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Year 9 - Art and design

Principles of art: mass

The principles of art

Unit Summary

This unit expands pupils understanding of the foundations of creative practice, building on knowledge of the elements of art, to now explore more complex principles. This will deepen understanding of how artists use these principles to question the world around them and communicate their ideas.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use visual weight to create a typographic design.

Key Notes

  • Mass relates to solid matter, but in an artistic sense it refers to visual weight
  • Objects with more mass are more likely to grab the viewer's attention
  • Graphic design uses mass to determine what will carry the most significant visual weight

Vocabulary To Learn

  • mass: how heavy or solid an object feels or looks.
  • visual weight: how heavy or light an element looks in an image
  • negative space: the empty space around objects in an artwork
  • typography: the style and arrangement of text in design

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • An object has the same mass whether in real life or in a 2D representation.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the lesson in two key points.

Mass relates to solid matter, but in an artistic sense it refers to visual weight. Objects with more mass are more likely to grab the viewer's attention.

2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'mass'

how heavy or solid an object feels or looks.

3. Correct this common mistake.

Mistake: An object has the same mass whether in real life or in a 2D representation. Correction: Whilst an object in real life may have a certain physical mass, if it is depicted in an image its visual weight might not represent this physical mass accurately. Especially compared to other items. This is due to the use of visual elements.

More Lessons In This Unit

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