Leonardo Da Vinci

The Last Supper

The Baptism of Christ

 The Principles of Design 


This introduction focuses on the elements that are most relevant to two-dimensional (flat) art works. Other elements include point, motion and elements related to three-dimensional art such as mass and volume.

Unity - although there should be some difference in the elements in a design, all elements taken together should work together to create a single, coherent design.

Conflict - although to achieve unity in a design most elements need to be similar, or serve a similar function, there should be some contradiction to add variety and life to the work.

Dominance - to help in achieving unity, one element out of the many elements that make up a design should predominate; i.e. there should be more of one color than any other, or dark values should predominate over lighter values, etc.

Mona Lisa

Repetition - the repetition of elements, such as geometric shapes, helps to create a sense of rhythm and unite the various elements in the design.  Alternation - variety is necessary in order to prevent monotony; i.e. breaking up a large area of shadow with a patch of light.

Harmony - all elements in a design work together visually in an orderly fashion

Elements Of Design

Line - the path of a point. In the first image, Leonardo da Vinci used a soft, sensitive soft line to create a graceful image. The center image has the same subject. The woman's face is created with a mechanical line creating an emotionally-detached feeling. Although the subject matter is the same in all three works, the differences in line quality have created works with very different impact.

Shape - perceivable area. Shapes can be created by line, or by color and value changes which define their edges. As with line, the decisions you make concerning shape are important. The shapes in the image on the left are clearly defined. By contrast, little shapes on the picture is barely discernable. This difference in clarity of shape is part of the meaning of these works - one conveys a sense of orderliness and confidence, while the other communicates a sense of vulnerability and uncertainty. The shapes of the objects that surrounds the place in the images are positive shapes. The spaces around these shapes are the negative spaces. the painting has an important to be attentive to the negative space as the positive shapes.

Color - We response to color on many levels. Color can be used simply to describe an object. It can also be used emotional (blue for sadness or spiritually, red for angry), symbolically (associated with a flag's color, corporation logo or sports team) and psychologically. The painting of The Last Supper has intense, complimentary colors that equate to strong conflicting emotions. The painting work uses subdued, analogous color to create a very different feeling.

Space - height and width. the painting display has two actual dimensions -height and width. In addition, Leonardo created an illusion of depth, using overlapping, diminishing scale, atmospheric perspective, vertical placement, warm and cool colors, diagonals and linear perspective.

Texture - surface quality. We experience actual texture when we touch objects and feel their roughness, smoothness or patterns, which we can simulate or imply in digital imagery. His paintings were different according to the tone and the different perspectives his painting symbolizes.