Difference Between The Elements and Principles of Art
It’s easy to get confused when discussing the elements and principles of art and group them all together as one big group of abstract terms. It’s much easier to understand when you compare them cooking.
When you are cooking something, you have a list of ingredients that are organized by the recipe. The elements of art are like the ingredients. If you are a good cook, then you care about quality ingredients. The same is true if you are a good artist. You care about the quality of elements that you chose to put in your artwork.
The lines, shapes, forms, values, colors, textures, and spaces that are implored must all work to make your artwork great. The elements must be used as quality ingredients in an artwork. (Links to specific art elements are listed further down the page)
So you must spend some time exploring them, understanding them, and learning how to use them together effectively. The same is true of cooking – you cannot just throw a list of great ingredients together and expect to create a great dish. You must follow the recipe.
The recipe is the principles of art. The principles of art are an organized way that the elements of art are arranged in a work of art.
The elements can be arranged in a work to produce balance, harmony, unity, rhythm, proportion, variety, emphasis, and movement. So the principles of art are dependent on the elements. No elements – no principles. No ingredients – no recipe.
So you must explore the principles as well. Creating good artwork is not just skill. It is definitely not luck or trial and error. It is knowledge.
More on The Elements of Art
The elements of art are the basic components of art-marking. It is impossible to create a work of art without using at least one of the seven elements of art. In order to be successful in art creation, an artist must be able to intelligently use the elements of art. Artwork can also be analyzed according to the use of the elements in a work of art. When an artwork is analyzed in this manner, it is considered a Formalist approach to art criticism.
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