carefully recorded every color in these. When a color used next to a
carefully selected other color, it would appear different in value, temperature, intensity, yes even hue.
Color interaction – Bezold
Wilhelm Von Bezold, a 19th century rug designer. Discovered an optical interaction effect, which now carries his
name, the Bezold effect. He found that he could change the entire appearance of his designs by substituting a
different color for the color which occupied most of the design area, often just the background color. The Bezold
effect is best shown and used in pattern design.
Additional review material: All lectures on Blackboard >>