Line
is the most basic building block of formal analysis. Line can be used to create more complex shapes or to lead your eye from one area in the composition to another. Value is the degree of light and dark in a design. It is the contrast between black and white and all the tones in between. Value can be used with color as well as black and white. Contrast is the extreme changes between values. Shape is created when lines are combined to form a square, triangle, or circle. Shapes can be organic (irregular shapes found in nature) or geometric (shapes with strong lines and angles such as circles, triangles, and squares). Form is a three-dimensional shape with length, width, and depth. Balls, cylinders, boxes and pyramids are forms. Space is the area between and around objects. Increasing or decreasing the amount of space around an object affects the way we view that object. Color differentiates and defines lines, shapes, forms, and space. Even black and white images have a huge number of different shades of gray. Texture is the surface quality that can be seen and felt. Textures can be rough or smooth, soft or hard. Textures are also often implied. |