Principles of Art and Design

Principles of Art and Design
An Internet Hotlist on Art & Design

created by Mrs. Cinco in partnership with Mrs. Lewonka
Sagamore Middle School Library

Introduction | This Site First for All | Then Use These Sites

Introduction
The principles of art are the RULES of art. These rules need to be considered when making a piece of art. Master artists use the ELEMENTS of art to effectively express the PRINCIPLES of art in their artwork. The trick to being a good art evaluator is to discover where and how the art principles are used in master artworks. By studying these elements, your own work will become more sophisticated as you begin to apply this new knowledge to your own works of art.

Each group of 3 or 4 students will be assigned ONE of the following to research:

-Balance
-Variety vs. Unity / Harmony
-Emphasis (focal point)
-Contrast
-Repetition / Pattern
-Rhythm & Movement (compare and contrast)
-Proportion

You will become an expert on your element. You will create a PowerPoint presentation which will demonstrate what you have discovered in your research.

Now, let's begin our research.

The Internet Resources

This Site First for All

A. Art Principles - The principles of art are the organizational techniques used by artists to arrange the elements of art. Continue reading the slides on this site for more information. First read the introduction and complete all the Explorations and Games on this website.

Then Use These Sites

B. Art Lex - In this Art Dictionary, scroll down to Principles of Design or Principles of Art. It includes a long definition along with links to individual principles' definitions.
C. Art's Principles Animated - This website starts out with a movie in which artwork is animated to show specific Principles of Art and Design. The animation shows the principles of Balance, Contrast, Movement, Pattern/Repetition, and Proportion.
D. John Lovette Elements and Principles - Here you will find cute drawings as examples of some principles: Balance, Repetition,Contrast, Dominance (Emphasis), Unity.
E. Principles of Art - This site has a definition of the principles and links to the principles of Balance, Contrast, Proportion, Rhythm, Emaphasis, Unity, and Variety. It also mentions 3 different kinds of balance.
F. Principles of Art - This site has definitions of the principles and links to Balance, Contrast, Proportion, Emphasis, harmony, Rhythm, and Movement. It discusses different kinds of Rhythm and has images of master artworks.
G. Principles of Art on Wikipedia - This site has definitions for all the Principles... no images.
H. Principles of Design - This site contains definitions as well as great images and online activities. Students may include links to these online activities in their PowerPoint pages if they feel it will help teach their assigned Principle to the class. Definitions include different kinds of Balance.

Content by Mrs. Cinco in partnership with Mrs. Lewonka, dcinco@sachem.edu
http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listartdeci.html
Last revised Fri Jan 20 8:44:25 US/Pacific 2012