3ยบ ESO VISUAL ARTS Teacher Simone
UNIT 1: ELEMENTS OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION
A world of images We live in a world of images. All the images
that surround us have an immense communicative power. Communicating through images is “visual communication”
Observe images.
 Describe these two images.  What message do they send? It helps to think
of a sentence that could accompany each image.
Signifier vs. meaning All images have two fundamental aspects:
signifier and significance (meaning.)
The SIGNIFIER is the objective description of
the image.
The MEANING is the message that is
transmitted through the image.
For example…
Signifier vs. meaning  Signifier: A photo of
an expanse of water. A polar bear is balancing on a small piece of melting ice.
 Meaning: The polar
ice caps are melting and the animals in the arctic are losing their habitat.
Let’s practice Describe the
image. That is the “signifier”.
Explain the
message. That is the “meaning”.
Meaning When an artist aims to express a certain
message through their image, their objective can be either INFORMATIVE, EXPRESSIVE or ESTHETIC.
For example…
INFORMATIVE  An informative image aims to give objective
INFORMATION to the viewer.
EXPRESSIVE
 An expressive image aims to portray an
EMOTION or an IDEA to the viewer.
ESTHETIC  Esthetic images are those which express a
vision of BEAUTY.
GRAPHIC ELEMENTS
The three basic graphic elements are‌
1) The dot
2) The line
3) The plane
1) The Dot
The dot is the smallest and most basic visual element. • A succession of dots creates the impression of a line • Points arranged together in a strategic way give the visual effect of a certain shape.
The dot in art  POINTILLISM is a technique related to the
impressionist movement in painting invented by artists such as French painter Georges Seurat in the 1800s.
 The technique uses small dots of color to
create the impression of forms in the painting when viewed from afar.
Seurat
2. The line The line is a continuous succession of dots. It is a
fundamental graphic element.
There are many types of lines. Lines can be
straight, curved, broken, zigzagged…
The line has expressive value  A horizontal line expresses
calm and equilibrium
 A vertical line gives the
sensation of strength and solidity
 A curved line symbolizes
movement, action and instability
The line has expressive value ďƒş One of the most important functions of a line is to
create shapes in order to create images. This is done with a contour line
ďƒş We can also create texture and
shading with lines
The line in art  Frank Stella is an American artist from the
Minimalism movement in painting. He looked to represent the world with only the most basic elements.
 His use of line creates a sense of movement
and vibration.
Frank Stella
3. The plane The plane is the third basic graphic element. It is
the area defined by a closed line. Planes are sometimes called figures or forms.
Planes can be: Geometric
or
Organic
The form in art  SUPREMATISM was an artistic movement
initiated by Russian painter Kazimir Malevich.
 Malevich aimed to create paintings that
expressed a pure artistic feeling through figures of different colors, instead of depicting objects from life.
Malevich
Let’s get to work!  Make a landscape with experimental lines.
Drawing Specifications Title: Visual
elements
Date Use various types
of lines, dots and forms to fill the landscape
Other graphic elements  Other essential graphic elements are
TEXTURE, COLOR and COMPOSITION.
Texture  It is the visual and tactile quality of all
surfaces. Surfaces can be smooth, rough, hard, soft, etc.
Natural and Artificial Textures can be natural, like…
Textures can be artificial, like…
Visual or tactile textures in art  Artworks can have many textures, whether
they are 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional
The illusion of texture in art Artists can create an «illusion» of texture on a flat
surface in a drawing, print or painting.
Chuck Close
Creating the illusion of texture With pencils and other drawing materials, we can
create an «illusion» of texture on a flat surface using the graphic elements of points and lines.
Watch the video of an artist creating the shiny
texture of an apple
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGevcFM_6nk
Let’s get to work: Creating texture Observe some fake pieces of fruit. Replicate the form. Then, begin adding texture with pencils and
colors.
Draw 3 in total.
What is composition?  Take a look at this image: What element calls your attention most? (What is the most important element in the painting)?
Composition  The way the elements in an artwork are
organized is called COMPOSITION.
 Composition is the art of ordering elements in
a determined space in a functional or esthetic (beautiful) way.
What is composition? With composition, we can provoke different
impressions in the spectator by varying the size of objects, their position in the frame…
Studying composition can help us understand
the message of the artist.
Composition basics  If an object is placed in a space in the front
and center, it adquires more importance than the other objects. For example:
Composition basics By positioning objects in a strategic way, we
can produce sensations like…
Balance Imbalance Tranquility Tension
Let’s compare… Take a look at Goya’s painting of Carlos V’s
family.
How does Goya organize the painting? What is most important?
What if…? What if Goya had
painted the family portrait like this?
How does the
organization of the figures change the idea?
To change the composition, the artist can use
different resources: COLOR TEXTURE
LOCATION OF OBJECTS SIZE PROPORTION
Composition Scheme In order to distribute forms on a plane, an
artist will use a geometric composition scheme in order to structure the work.
This is the internal structure of the work, like
a skeleton.
For example:
Composition schemes VERTICAL STRUCTURE:
Composition schemes HORIZONTAL STRUCTURE
Composition schemes DIAGONAL STRUCTURE
Organization of forms CIRCULAR STRUCTURE
Composition schemes TRIANGULAR STRUCTURE:
Composition schemes  The composition schemes make our eyes
move across the work in a certain way.
Composition schemes  For example, a
triangular composition makes our eye move up, toward the point of the triangle.
Composition schemes  A circular structure can make the eyes move
around and around, without giving any object more importance than the others.
Composition schemes  A horizontal scheme will make our eye move
left to right.
Let’s get to work! Collaborate with your table groups. I will give each group a composition scheme
(horizontal, vertical, diagonal, triangular or circular).
Cut out your fruit pictures and arrange them
in your composition scheme.
Decorate and color the card so that the fruits
are in a logical space.
Let’s get to work!