Artists accomplish unity in a number of ways. One way is to place elements close to one another. When we see a group of people together at a table, we understand them as a unit, even though we know that they are all individuals. The same principle applies in art. Another way that artists create unity is by making things similar in shape, color, texture, or form.
Uniforms are a common way that people are unified in our everyday experience.
Even though police officers can be male or female, short or tall, they are unified in wearing clothes that are the same color and texture and hats that are the same shape. The overwhelming similarity in illustration 10-1 on page 116 is the texture of the paint. The flesh, the trees, the water, everything is painted with the same tiny dots of pure color. In the painting by Mary Cassatt on page 47, there is an emotional unity that is supported by the visual unity. The two figures are grouped so close together they seem almost like one.