The Artist's Toolkit: Visual Elements and Principles
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Encyclopedia: Line: Types of Line
 

Line
Shape
Color
Space
Texture

Balance
Emphasis
Movement/
Rhythm

The Artist's Toolkit: Visual Elements and Principles
EncyclopediaShape

 

Wherever the ends of a continuous line meet, a shape is formed. Geometric shapes such as circles, triangles or squares have perfect, uniform measurements and don't often appear in nature. Organic shapes are associated with things from the natural world, like plants and animals.

Geometric and organic diagram  

 

The circles and squares that make up this sculpture are geometric shapes. The mouse's funny nose, however, is organic!

Claes Oldenburg, Geometric Mouse - Scale A, 1969/1971, aluminum, steel, paint, Walker Art Center, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Miles Q. Fiterman

Claes Oldenburg
Geometric Mouse - Scale A
1969/1971
aluminum, steel, paint
Walker Art Center
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Miles Q. Fiterman
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The decoration on this ceramic jar illustrates an unusual harmony between geometric and organic shapes. The artist has acheived a perfect balance between the two. Even the shape of the jar itself is a perfect combination, which is an oval when seen from the side and a circle when seen from above.

Detail of Awatovi Birds

Dextra Quotskuyva (Nampeyo), Awatovi Birds, 1990, Earthenware, polychrome and stone polishing, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The John R. Van Derlip Fund

Dextra Quotskuyva (Nampeyo)
Awatovi Birds
1990
Earthenware, polychrome and stone polishing
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
The John R. Van Derlip Fund
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In this photograph of a real pepper, the gently curving outline of the form is an organic shape. The artist used light to highlight the form and show depth. The shapes of the highlights are also organic.

Edward Weston, Pepper No. 30, 1930, gelatin silver print, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Bequest of Dorothy Millett Lindeke

Edward Weston
Pepper No. 30
1930
gelatin silver print
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Bequest of Dorothy Millett Lindeke
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Here the artist has given the organic shapes of this carcass of beef great expressive power.

Chaim Soutine, Carcass of Beef, 1925, Oil on canvas, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Winston and an anonymous donor

Chaim Soutine
Carcass of Beef
1925
Oil on canvas
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Winston and an anonymous donor
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