THE ELEMENTS

Quick, name the seven elements of art.

Most definitions of art list what they call the seven elements, which are form, line, shape, texture, value, space, and color.  These definitions will go on to say that it is the task of the artist to use these elements to create the illusion of a view or scene or composition.  They will say that the manipulation of these elements will assist the artist to produce the illusion of a three dimensional composition on a two dimensional media.  On this page, we will make significant modifications to the elements.

Let’s modify this list with a Transparent Drawing mindset.  First, let’s eliminate form, space, shape and texture, as they are artifacts from the lost world of Representational Spacetime.

Form.  Form, as it is commonly defined as the illusionistic depiction of a three dimensional shape, is not an element of art.  Form, as we know, is established via the use of line, color, and transparency.  That’s how you make a form.  And that’s the only way to make a form.  Otherwise, the tonal blobs on the paper that are illusionistically struggling to convey three dimensionality remain just that, adjacent tonal blobs on the paper.  So in the Representational sense, form does not exist for us.

Shape.  No question that this useage implies flat tones applied to the paper.  In this mindset, all you are required to do is apply adjacent shapes to your paper with the quest of depicting something illusionistic.  We don’t do shapes in Transparent Drawing.  So we can eliminate shapes from our lexicon.

Space.  The transparent forms we create in our drawings knowledge space.  In Representational Spacetime, this knowledge of space is drastically reduced, if not eliminated all together.  Most Representational uses of the word space apply to the two dimensional space between the shapes.  So space is not an element in Transparent Drawing.  Space is the material created by the elements.  (And always remember, Space Is The Place.)

Texture.  Is texture an element of art?  When they use texture representationally, they are talking about, say, the texture of a piece of cloth;  how the cloth looks across the surface.  And I guess they are talking about then how light is modified by the texture, say, of a brass button.  But we don’t need texture in Transparent Drawing: texture mandates opacity.  So it feels good to be rid of texture.

Now let’s add two new elements.

Transparency.  And none of them list transparency as an element of art.  So at first blush, we can stomp our feet and pound the table and say, how could transparency not be an element of art?  But then after taking a deep breath, we realize that art has been formulated and defined and refined and narrowed to the point that it is all about getting those seven elements on your paper in the most illusionistic way that you know how.  And art has been codifed and culturally transcribed to the point that there is nothing but opaqueness.  The cultural blinders are such that your only concern is to put adjacent opaque tones or blobs of paint on your paper so that it looks real, or it matches your vision, or it looks like what you saw someone else do in a museum.

Time.  And then we need to add time as an element. Time does not exist in western art because, as we have seen, Representational Spacetime captures one instant. So that’s why time is not one of the seven elements of art. But without time, Transparent Drawing does not exist. Also, without time, Byzantine, Egyptian and Cubist knowledge does not exist.  The act of drawing all sides of an object so that the object is resolved and understandable can’t be done unless there is time. So it is an element.

So here are the elements of useage, as just modified:  line, tone, color, transparency and time.  That’s all we need.  Five elements instead of seven.  And we are only using three of the original seven.  It feels liberating to rid ourselves of the outdated and dumb elements of form, space, shape and texture.  Adding transparency to the elements is like taking a breath of fresh air.