Representational shapes attempt to reproduce what we see to a greater or lesser degree. We have analyzed each of these to demonstrate how great artists use this visual element as a creative force in their work. Our selection of artworks illustrated below have been chosen because they all use shape in an inspirational manner. Inverted Triangles can create a sense of imbalance and tension Triangles can lead the eye in an upward movement Squares and Rectangles can portray strength and stabilityĬircles and Ellipses can represent continuous movement The Behaviour of Shapes: Shapes can be used to control your feelings in the composition of an artwork:

The technique we use to describe this change is called perspective drawing. The Perspective of Shapes: The angles and curves of shapes appear to change depending on our viewpoint.

T he Visual Element of Shape can be natural or man-made, regular or irregular, flat (2-dimensional) or solid (3-dimensional), representational or abstract, geometric or organic, transparent or opaque, positive or negative, decorative or symbolic, colored, patterned or textured.

3 dimensional art