Shape in Art and Composition

Shape in Art and Composition

So in the previous post I talked a bit about line, which is perhaps the most basic and fundamental part of design. Let's move on to shape.

Shape, like line, is a basic, yet important part of design. It is used in composition, but it is also important to think about the overall shape of a piece and how recognizable it is. If people have a hard time recognizing what a piece of art is, it can have a negative effect on the overall look. Now some people purposely use this to get people to think, such as having an image that looks like two different things, or has more than one meaning.

Now, there are actually a few different types of shapes. These include geometric, organic, positive, negative, static, and dynamic.

Geometric - Squares, ovals, and triangles. The more man made of the shapes and often seen in architecture.

Organic - Shapes that are seen in nature such as flowers and other plants.

Positive - This is the part of an art piece that is put there by the artist. The content.

Negative - This is the space around the content, where there is nothing. Negative space.

Static - Shapes that do not appear to be moving.

Dynamic - Shapes that appear to have movement.

Here are some examples of the different types in use:

In the above piece, they are using the hand which is a static, organic, positive shape to imply the shape of the lightbulb which static, geometric, and negative.

This piece uses both the positive and negative shapes as images, and also has dynamic shapes - the man and the drop of liquid.