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Adults are welcomed too. This interactive website can help you visually understand the elements of art.

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minneapolis institute arts toolkit drawing mia culture exhibit museum

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The Artist's Toolkit: Explore | ArtsConnectEd

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This site includes info on: Minneapolis Institute of Arts Toolkit

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This is just a quick, little game. It's not hard.

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The elements of art are a commonly used group of aspects of a work of art used in teaching and analysis. The Elements of Art are essential to understanding, interpreting and talking about art.

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Something is forming in this article. Let's check it out.

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The story of form in art is above anything else a story concerning issues of space, depth , light, and the construction of an illusion. As one of the elements of art , along with the line , shape, texture, value, space, and color , form in art helps artists to produce an illusion of 3D and depth on a two-dimensional surface. In contrast to the idea of a shape, which explains the nature of two-dimensionality, form in art refers to objects which have length, width, and height. When shapes receive the third dimension of depth, they become forms and as such a circle becomes a sphere, squares become cubes, and the triangle becomes a cone or a pyramid[1]. Form in art exists in both real and implied manners. In sculptural pieces , the form is real, while in drawing and in painting, the sensation of depth needs to be implied through the use of light and the contrast of highlights and shadow areas.

The Two Types of Form in Art - What Are They?

Referring to the idea that objects need to have length, width, and height in order to be considered forms, the division of form in art came to two major categories. The first is the idea of geometric forms. These, as we have mentioned above, are usually man-made, ie. artists use the effects of light and modeling to produce them. Attempting to paint or draw representationally, artists need to understand the effects of light on an object, as this helps them create an illusion of form. The light on an object is understood through highlight - the area where the light directly hits the object; the mid tone as the middle tone of the color on an object; the core shadow as the area which is shaded on the object and as such the darkest tone of color, the cast shadow which represent the shaded effect on surrounding object and the surface due to the blocked light, and the reflected highlight which is a light area of the objects due to the surrounding forms. Through this understanding, the typical two-dimensional shapes such as a square or a circle receive the third dimension and become geometric forms ie. a cone, cube, sphere, and cylinder. These forms were extremely influential on the birth of abstract art and avant-garde art, particularly Cubism. Due to the extensive application of the cube in numerous Cubist paintings or drawings , the movement in fact, took its name and became the most revolutionary period of the 20th-century art .

On the other hand, organic forms also have length, width, and height but are not angular and strict in construction. They rely more on chance and the laws which for many apply to the laws in nature itself. They are more free and random and as such no organic form can be an identical copy of the other. These organic forms were crucial for the birth of abstract sculpture .

The Real and the Implied Surroundings

As we have mentioned in the beginning, the discussion of form in art is also a talk concerning the surroundings and depth in art. In the sculpture discipline , the idea of form in art is understood without many questions, as these already inhabit the three-dimensional space of a room, gallery, or the outdoor. This is not the case when it comes to painting or drawing and many artists use this play with three-dimensionality to create mesmerizing works which tease public perception. Using the notion of both positive and negative space, M.C Escher created amazing artworks which confused the eye and made it difficult for us to understand whether the highlight of the pieces was on the background or the shape[2]. With the help of a trompe l'oeil technique , many authors play with the idea of perception and three-dimensionality as well. Such images and murals produce the idea of depth within a two-dimensional surface and play with various geometric or organic forms to do so. Playing with purely two-dimensional form, artists produce amazing three-dimensional forms on a flat canvas, paper or even pavement.

Famous Artists and How they Illustrate the Form in Art

Visual artists rely on the effects of light and shadow in order to produce an illusion of three-dimensional forms. The street artist Banksy uses this technique a lot and many of his celebrated images rely on the contrast between black, gray, and white. Alongside Banksy, Aakash Nihalani uses the juxtaposition between colors to produce the idea of depth[3]. His geometric art pieces and urban art installations play with the perception of the eye and application of form in art to create contemporary trompe l'oeil images. The famous sculptor Richard Serra creates massive free-standing forms by bending flat sharp metals while Jeff Koons relies on volume to create his large-scale sculpture.

Form in art needs to be understood as a story concerning space and the idea of three-dimensionality as much as it is a tale of light and dark. Alongside perspective in art, volume, the notion of the rhythm , and contrast , form in art helps artists become magicians and produce magic on a two-dimensional surface.

Editors' Tip: Making Art: Form and Meaning

This comprehensive introduction to art and design explores making artifacts as a process of making meaning. Making Art: Form and Meaning offers a framework for understanding how all the aspects of an artwork-subject matter, medium, form, process, and contexts-interact. The text's wide array of examples and its emphasis on late-modernism and postmodern art give students a thorough look at the expressive possibilities of traditional design elements and principles and contemporary practices, including the use of computer-based, time-based, and lens-based media. With artist quotes, clearly defined key terms, and a chapter dedicated to studio critiques, Making Art allows students to join the conversation of contemporary art and gives them a jump start in thinking and talking about their work using the language and concepts of today's art world.
References:

1. Prince, E., S., Art Is Fundamental: Teaching the Elements and Principles of Art, Zephyr Press, 2008

2. Richter, I., A., Rhythmic Form in Art, Dover Publications, 2005

3. Carrol, N., Philosophy of Art: A Contemporary Introduction, Psychology Press, 1999

All images used for illustrative purposes only. Featured image: Geometric Forms in Art. Image via thevirtualinstructor.com

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The story of form in art is above anything else a story concerning issues of space, depth , light, and the construction of an illusion. As one of the elements of art , along with the line , shape, texture, value, space, and color , form in art helps artists to produce an illusion of 3D and depth on a two-dimensional surface.

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Give this video some space, maybe positive or negative.

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Rules of Visual Composition

Positive space refers to the main focus of a picture, while negative space refers to the background. When used creatively and intelligently, positive and negative space together can tell a story using visual composition alone. The term negative space is something of a misnomer. It emphasizes the idea that the viewer constructs his or her own meaning from the image. Negative space is never blank. It is designed to support the foreground of the picture.

This concept is illustrated in this illustration: rabbit or duck?

In the drawing, the rabbit is depicted facing toward the right, while the duck is revealed to be a part of the image made out of the rabbit's ears. The duck faces toward the left. In fact, the picture represents both a rabbit and a duck. The viewer chooses which animal they see, forcing the other into the background. If you see a rabbit, the duck doesn't just disappear. It becomes the background.

Negative space is more complex than simply the background of a picture. Without negative space, the positive would have no meaning. Another way of thinking about the relationship would be by comparison to the leading lady in the ensemble cast. She can only be referred to as a lead in relation to the group. Without the group, she no longer has a role as a lead.

Tricks of Perception

Positive and negative space are two aspects of visual composition that form the viewer's perception of optical illusions. Optical illusions are tricks of perception in which the image that one sees, that is the image created in the brain, differs from the objects as they exist in real space. Illustrations and photographs that depict optical illusions try to trick the brain into perceiving spatial dimensions differently from the way they actually appear.

Such a fault in perception informs Gestalt psychology, which investigates the mind's ability to make sense of the world based on a fragmented knowledge of its parts. In this way, psychologist Kurt Koffka is quoted as having said, 'The world is the sum of its parts.'

What do you see in this figure?

You might say that the figure could be perceived as a serpent in the water, but a Gestalt psychologist would say that the image is only made up of wavy black lines. The mind inserts parts to the image that are absent in order to make sense of a partial image. In this figure, the black represents the positive space and the empty white area represents the negative space. The concepts of positive and negative space are slightly more complex than simply the foreground and background of a picture.

Figure and Ground

Positive and negative space are related to the concept of figure-ground relationship, which refers to the perceptual distinction we make between the subject and object in a picture. The figure-ground relationship is present in all images.

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positive & negative space in art: definition & examples - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Positive & Negative Space in Art: Definition & Examples - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Positive space refers to the main focus of a picture, while negative space refers to the background. When used creatively and intelligently, positive and negative space together can tell a story using visual composition alone. The term negative space is something of a misnomer.

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This is a colorful and insightful  reading. Life is full of color so let's learn about it.

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The ever-intriguing question, "What color is that?" is a very common one among human beings. Colors are important in the food we eat, the clothes we wear, our homes, cars, even our pets. . . and while the colors in a painting might be the first thing a viewer notices, there's a lot more to color than meets the eye.

So it's up to us, as artists, to delve beyond just recognizing and naming colors to using colors for their inherent qualities, towards a specific end.

The role of colors in a painting

In a recent tutorial we looked at the roles of value in our paintings, and how these roles are independent of color. Today I want to take a look at what we can make color do that value cannot do.

You'll notice that just like value, color has two roles: describing and composing.

Colors can describe a scene in ways value cannot

There are actually four different ways that colors describe things:
1. Hue: the location within the color spectrum
For example, the hue of lemons could be spectrum yellow or they could lean a bit towards orange or towards green.

This depends upon whether the light source is cool or warm. No matter which, it is still in the yellow family.
2. Saturation: the degree of spectrum purity
Saturation changes toward neutral when complements are mixed together. For example, when purple gets mixed into yellow, the yellow becomes less pure and more neutralized. Look at this example.

The hues are yellow in both roses, but the right rose is more neutral than the left.
3. Temperature: warm to cool
Colors within the yellow, orange and red families tend to be warmer than colors in the blue, green and purple families. In our lemons example, the lemon half on the left is warmer than the half on the right which contains a bit of the cooler color blue.

See this article to learn how to find the correct color temperature while painting.
4. Value: light to dark
The hue of a color is not the same seen in light as seen in shadow.

I have sampled from this blue ball five areas to show how the hue is different depending upon to what degree it is in direct light. One rule of thumb: cool light produces warmer shadows; warm light produces cooler shadows.

Here, the purplish shadow is cooler than the warmer blue in the light, where we can even see a bit of yellow. (Your monitor colors may vary.)

Colors can also affect the composition of a painting

The five major composing roles of color are as follows:

1.To harmonize (or the opposite, to contrast)

2.To unify a scene

3.To set forth a visual path

4.To produce rhythm

5.To create emphasis

In the Richard Schmid oil painting below, color functions in all five roles.

The overall warm tones create harmony along with repetition of orange and warm green. Blues in the background and foreground give contrast or counter-harmony.

While dominance of warm colors unify the painting, a visual path is created with the repeating of the brighter oranges. The repeated smaller green shapes in the foliage create a rhythm within that path.

The emphasis in this painting is from accents of yellows, yellow-oranges, that one little pink flower in the lower right and that tiny little yellow note in the lower right.

Now look at a totally different painting by Robert Genn.

The overall bluish tone unifies, while purplish-red accents bring harmony throughout. Repeating greens set the visual path and give rise to rhythm. Emphasis results from the highlights in the water contrasting with the surrounding blue and dark gray rocks.

Finally, look at this portrait by John Burton.

Repeated golds and warm browns harmonize the piece. That warmth receives emphasis from the contrasting cooler blues in the sky. A dominance of warms unify as the viewer's eye is led throughout the painting with the repetition of orange-yellows.

When we observe and use the descriptive characteristics of color as composing tools, we discover a world of opportunity for creative and fresh uses of color.

Try taking your paintings this one step further-plan some of your color choices ahead of time-and see how it opens up an entirely new door to creativity.
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With all the talk about Notan recently in various blogs around the internet, I've received a fair number of emails from artists expressing confusion over conflicting explanations from different sources.

Notan, as you'll remember, is a compositional technique for. . . read more

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The Role of Color in Art (or, How to Use Color to Enhance a Painting)

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While the colors in a painting might be the first thing a viewer notices, there's a lot more to color than meets the eye. It's up to us, as artists, to go beyond just recognizing and naming colors and to start using colors for a specific end.

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A little bit of light here and a little bit of dark there. Value is incredibly important when it comes to creating a composition.

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Value in art has various meanings, but for the purpose of this post we will be referring to value in relation to color theory.

Value in art is essentially how light or dark something is on a scale of white to black (with white being the highest value and black being the lowest value).

It is widely considered to be one of the most important variables to the success of a painting, even more so than your selection of color (hue).

Value in art should be simple to understand, however the inclusion of color can make it a challenging concept to grasp.

You could have two different colors which appear completely different, but have exactly the same value. There would be little contrast between these colors despite the different hues.

On the other hand, you could have many different values of the same hue. These are called tints and shades. You can produce tints of a color by adding white and shades by adding black.

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What Is Value In Art And Why Is It So Important For Your Paintings

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What Is Value In Art? Value in art has various meanings, but for the purpose of this post we will be referring to value in relation to color theory. Value in art is essentially how light or dark something is on a scale of white to black (with white being the highest value and black being the lowest value).

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Warning! This a very touchy topic. Learn the reason why you want to touch that painting.

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Actual texture refers to the tactile qualities of the physical surface of the object. In other words, how does the surface of the work feel when you touch it?

Texture in three-dimensional art

Texture is one of the most fundamental elements of three dimensional art. It is an element that needs to be carefully considered by sculptors. Texture is related to the material used--marble, wood, clay, bronze, brass, iron. steel, or plaster, for example-- as well as the process: casting, carving, construction, or welding. In addition to the material and the process, the final surface treatment offers even more textural possibilities. These include patination (chemically altering the surface of metal), painting, staining, bleaching, varnishing, polishing, waxing, sanding, buffing, scorching, tapping the sufrace with various tools to add texture, and using a grinder to smooth out rough textures and welding seams, among other things.

Portrait heads of Benin royalty

Nigeria; Edo peoples, court of BeninH. 9 1/4 in. (23.5 cm) Head of an Oba, 16th century (ca. 1550)
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.86)

Brass

Source: Head of an Oba [Nigeria; Edo peoples, court of Benin] (1979.206.86) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This sculpture is an example of metalcasting. A mold is creted and molten metal is poured into it, and allowed to cool before removing it. Most of the textural elements must be fashioned in the mold before pouring the metal. Compare the decorative textural elements of this portrait head with the smooth surface of the subject's skin.

These portrait heads represent the long line of a ruling dynasty in 14th century Benin, in present day Nigeria. Each head commemorates a different oba, or king.Though the heads are meant to honor individual leaders, they are highly stylized, that is, they emphasize the regalia that symbolizes kingship rather than distinctive features.

Power figures

Power Figure (Nkisi Nkondi) Kongo (Solongo or Woyo subgroup) late 19th-early 20th century

Wood, iron, glass, fiber, pigment, bone 24 x 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (61.5 x 17.0 x 21.5 cm)

Possible places made: Kongo Central Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cabinda Province, Angola, Zaire Province, Angola

Brooklyn Museum Arts of Africa Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos

These figures were created by the people of the Kingdom of Kongo, which spanned the years from apporximately 1400 until 1914. The Kongo kingdom was located in west central Africa in the area which now includes northern Angola, Cabinda, the Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa).

A nkisi nkondi, or power figure was carved out of wood. It contained a cavity for holding items used in magic and medicine. After it was created and filled with supernatural ingredients, it was breathed upon to animate it and then sealed with a mirror. Nails and blades were added to destroy evil. The use of texture here goes beyond aesthetics. The textural elements of the nkisi nkondi contain power and are used to protect others. The texture is meant to be forbidding and to evoke fear.

Deborah Butterfield: portraits of horses

Deborah Butterfield 1988
bronze 99 x 105 x 74 in.
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden Gift of Harriet and Edson W. Spencer, 1988

Deborah Butterfield Aluminum Horse #5 1982

Steel and fused aluminum
San Diego Museum of Art Museum purchase 1990:7 © San Diego Museum of Art

Deborah Butterfield knows horses. She raises them, on a ranch. She is also a sculptor. These sculptures of horses are life-size, and are made of different materials. In these two examples, one is made out of aluminum, and the other of bronze casts of branches and pieces of wood. Each sculpture represents and is a portrait of an individual horse, one that she has raised.

Jackie Winsor: industrial elements

Jacki Winsor Paul Walter's Piece, 1975
copper, creosoted wood overall 24 x 32 x 32 in
Minneapolis Sculpture garden Gift of Paul F. Walter, 2000

Jackie Winsor is known for using industrial materials to make fine art sculptures. Often there is a process that takes place during its creation that becomes evident in the finished piece. Some contemporary sculptors have chosen to move beyond traditional materials such as bronze, marble, and wood in their work,to using ordinary building or industrial materials to create their work. How does the choice of nontraditional materials influence the viewer's response and affect the meaning of the work? Compare the textures in this sculpture with the following highly polished bronze sculpture.

Henry Moore: abstracted figures with a fluid surface

Henry Moore Reclining Mother and Child , 1960-1961
bronze 90 x 35 1/2 x 52 in.
Minneapolis Sculpture garden Gift of the T. B. Walker Foundation, 1963

Henry Moore is known for his large, abstract figurative work. This sculpture represents a mother and child. How do the curves of the form, its fluid lines, and the smooth polished finish mirror the curves, lines, skin, and muscles of the human body? Notice how the "child" is cradled by the "mother". Also notice areas of high sheen on various parts of the sculpture. These are areas where people have touched and rubbed the sculpture. The oils in human skin interact with bronze.

Magdalena Abakanowicz: highly textured abstracted figures

Magdalena Abakanowicz Sagacious Head 6 and Sagacious Head 7, 1989-1990
bronze No. 6: 98 1/2 x 187 x 108 1/4 in. No. 7: 101 x 202 3/4 x 100 1/2 in.
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden Purchased with funds provided by the Frederick R. Weisman Collection of Art, 1992

Magdalena Abakanowicz' sculptural work often consists of groups of abstract figurative forms that resemble each other and sometimes are exactly alike. This pair of sculptures are enormous and suggestive of giant mammoth-like creatures. The "skin" is roughly textured, and reminiscent of elephants' skin.

Haim Steinbach: assemblage of industrial fixtures

Haim SteinbachMuseum of Contemporary Art San Diego Museum purchase, International and Contemporary Collectors Fund Beep, honk, toot, #2
Chrome laminated wood shelf with chrome tea kettles and chrome trash cans, 1989

2004.9.a-j
© Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

In this work, instead of constructing, casting, or carving a sculpture, Steinbach has simply collected and arranged items on a shelf. This type of work calls attention to relationships between objects and the contextual elements of where they are placed. This work also uses repetition, or multiples of specific objects, which adds another layer of meaning. Notice the bright sheen of the texture of the chrome.

Meret Oppenheim: visual pun

From the gallery label text for the Museum of Modern Art exhibition "This Surrealist object was inspired by a conversation between Oppenheim and artists Pablo Picasso and Dora Maar at a Paris cafe. Admiring Oppenheim's fur-covered bracelet, Picasso remarked that one could cover anything with fur, to which she replied, "Even this cup and saucer." Soon after, when asked by André Breton, Surrealism's leader, to participate in the first Surrealist exhibition dedicated to objects, Oppenheim bought a teacup, saucer, and spoon at a department store and covered them with the fur of a Chinese gazelle. In so doing, she transformed genteel items traditionally associated with feminine decorum into sensuous, sexually punning tableware". source The Erotic Object: Surrealist Sculpture from the Collection ( June 24, 2009-January 4, 2010): http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=80997

The Surrealist movement included sculpture as well as painting. The term Surrealism is a shortened version of super realism. Surrealists offer viewers the unexpected. By creating objects and images that represent what appears to be real but never could be, they call our attention to how we view the reality we find ourselves in.

Texture in two-dimensional art

Both two and three-dimensional art can have actual texture.

Vincent Van Gogh, texture as expression

Vincent Van Gogh Olive Trees 1889
Oil on canvas 29 x 36 1/2 in. (73.66 x 92.71 cm) (canvas)
Minneapolis Institute of Arts The William Hood Dunwoody Fund

Vincent va Gogh used very thick and expressive brushstrokes which create a flowing textured pattern in his paintings. Imagine this painting without texture. The brushstrokes add interest to the painting, but they also add energy. It is as if they give us a glimpse into the artist's mind and the rapid movement of his thoughts and feelings.

Robert Rauschenberg Bed 1955

Oil and pencil on pillow, quilt, and sheet on wood supports, 6' 3 1/4" x 31 1/2" x 8" (191.1 x 80 x 20.3 cm).

Museum of Modern Art Gift of Leo Castelli in honor of Alfred H. Barr, Jr. © 2011 Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg Canyon, 1959
Combine painting: oil, pencil, paper, fabric, metal, cardboard box, printed paper, printed reproductions, photograph, wood, paint tube, and mirror on canvas, with oil on bald eagle, string and pillow; 86 3/4 x 70 x 24 in.
Sonnabend Collection, New York Art © /Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Robert Rauschenberg began as an Abstract Expresionist, a movement which emphasized formal elements rather than subject matter, evidence of the artist's movement (expression) in ts style, and experimentation with the qualities of paint. Rauschenberg became interested in moving beyond the textural qualities of paint itself and incorporating three-dimensional objects with their own texture. It was also a combination of two-dimensional and three dimensional art within the same work. He called these works "combines".

Source: Combines bridged the gap between abstract expressionism's view of the artist as an isolated visonary and the real, banal world. Rauschenberg said about his work: "Painting relates to both art and life.... (I try to act in that gap between the two.)" as quoted in the gallery label text accompanying Rauschenberg's Bed at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=78712

Anselm Kiefer The Names 1983

Oil, shellac, emulsion and fiber on canvas
support: 4205 x 2805 x 60 mm

From the exhibition Anselm Kiefer at Baltic October 8, 2010-January 16, 2011
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, United Kingdom

Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008. Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art Gateshead Quays

Anselm Kiefer, Zim Zum, 1990

acrylic, emulsion, crayon, shellac, ashes and canvas on lead,

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C.

source: Art Tatttler International: A Visual Arts SurveyInitiative, Editor and Publisher, Mike Miller Consulting Editor, Peregrine Honig,Consulting Editor, David Ford Artists: Words & Work http://arttattler.com/archivekiefer.html

From the article: "One of the foremost artists of our time, Kiefer was born in 1945, shortly before the end of World War II, and grew up witnessing the destruction of modern warfare, the division of his homeland, and the rebuilding of a fragmented nation and its struggle for renewal. Believing there are no truths, only interpretations, Kiefer questions the place of humans in the cosmos and has devoted himself to examining the interwoven patterns of German history, mythology, literature, identity, and architecture, creating all-encompassing works whose surfaces are as complex, multi-layered, and fragmented as their subjects. Infused with references to both the German romantic tradition and its political and philosophical heritage, these large-scale works meld painting with collage and sculpture, combining a nearly monochromatic painter's palette with unorthodox materials, such as lead, wire, straw, plaster, mud, seeds, sunflowers, ash, and dust. The result is a prolific oeuvre whose monumental scale and rich interplay of textures heighten the solemnity and transcendental nature of its contents." source: Anselm Kiefer's Practice, an Admixture of the Metaphysical and Alchemical as published in Artists: Words & Work : http://arttattler.com/archivekiefer.html

Like Rauschenberg, Anselm Kiefer combined two and three dimensional elements in his work. Kiefer integrated three-dimensional and textural elements as an aesthetic and metaphoric layer in his paintings, rather than as a contrasting element, as in Rauschenberg's work. Compare the effect of textural and three dimensional elements within the two artists' work. How does each artist use those elements, and what is the purpose behind it?

Certain artworks were made to be touched. Some artists purposefully make their art touchable so that the viewer can experience it more fully. This includes some three-dimensional work, and artists' books. Artists who allow their work to be touched understand that their work will be affected by human touch, through oils in the skin, but they acccept it so that they can provide a fuller experience.

There is also concern that people with visual impairments are limited or unable to experience visual art. Some artists create art that is meant to be touched rather than seen.There are organizations that work to provide opportunities for visually impaired people to enjoy visual art, through works that can be touched and through adaptive aids for works that cannot be touched, to provide a sense of the form of the art. One such organization is Blindart. They describe themselves on their website as " a charitable organisation based in UK whose aim is to encourage participation and interaction of the visually impaired in the sighted domain of the visual arts.BlindArt promotes artists; both sighted and visually impaired, to showcase their work through competitions, exhibitions, fairs, shows and private commissions". Link to their websdite: http://www.blindart.net/home

Public memorials are frequently touched, and that touch is an important part of the experience of visiting them. It is as if by touching the memorial we can somehow touch those who have gone.

The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial: a healing journey

A visitor touching a name on The Wall at the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. Photographed by en:User:Skyring 26 January 2005 2005-08-09 (first version); 2005-08-10 (last version) Transferred from en.wikipedia; transferred to Commons by User:Estoymuybueno Original uploader was Skyring at en.wikipedia GFDL-WITH-DISCLAIMERS; Released under the GNU Free Documentation License

The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington D.C. was designed by Maya Lin to be an emotional, cathartic experience that would allow for healing to take place. She purposefully made the memorial a reachable wall of names of the departed. It is designed as a journey that the visitor moves through rather than a grand monument that can only be experienced at a distance. It is a deeply moving and profound experience for both those who have lost a loved one in the war and those who have not, because the nature of the design acts as a memorial for everyone who has ever lost someone. People make rubbings of their loved one's name to take home with them. They also leave objects at the site, so much so that a museum has been created to house the many items left at the Wall.

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Actual texture refers to the tactile qualities of the physical surface of the object. In other words, how does the surface of the work feel when you touch it? Texture in three-dimensional art Texture is one of the most fundamental elements of three dimensional art.

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In this article, all shapes come in all shapes, funny right?

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Shapes can be used in art to control your feelings about the mood and composition of an artwork.

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In this video, you will learn how lines are more than going from point A to point B.

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This is a simple and quick overview of the seven elements of art,

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The elements of art are the building blocks for successful art-making. Learn how to use the elements of art in your compositions.