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How to Apply Elements to Art

Abstract art, and geometric abstraction in particular, has a rich history. Instead of looking at the complex paintings of artists like Bridget Riley or Juan Gris, you can embark on your own path of artistic discovery. Not only will you learn about the process of making art, but you will come away from this exercise with a better understanding of how non-figurative art is made. You can also extrapolate what you have learned to other more realistic artistic drawing and painting venues. Elements in art can include composition, materials, technique, medium, shading, texture, shape, and dimension. Materials for this exercise need not consist of anything more than a set of colored pencils and paper.

Things You'll Need

  • Acid-free drawing paper (of any size)
  • Pencil
  • Eraser
  • Set of colored pencils
  • Set of soft pastels
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Instructions

    • 1

      Lay a sheet of paper in front of you and make several straight lines across the surface of the paper with the pencil. You can do this free hand or use a small ruler or protractor to ensure a perfectly straight line. Try to spread the lines out evenly across the paper.

    • 2

      Turn each line into a shape by adding extra lines to each original inscription. Eventually, each one of these sets of lines should connect together to form a shape. Feel free to use your eraser to remove any unwanted lines, and repeat the process for that part of the exercise.

    • 3

      Create volume and a third dimension by adding a few very short pencil strokes to one edge of each shape. Each shape should receive these lines on the same side (top, bottom, right or left) to give the overall drawing perspective. Some longer lines drawn parallel to the original shape will also need to be included in order to complete the impression of a three-dimensional object.

    • 4

      Add value by lightly shading the face of each object with the pencil. The areas on the side created in the last step should receive darker shading. Cross hatching can be used lightly on the face of each object and then applied more heavily around the edges to give the individual objects some form.

    • 5

      Pull out the soft pastels and add color to your drawing. You can add the color right on top of the pencil marks that gave you the light and dark values in the last step. Colored pencils also make a good choice, as they do not need to be fixed at the end of the drawing process.

    • 6

      Experiment with using different types of drawing strokes to create different textures in your drawing.

    • 7

      Make a second drawing by drawing shapes instead of just lines. This will give you a much better insight into the element of space. By drawing the whole shape at once, you will now have a better idea of how your picture will look at the end of the drawing process.

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