DESIGN

THE PICTORIAL FIELD

BALANCE

PRINCIPAL LINES

REPETITION

FOCAL POINT

DIMENSIONS OF COLOR

COLOR HARMONIC SCHEMES

COLOR PLANES AND PICTORIAL SPACE

Introduction
  Design, or "Pictorial Composition," refers to the arrangement of formal elements-lines, shapes, values, textures and colors in a picture. When well done, such arrangements can contribute to the visual unity of the image. Just as importantly, such arrangements are themselves expressive. Artists sometimes refer to this idea by saying that it isn't what the subject is, but how it is that is important. Of course the subject matter in a work of art counts for a lot, but great artists have always understood that the forms with which they work, the abstract "language of vision," contribute forcefully to the expression they create. In abstract art, where the subject matter is the form, we can experience how form and composition operate by themselves, creating expressive works freed of recognizable subject matter. To develop a sense of composition and how to think about it, we will begin by considering the empty canvas before the artist has made the first mark.

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