Art FUNdamentals & More! Intro to Composition and Design by Helen Hanley

Art communicates long before words do, and every artist relies on a shared visual “language” to express ideas, emotions, and meaning. In this introductory workshop, students will explore how that language is built. The ELEMENTS OF ART—line, shape, color, value, texture, form, and space—function as the words artists use. The PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN—balance, contrast, rhythm, emphasis, movement, pattern, unity, and proportion—are the rules of grammar that guide how those words are arranged.

Participants will learn how artists organize these elements into coherent, compelling compositions. The workshop introduces structural patterns used throughout art history to arrange paintings, helping students understand why certain compositions feel stable, dynamic, harmonious, or expressive. Through guided discussion, visual examples, and hands‑on exercises, students will begin to see composition not as guesswork, but as an intentional, learnable system.

This 1‑day workshop serves as a foundation and orientation for a more comprehensive 9‑week class series in early 2027, where each element, principle,…