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Subjects · Leaving Cert Art

Leaving Cert Art: Art elements & design principles

How often Art elements & design principles comes up on the Art papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 3 of the last 3 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

OL Asked on 3 of the last 3 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

Art elements & design principles, Higher Level(6 marks)

Quick ones on Art elements & design principles.

(a)Which art element describes how light or dark a colour or area is?
  1. Texture
  2. Tone
  3. Line
(b)Colours opposite each other on the colour wheel, such as red and green, are called?
  1. Primary colours
  2. Analogous colours
  3. Complementary colours
(c)Colours next to each other on the colour wheel, such as yellow, yellow-green and green, are called?
  1. Analogous colours
  2. Neutral colours
  3. Complementary colours
Show the answers

(a) Tone

(b) Complementary colours

(c) Analogous colours

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Art elements & design principles.

Higher Level

Asked on 3 of the last 3 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q1, Q2, Q4, Q6, Q7
2024Q1, Q2, Q4, Q6, Q7
2023Q1, Q2, Q4, Q6, Q7

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Art elements & design principles questions

Art elements & design principles, 2 marks

Hue, saturation (intensity) and value are the three properties of which art element?

  1. Texture
  2. Line
  3. Colour
Show the answer

Colour

Hue is the colour's name, saturation its purity or strength, value its lightness. Using all three makes a colour analysis precise.

Art elements & design principles, 2 marks

Texture painted or drawn to look rough, but flat to the touch, is called?

  1. Impasto
  2. Implied (visual) texture
  3. Actual (tactile) texture
Show the answer

Implied (visual) texture

Implied texture is an illusion created with marks and tone. Actual texture can be felt, e.g. thick impasto paint or collaged materials.

Art elements & design principles, 2 marks

A painter mixes white into a pure hue. The result is called a?

  1. Tint
  2. Shade
  3. Tertiary colour
Show the answer

Tint

Adding white makes a tint (pale pink from red); adding black makes a shade; adding grey makes a tone. Tertiary colours mix a primary with a secondary.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 3 of the last 3 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q7
2024Q1, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q7
2023Q1, Q3, Q5, Q6, Q7

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Art elements & design principles questions

Art elements & design principles, 2 marks

Which three colours are the primary colours in paint?

  1. Orange, green and purple
  2. Red, white and black
  3. Red, yellow and blue
Show the answer

Red, yellow and blue

Primary colours cannot be mixed from other paints. Mixing two primaries gives a secondary colour: orange, green or purple.

Art elements & design principles, 2 marks

What is the complementary colour of red?

  1. Pink
  2. Green
  3. Orange
Show the answer

Green

Complementary colours sit opposite each other on the colour wheel. Side by side they make each other look stronger, giving high contrast.

Art elements & design principles, 2 marks

Which group of colours is called warm colours?

  1. Reds, oranges and yellows
  2. Blues, greens and purples
  3. Greys, blacks and whites
Show the answer

Reds, oranges and yellows

Warm colours suggest fire and sun and seem to come forward. Cool colours (blues, greens) feel calm and seem to move back into the distance.

Other Art topics

All of Leaving Cert Art