The Principles of Art and Writing

How many of you have had art classes before? I had one this past school year. In the beginning of the year, there was a lot of defining of terms and learning about the principles and elements of art. And through our lessons and the general making of the projects, I came to the conclusion that art is a lot like writing.

The principles of art (and how they apply to writing) are as follows (definitions from http://www.msdsteuben.k12.in.us/jrider/elements_and_principles_of_art.htm):

Form is an element of art that is three-dimensional and encloses volume. Cubes, spheres, and cylinders are examples of various forms.

As it applies to writing: Characters in a story are a lot like form. They are three dimensional and have depth, or at least they should.

Line is an element of art which refers to the continuous mark made on some surface by a moving point. It may be two dimensional, like a pencil mark on a paper, or it may be three dimensional (wire) or implied (the edge of a shape or form). Often it is a outline, contour, or silhouette.

As it applies to writing: Storylines! They run through the story, continuous and varied, sometimes minor (2-dimensional) with a few major (3-dimensional).

Shape is an enclosed space defined by other elements of art. Shapes may take on the appearance of 2-D or 3-D objects.

As it applies to writing: Characters can be and are often defined, at least in part, by their surroundings.

Color is an element of art with three properties: 1) Hue, the name of the color, e.g. red, yellow, etc. 2) Intensity, or the purity and strength of the color, such as brightness or dullness. And 3) value, or the lightness or darkness of the color.

As it applies to writing: Hue is kind of like the basic names of things in a story: characters, places, etc. Intensity and value are how you paint them with your words, using different connotations and slants.

Texture refers to the surface quality or "feel" of an object, such as roughness, smoothness, or softness. Actual texture can be felt while simulated textures are implied by the way the artist renders areas of the picture.

As it applies to writing: It's the basic feel of the story: cozy, frantic, etc. Actual texture is what the author makes obvious, and simulated texture is implied by character actions and subtle details.

Space refers to the distance or area between, around, above or within things. It can be a description for both 2 and 3 dimensional portrayals.

As it applies to writing: I like to think of this one along the lines of how dense your story is. Too many characters or plotlines can weigh down a story, just like too many objects and not enough space. Too few characters or plotlines can potentially make a work feel empty, like a big canvas with two or three dots on it.

Value describes the lightness or darkness of a color. Value is needed to express volume.

As it applies to writing: This one kind of sounds like theme to me, honestly. How dark or lighthearted the theme is, and how it effects the characters of the story, which should have volume.

Also, there are the principles of art, which I'm going to let speak for themselves (again, from http://www.msdsteuben.k12.in.us/jrider/elements_and_principles_of_art.htm):

Emphasis in a composition refers to developing points of interest to pull the viewer's eye to important parts of the body of the work.

Balance is a sense of stability in the body of work. Balance can be created by repeating same shapes and by creating a feeling of equal weight.

Harmony is achieved in a body of work by using similar elements throughout the work, harmony gives an uncomplicated look to your work.

Variety refers to the differences in the work, You can achieve variety by using difference shapes, textures, colors and values in your work.

Movement adds excitement to your work by showing action and directing the viewers eye throughout the picture plane.

Rhythm is a type of movement in drawing and painting. It is seen in repeating of shapes and colors. Alternating lights and darks also give a sense of rhythm.

Proportion or scale refers to the relationships of the size of objects in a body of work. Proportions gives a sense of size seen as a relationship of objects, such as smallness or largeness.

Unity is seen in a painting or drawing when all the parts equal a whole. Your work should not appear disjointed or confusing.

Yes, writing is a lot like art. Writing, in its own way, is an art.

Another unit that I really took something from was our big unit on colors and painting. We did a lot (and I mean a LOT) of mixing paints, combining them in new ways to make new colors. This kind of reminds me of coming up with a new plot: you have to take old ones, mix them together, add a dash of something new, to make a new, interesting color. It can also be risky--if you mix too many colors in amounts that are too large, you get a lot of ugly brown.

It's kind of funny. The best creative writing lesson I ever received was from my art teacher. How cool is that?