The whole is more than the sum of its parts - Aristotle
Everything is built from small pieces, atoms, molecules, pixels, paint dabs etc. It is easy to get lost in the details and miss the big picture so we group the small things together to organize our world.
Grouping for Order in our world
All the light hours are grouped together to make day, the dark hours make night, trees are grouped to make the forrest and clouds are grouped to make storms. Cold temperatures are grouped to make winter and warm temperatures summer, similar animals stay together to form flocks or herds. We group our silverware in a kitchen draw, our tools in a box and our cloths in the closet. Everywhere you look things are grouped, an assemblage of like elements to form an organized pattern.
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once - Albert Einstein
Grouping for Order in Art
Again, if elements in the natural world are arranged because they have a relationship with each other then it would follow that it also has to happen in art. Similar items, shapes, color and value, on a two dimensional surface have to be linked to each other to create an orderly composition.
It doesn't matter if the shapes form a realistic or abstract image, what matters is the close arrangement of similar parts.
Connecting Values
The dark colors are grouped together to form a large dark shape as are the light colors.
There are many small shapes and textures that build into larger shapes.
Connecting small shapes
All the small shapes are grouped toward the center to create a larger horizontal shape. We are no longer aware of each small detail but read the big picture as one.
Like elements...... shapes, color, value and tone are grouped to create order.
Design is everything. It is the structure of the painting. Among the major principles of design, unity is probably the most important... how the elements work together. - Marion Starr
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