THE VISUAL ELEMENTS
GLI ELEMENTI VISIVI
What are the visual elements?
THEY ARE THE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS
THAT FORM AN IMAGE.
What are the most important elements?
IL SEGNO
IL PUNTO
LA LINEA
LA FORMA
LA SUPERFICIE
IL COLORE
IL VOLUME
LO SPAZIO
LA COMPOSIZIONE
SIGN
DOT
LINE
SHAPE
SURFACE
COLOUR
VOLUME
SPACE
COMPOSITION
IL SEGNO
THE SIGN
We use signs to express feelings
or communicate ideas.
It can be a carving in stone,
a drawing on paper,
or a finger in the sand.
It can be a GRAPHIC sign 
 a PICTORIAL sign (colour)
a PLASTIC sign (sculpture) 
 or an ARCHITECTURAL sign.
IL PUNTO
The DOT
IL PUNTO E’…
The DOT is…
THE SIMPLEST and SMALLEST sign in
a DRAWING.
In the visual language it is not abstract, it is
REAL.
The dot has a SHAPE and a SIZE and can
have a COLOUR (they depend on the
material or tool)
THE DOT…
can have a different position on a
surface.
’
DISTANCE of DOTS
DOTS’ POSITION IN SPACE TO FORM CHIAROSCURO
Rarefatto
RAREFIED
Dots are very FAR AWAY
Addensato
GROUPED
TOGETHER
Dots are NEAR
L A LINEA = The LINE
What is a line?
A line can be where a drawing
starts.
It is the basic element of a
drawing.
The line can be OPEN or
CLOSED.
The closed line is the
profile/contour line of a
shape.
The characteristics of a line are:
THICKNESS
DIRECTION
MOVEMENT
THE LINE HAS A THICKNESS:
thick
thin
THE LINE HAS ONE DIRECTION:
horizontal _____________
vertical
diagonal
=obliquo
parallel
______________
______________
perpendicular
THE LINE HAS ONE MOVEMENT.
The main line movements are:
straight ______________________
spiralling
curved
indented
wavy
mixed
broken
zig-zagged
(jagged)
Some examples of lines…
Expressive characteristics of line…
decisa=strong
gioiosa
=happy
pungente=
spiky
indecisa=fragile
calma=
calm
…………………
…
leggera=light
nervosa=
nervous
scioccante
=shocking
confusa=confused
This painting by Paul Klee represents the sea ONLY with lines.
LA FORMA= the SHAPE
Objects present themselves through/with shapes.
When the ends of a continuous line meet (closed line), a SHAPE is formed.
A shape is flat, bi-dimensional.
A shape has a PROFILE and a SURFACE.
Shapes can be NATURAL
Shapes can be ARTIFICIAL
Geometrical and irregular shapes
Geometrical shapes have
perfect, regular, straight or
uniform measurements
(=misure) and don't often
appear (=esistere, apparire)
in nature.
Irregular/organic shapes are
associated with things from
the natural world, like plants
and animals.
There are three basic shapes.
Match the geometrical shapes to their names
circle
square
triangle
rectangle
trapezium
diamond
pentagon
oval
hexagon
Forms
length
height
Shapes are two-dimensional. depth
Forms are three-dimensional (3-D)
Forms have HEIGHT, LENGTH and DEPTH
These are the basic forms:
cone, cylinder,
pyramid, sphere, cube
L A SUPERFICIE=
the SURFACE
The SURFACE is…
An open or closed space
In reality it can be:
natural
artificial
In ART there are three types: pictorial, plastic and
architectonic surface.
Natural and artificial surfaces
There are NATURAL SURFACES and
ARTIFICIAL SURFACES
Surface= superficie
Shapes have a PROFILE and a SURFACE.
A surface can be
the EXTERNAL PART of an object
A surface has two dimensions.
It is FLAT (=piano, piatto)
height
length
Visual and tactile surface
We can SEE a surface.
It looks SHINY (=lucida).
 to look= apparire
We can TOUCH a surface.
It feels SMOOTH (=liscia).
 to feel= sembrare al tatto
This is SILK (=seta)
When you SEE the Christmas balls, the
surface looks:
MATT (=opaca)
SHINY (=lucida)
When you TOUCH a vase, the surface feels:
ROUGH /raf/ (=ruvida)
SMOOTH (=liscia)
L A TEXTURE= the
TEXTURE
The TEXTURE is…
• la parola texture significa tessitura, trama,
intreccio
• a constant repetition of coloured DOTS,
LINES or SIGNS on a surface
• there are natural and artificial textures
Some examples of textures..