Seeing with artist's eyes, aka using the Elements of Art

This week all 4th grade classes will begin their work in the art room. Our drawing lessons will start with a review lesson on seeing the world with 'artist' eyes. An artist sees the world around him/her as an arrangement of basic elements. The Elements of Art are the basic building blocks of reproducing what we see around us.

There are 7 basic Elements;
1. Shape - everything in the world can be simplified into basic starting shapes for sketching the layout of an artwork.
2. Line - can be used to create surface contours, shapes, textures, and more.
3. Color - creates mood and energy in an artwork.
4. Texture - the way something feels when you touch it (real texture), or looks like it would feel if you could touch it (implied texture). It can lend a sense of realism and variety.
5. Value - the scale of light to dark of any given hue. A gray scale is also called a value scale. Value creates mood, contrast, and variety.
6. Space - a feeling of depth. Basics of space are ... size, placement, detail, and overlap.
7. Form - 3D! Creates realism in an artwork.

The trick it to not only recognize and see the elements in the world around us, but to then manipulate them on paper to create a pleasing composition. But more on that later!
For now, practice at home looking for and identifying the Elements of Art around you!