Elements and Principles of Art

This project tasks students with finding pictures that represent each of the elements and principles of design. Below are five examples of some pictures I took.

 This picture is a zoomed in photo of my backpack. The repeating hexagons represents pattern. 

The crayons in this crayon box represent unity and variety. Every crayon has the same shape and the Crayola name on their label. However, there is variety among the crayons because each is a different color. 

This picture comes from the NSU Library. It represents value. There are whites, blacks, and many grays in-between. 

This picture comes from a library wall, but you can find a wall like this in just about any school building. It represents texture, kids love to run their hand or finger along the wall to feel the texture in the wall. 

This picture comes from the Miranda Cemetery in Miranda, SD. It represents Asymmetrical Balance. There is a dividing line down the middle, starting with the title stone and going down towards the bell and in-between the trees at the back of the cemetery. There are the same number of trees on either side of the dividing line, and about the same number of headstones on both sides. 

As an extension activity, you could have each student take at least one close up picture, like the first one in this post. Then, you could have a guessing game with the class to see if they can figure out what the close up picture is. Students may guess what the close up picture is, but it will likely be difficult. This is a great opportunity to talk about perspective. You could explain to students that when they are in the middle of something, it's like they are looking at a close up picture. It can be hard to understand what is really going on because you can't see the big picture. However, if you take a step back, and change your perspective you can get a clearer view. In life, this means you can know that the tough things will end, and it will get better. For example, in the pandemic we face now, we know it is not going to go on forever, we know the pandemic will end.