Discussion - Formal Elements

The importance of the formal elements is to help photographers and artists express what they see through words; it is a method of translating mediums.

Lines are useful for describing the very basis foundation of any image or piece of art as they generally make up everything in a photograph/painting/drawing/image.  lines are by dictionary definition 'a continuous extent of length, straight or curved, without breadth or thickness.'  They are used to create the outlines of shapes and and form boundaries between colours. Lines can be thick, thin, straight or curved.

Colour is another main element of art and is very useful and feature in a lot of photographs and art pieces unless they are colourless.  By dictionary definition it is 'the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way it reflects or emits light.'  Colour can determine whether a piece of art is calm and submissive or bright and distracting.

Pattern is another element of art use to describe repetition in a picture/art piece.  The pattern can serve a purpose like a staircase or the bricks of a wall but can also be purely decorative like wallpaper.  By dictionary definition it is'a repeated decorative design.'  Patterns can appear in several different ways and places within a photograph or piece of art.

Depth is yet another formal element and is used to show distance in photos or art work.  Photographs showing depth will usually include something like a path or track that will typically appear to get thinner towards the top of the frame.  This creates a sense of distance to the piece as this is our normal perspective on things.  By dictionary definition depth is 'the apparent existence of three-dimensions in a two dimensional medium'.  A good example of this is the picture below.

Form is used to describe the three-dimensional nature of an object.  The idea of form is created through the use of light and shadows to highlight and emphasise different shapes or surfaces while dulling others.  By dictionary definition form is 'the visible shape or configuration of something'.  Form refers only to three-dimensional things, like cubes or sphere, not two-dimensional shapes, like squares or circles.  The below image of some chess pieces is a great example of form the light source is behind the pieces you can tell this from the highlights around the edge of each piece, indicating a round surface, but the front side of each piece is in shadow.

There are five other elements movement, shape, Reflection, Texture and Tone which are also fairly important but above are the ones I think are the most important of the ten.