Ceramics - Elements & Principles of Design

in this video we'll review the elements

and principles of design

specifically in how they relate to

ceramics

the elements and principles are so

important because they provide ceramic

artists with design

inspiration they also help to create

more successful artworks

the elements of art are the building

blocks or ingredients of any art piece

these include

line shape form space texture value

and color line

for instance is a path created by a

point moving through space

it can lead your eye around the

composition

and can communicate information through

line character and direction

here are some more examples of how line

can be used in ceramics to help create a

more successful piece

shape another element of art refers to

an enclosed

area shapes are two dimensional

we can see shapes often in the surface

detail added to ceramics

here are some more great examples of how

shape can be used on a ceramic piece

form is an element that refers to

a three-dimensional object this is so

important to ceramics because often we

do build

forms in ceramics so for instance a form

could be a triangle that has been turned

into a pyramid

a pyramid is a form whereas a triangle

would just be a shape

so for instance a sphere would be

another example of a form

form is really easy to spot in any kind

of clay artwork

because often clay pieces are

three-dimensional

face is an element of art that describes

the distance or area between

around above below or within

items so if you look above you might

actually

see that the vases to the right those

three phases when looking at the

negative space between them

they actually form the images of

children

space can also be used between handles

and other features as an important

element to a ceramic piece

some of these images show negative space

again with the holes in between or

how space was used on the inside or the

outside of an artwork

texture is an element that refers to the

surface quality

or feel of an object this can refer to a

piece's smoothness

or roughness like the images above

the space man looks very smooth as

opposed to the pieces on the right which

look very rough or jagged texture is so

important to clay

because it adds a lot of interest it

also shows the artist's intention

did you intentionally make your piece

nice and smooth or did you

accidentally leave some bumps or

roughness on the surface

successful ceramic pieces do utilize

texture in a really

interesting way

value refers to the lightness or

darkness of a color

so we often see value on the surface

detail of an artwork

whether it has shiny glaze or a matte

finish

the value might change from dark to

light

here's some more examples of value you

can see again

some of the darkness in color lightness

and color whether it's black and white

or whether it's a gradient between

different colors

and of course we have to talk about

color again this is something that

comes up often in the surface detail of

an object

color consists of hue which is another

word for color

intensity or brightness and value

lightness

and darkness

if we use color successfully in ceramics

we can create more interesting pieces

and again this comes in handy when we go

to glaze a piece or add to the surface

detail of any artwork

so we have to talk about the principles

of design

these are what artists use to organize

the elements of

art and the principles of design they're

really the tools that make art

so the principles refer to balance

emphasis contrast

pattern rhythm and unity and again these

principles

use the elements that we just reviewed

in ceramics balance is important it's

the way that elements are arranged to

create a feeling of stability

in an artwork

balance can be symmetrical or

asymmetrical

in any artwork and you'll see that the

balance impacts the feeling of the piece

emphasis another principle of art

is given to the center of interest or

focal point

it draws your eye in it's where your eye

falls

on an artwork this might be the largest

the brightest

or the lightest area of an artwork and

in ceramics it's really

important to consider emphasis and how

it can create more interest

in your piece

here are some more examples of emphasis

on ceramic artworks

again you can see how emphasis

refers to the eye being drawn to

different points of the piece

contrast is a principle of art that

refers to

a large difference between two areas of

an artwork

this creates interest and tension to the

viewer

we often see contrast in the way that a

ceramic piece was

created the way it was sculpted or

often in the color that was used on that

ceramic artwork

pattern is a principle that refers to

repetition

of design you can see pattern all over

the surface details

of the artworks above

pattern can use colors shapes and the

other different

elements of design in the creation of

pattern on ceramic pieces

rhythm is a principle of design that

refers to regular repetition of elements

to produce the look and feel of movement

with rhythm and ceramics your eye tends

to bounce from one

element to the other again it makes you

feel like you're moving throughout the

piece or

pieces

and of course there's unity this

principle of design refers to when

all the elements and principles work

together to create

a pleasing artwork or composition

with knowledge of the elements and

principles of design you can design

ceramic artworks that are more

successful

more interesting