Art Vocabulary
General Terms Commonly Used In Art
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Your OWN work. Never been seen before. Your own ideas.
Media/Medium
The materials and tools used by the artist to create a work of art.
Technique
The manner and skill in which the artist uses tools and materials to achieve an expressive effect..
Craftsmanship
Aptitude, skill, or manual dexterity in the use of tools and materials.
Abstract
A term given to forms created by the artist but usually derived from objects actually observed or experienced. Usually forms are simplified or rearranged to suit the needs of artistic expression. Often there is little resemblance to the original object.
Nonobjective
A term given to a work of art that has no recognizable subject matter.
Subject matter
This term, in a descriptive style of art, refers to the persons or things represented in a work. In abstract and nonobjective forms of art, it refers to the basic character of all the visual signs employed by the artist. In this case, it has little to do with anything as experienced in the natural environment.
Stylized
The specific artistic character and dominant form trends noted in art movements. It may also mean artist’s expressive use of media to give an individual character to his work.
Form
An element of art that is three-dimensional (3D) and encloses volume; includes height, width AND depth (as in a cube, a sphere, a pyramid, or a cylinder). Form may also be free flowing.
Realism/Realist
A form of expression which retains the basic impression of visual reality but, in addition, attempts to relate and interpret the universal meanings which lie underneath the surface appearance of natural forms.
Natural Scenery. Outdoors depicting wilderness.
A painting, drawing, photograph, or engraving of a person, especially one depicting only the face or head and shoulders.
A painting or drawing of an arrangement of objects, typically including fruit and flowers and objects contrasting with these in texture, such as bowls and glassware.
Background, Middle-ground, Foreground
The foreground, middle ground, and background in a composition are generally divided into three planes. The Foreground of a composition is the visual plane that appears closest to the viewer, while the background is the plane in a composition perceived furthest from the viewer.
Composition
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Balance
A feeling of equality in weight, attention, or attraction of the various visual elements within the pictorial field as a means of accomplishing organic unity.
Symmetrical
A form of balance achieved by the use of identical balance units on either side of a vertical axis within the picture plane.
Asymmetrical
A form of balance attained when the visual units on balance either side of a vertical axis are not identical but are placed in positions within the picture plane so as to create a “felt” equilibrium of the total form concept.
Elements of art
The combination of the basic elements of line, shape, value, texture, space, and color represent the visual language of the artist.
Positive Space
The enclosed areas that represent the initial selection of shapes planned by the artist. They may suggest recognizable objects or merely be planned non-representational space.
Negative Space
These are unoccupied or empty space left after the positive shapes have been laid down by the artist; however, because these areas have boundaries, they also function as space in the total pictorial structure.
Repetition
The use of the same visual element a number of times in the same composition.
Rhythm
A continuance, a flow, or a feeling of movement achieved by the repetition of regulated visual information.
Unity
The whole or total effect of a work of art that results from the combination of all of its component parts.
Pattern
A repetitive configuration of elements that is distributed in a regular or irregular systematic organization.
“Elements of Art” :: LINE
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Line
A line is the path of a moving point-that is, a mark made by a tool or instrument as it is drawn across a surface. Its length is distinctly greater than its width.
Calligraphy
The use of flowing rhythmical lines similar to the individual qualities found in handwriting. It means “beautiful writing.”
Decorative
The quality that emphasizes the two-dimensional nature of any of the visual elements. Decoration enriches a surface without denying the essential flatness of its nature.
“Elements of Art” :: SHAPE
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Shape
An area that stands out from the space next to or around it because of a defined boundary or because of a difference of value, color, or texture.
Decorative
Design in which shapes having a two-dimensional quality appear to lie flat on the surface of the picture plane.
Volume
A shape that is three-dimensional in nature and exists in space. On a flat surface the artist can only create the illusion of a volume.
Geometric
Those shapes created by exact mathematical laws. They are usually simple in character such as the triangle, the rectangle, and the circle, but can be other types of polygons.
Organic
These shapes do not have names. They are free flowing.
“Elements of Art” :: VALUE
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Value
The relative degree of lightness or darkness.
Highlight
The area of an object represented in art that receives the greatest amount of direct light.
Shadow, Shading
The darker value on the portion of a form’s surface that is turned away from the light source.
A base color mixed with white.
A base color mixed with black.
“Elements of Art” :: TEXTURE
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Texture
The actual or the illusion of tactile value on the surface of an area as created by nature or by an artist through a manipulation of the visual elements.
“Elements of Art” :: COLOR
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Hue (as called base color)
This designates the common name of a color and indicates its position in the spectrum or the color circle. This is considered the purest form of the color, with no white, black, or grey added.
Value
It refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. It indicates the quantity of light reflected. Darker values are produced by adding black (or “shades”), while lighter colors are produced by adding white (or “tints”).
Complementary Colors
Two colors which are directly opposite each other on the color wheel.
Warm Colors
Red, orange and yellow, usually associated with sun or fire.
Cool Colors
Blue, green, violet or blue-green are associated with air, sky and water.
These are your first colors. Red, yellow and blue are the three colors that mix together to make other colors. These colors can not be made by any other colors.
These are the 2nd group of colors. They are made by mixing two equal parts of two primary colors. They are green, orange and purple.
Colors made by mixing equal amounts of a primary and secondary color. The intermediate colors are located between the primary and secondary color on the color wheel. (Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange, Yellow-Green, Blue-Green, Blue-Violet, and Red-Violet)
“Elements of Art” :: SPACE
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Two-dimensional space
Measurable distances on a surface which show length and width but lack any illusion of thickness or depth.
Three-dimensional space
A sensation of space that seems to have length, width, and height to create visual or real depth.
Horizon Line
This is a line horizontally oriented at your eye level regardless of the viewer’s position. If the viewer looks up, the horizon line is lower in a picture plane; if s/he looks down, the line is higher on the picture plane, and if s/he looks straight ahead, the line is in the middle.
Vanishing Point
The point(s) on a horizon line at which apparent parallel lines will converge.
A drawing has one-point perspective when it contains only one vanishing point on the horizon line. This type of perspective is typically used for images of roads, railway tracks, hallways, or buildings viewed so that the front is directly facing the viewer. ... These parallel lines converge at the vanishing point. ROOM SLIDE SHOW. BED