Shape and Form

Picasso, Brunelleschi, Kandinsky, Klee, Cezanne, Matisse

Shape: A two-dimensional area or plane that may be open or closed, free-form or geometric. It can be found in nature or is made by humans.

Form. A three-dimensional volume or the illusion of three dimensions (related to shape, which is two-dimensional); the particular characteristics of the visual elements of a work of art (as distinguished from its subject matter or content).

Textbook Glossary Definition

Shape: A two-dimensional area defined by lines, colors, or values.

Form: the physical characteristics of an object.

Textbook description of shape

  • Shapes created by lines merging, touching, and intersection one another taking many forms.

  • May be square, rectangular, round, elliptical, oval, triangular, or amorphous

  • May emerge as nonobjective, figurative, or free-form

  • May be two dimensional - like squares - or may be three-dimensional suggesting volume (rectangular solids, cubes, cones, pyramids).Nature is richest source of inspiration for shape/form.

  • Positive shapes of objects or figures in a composition - trees, houses, people, animals, furniture, and vehicles.

  • Empty area around shapes called negative space - may include ground, water, and sky

Review the elements of shape and form from Getty Art -http://www.getty.edu/education/for_teachers/building_lessons/elements.html#shape

  • Shape

  • Form

  • Geometric Shapes and Forms

  • Organic Shapes and Forms

  • Pattern

Ideas for Creating a Lesson on Shape


Teaching Art to Children: Shape

How to Teach Art to Children (by Joy Evans)

Definition of Shape

  • A basic element of art; an area that is made by a line that touches at the beginning and end. (p. 5)

  • Lines create the outline of shapes. Each time a line outlines a shape, it is really creating two images: the positive one and the negative one.

  • You may wish to complete one of the lessons on shape in this book.

    • Lines Outline Shapes

    • A Shape Design

    • Positive and Negative Shapes

    • Shape Designs

    • Shape Search

    • What is it?

    • Shape Collage

    • See the Tessellations lesson (pp. 142-143)

Drawing with Children

Another book I highly recommend is called Drawing with Children. Monart holds popular professional development workshops providing training to teachers on how to teach children drawing. Mona Brookes developed a structured method for making drawing "teachable."

Google Books

Can you find 10 circles on the cover?

Excellent Book for your Teaching Art Library - "Each of the fourteen magnificent paintings in this book contains a different shape for you to find. Some are easy to spot, and others are more challenging. But take a closer look -- after you think you've found them all, there are even more shapes to look at and discover. I Spy Shapes in Art features a remarkable variety of artists from around the world, including Georgia O'Keeffe, Henri Matisse, and M.C. Escher. This picture book pairs a classic game with timeless art, making it the perfect way to introduce fine art to children."

Teaching Art through Children's Book Illustration

Darcie Clark Frohardt has written an excellent resource for teachers. She offers many ideas of how to use children's books as a basis for creating works of art. I'll include one example of a project she describes based on Tar Beach (Written and illustrated by Faith Ringgold, New York: Crown Publishers, 1991).

Two-Dimensional Shape

Tar Beach (Ringgold, 1991)

Why Mosquitoes Buzzin People's Ears (Aardema, 1975)

Shadow (Cendrars, 1982)

A Color of His Own (Lionni, 1975)

The Graphic Alphabet (Pilletier, 1996)

There Was an Old Lady (Simms, 1997)

Three Dimensional Shapes

The Village of Round and Square Houses (Grifalconi, 1986)

Jumanji (Van Allsburg, 1981) Google Books

The Polar Express (Houghton Mifflin, 1985)

See Teaching Math with Art

See the downloadable pdfs below for more on Advocacy and Discipline-Based Arts Education