An Introduction to the 7 Elements of Art

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Free Lesson on the 7 Elements of Art by artist Lillian Gray

This is a video and blog series teaching the 7 Elements of Art in an easy-to-understand way. The series consists of 7 lessons presented by artist Lillian Gray.

The Trump Card

Today I’m going to share my trump card with you, the ace up my sleeve. How do you make your art stand out? How do you always know what’s wrong with this particular picture? When does it sometimes just look boring and something’s not working? How do you win an art competition? How do you make your art WOW and memorable?

Come a little closer I’ll tell you – not that close! It’s all the seven elements of art. When you think of the seven elements of art I want you to think of it like its ingredients to a recipe: you need various ingredients to bake something yummy, and in the same way, we need the seven elements of art to create an awesome artwork. In science, they also talk about the elements like oxygen and nitrogen and these are the elements of life, the same way in art we also have elements.

The elements of art are also often referred to as the building blocks of art – we need them to be able to build an awesome artwork. These seven elements of art are a secret weapon: you can either use them to improve your own art or you can use it to interpret other artworks and better understand their meaning.

The 7 Elements of Art

The seven elements of art include: line, value, texture, colour, space, shape, and form. Now every single artwork on this planet uses at least two elements of the seven, but I think usually it’s more, and usually when a painting is boring or kinda sucks or really lacks the WOW element it is because you’ve used one of the seven elements in the wrong way. Remember my video about what makes a great artist and I told you guys it’s not your DNA, it’s not your talent, it’s not like some super cell that’s you know creative in your body that makes you a good artist, it is actually training your eye to see that is what makes an excellent artist – your observation skills.

So my aim with the seven elements of art series is to train your eye in what to look for with every single element create awareness so that you can improve your own art.

BUY THE 7 ELEMENTS OF ART WORKSHEETS

A 32 Page Worksheet Pack focused on teaching the 7 Elements of Art. Ideal for art students to learn how to apply the 7 Elements of Art and reinforce the principles.

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FREE online videos available on our YouTube video for each worksheet.