Foundations Vocabulary
ABSTRACT: having intellectual and affective artistic content that depends solely on intrinsic form rather than on a narrative or pictural representation.
ABSTRACT SHAPE: a shape derived from a visual source but is so transformed that it bears little resemblance to the referent.
ABSTRACT TEXTURE: texture derived from appearance of a surface that is simplified or rearranged by an artist.
ACETATE: a transparent flexible sheet of plastic in various thicknesses used for art the processes.
ACHROMATIC: neutral gray from light to dark. It is refracting light without dispersing it into its basic colors. Images free from extraneous colors.
ACHROMATICE VALUE: shifts of lightness and darkness.
ACTUAL SHAPE: a positive area with clearly defined boundaries.
ADDITIVE COLOR: color created by superimposing light rays. Adding together the three primary colors of light-red, blue, and green- will produce white. The secondaries are cyan, yellow, and magenta.
ADDITIVE SCULPTURE: building, assembling, or adding material in a sculptural format.
AESTHETICS: sensitive to beauty or art. Relating to or dealing with the beautiful. Pleasing in appearance.
AFTERIMAGE: an optical phenomenon that occurs when eyes continue to perceive an image after it’s no longer present.
AMBIGUOUS: vague or open to various interpretations.
AMORPHOUS SHAPE: a shape without clear definition: formless, indistinct, and of uncertain dimension.
ANALOGOUS COLORS: colors that are closely related in hue. They are usually adjacent to each other on the color wheel.
ANALYSIS: detailed examination of complex things to understand its nature or features.
ANAMORPHIC: an image that has been optically distorted.
ANATOMY: the whole human body: skin, bones, muscles, and organs.
ANIMATION: the act of animating, the preparation of animated cartoons or illustrations.
ANTHROPOMORPHISM: the representation inanimate objects, animals, or deities with human characteristics. An interpretation of what is not human or personal characteristics.
ANTS EYE VIEW: objects that are drawn or perceived from a low perspective or point of view.
APEX: an upper most point. A narrow or pointed end.
APPROXIMATE SYMMETRY: the estimated appearance of repetition on either side of a straight lined central axis.
ARCHIVAL: materials and supplies that are produced to have a long lifespan without decay, color change, or disintegration due to its environmental location. This includes light fast, acid free, and protection from UVA or UVB light.
ART: impossible to completely define, art is typically produced with human involvement or creation through thought or action. 2. A branch of learning. 3. A skill acquired by experience, study, or observation.
ART CRITICISM: the judgment, analysis, description, and interpretation of a work of art. Art criticism is simply a review of an artist’s work.
ART DECO: popular design movement from the 1920s – 1930s focusing on bold outlines, geometric form, and the use of new materials like plastic.
ART NOUVEAU: design style from the late 19th century that relied on twisting lines and leaf like forms.
ART MOVEMENT: a style in art with a unique philosophy or goal.
ASSEMBLAGE: found objects composed of or used for a piece of sculpture.
ASYMMETRY: the absence of symmetry; having unequal or noncorresponding parts within a composition.
ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE: the illusion of depth depicted by light values, soft details and textures, reduced value contrasts, and neutralized colors in objects as they recede.
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ART: art made to document an artist’s life.
AXIS: a straight line in which a body or a geometric figure rotates or is supposed to rotate.
BACKGROUND: the area of a drawing or image where the subject is the farthest away from the viewer or positioned behind the subject matter. Background is the opposite of foreground.
BALANCE: a sense of equilibrium between areas of implied weight, attention, attraction, or moments of force.
BAUHAUS: a German school of architecture that existed between World War I and World War II.
BILATERAL: having two sides.
BINDER: substances that hold the particles of pigment together.
BIOMORPHIC: an irregular shape that resembles the freely developed curves found in living organisms.
BIRDS EYE VIEW: also known as aerial view, which is something seen from a high viewpoint. This is the perspective from a bird in flight or an airplane looking down from a high altitude.
BLEND: merging multiple values or colors together to create a smooth transition from one to another.
BLIND CONTOUR: drawing the contour of a subject without looking at the paper.
BRIDGE: support tool you rest your hand on while drawing or painting to prevent contact with the drawing or painting surface.
BROKEN LINE: a severed segment in a mark that alters a line, pattern, or shape.
BUSY: an area in a composition that is overworked or confusing.
- OR CA.: an abbreviation for circa, in relation to a time period.
CALLIGRAHPIC LINE: flowing and rhythmic lines.
CALLIGRAPHY: artistic, stylized, or elegant handwriting or lettering.
CARYATID: draped female figure horizontal column support.
CASTING: a sculptural process where liquids are poured into a mold.
CAST SHADOW: when one object is placed in front of another to block a light source a cast shadow will occur on an object.
CHARCOAL: porous black carbon vegetable or animal substance charred or baked in a kiln.
CHIAROSCURO: distribution of light and dark in a picture 2. a technique of representation that blends light and shade gradually to create the illusion of three-dimensional objects in space and atmosphere.
CHROMA: colors other than black, white, and gray. Chroma is the combination of color and its saturation.
CHROMATIC: the presence of color.
CHROMATIC VALUE: the value of a color.
CIRCA: approximate dates or period.
CLASSICAL: relating to ancient Greek or Roman era especially its culture, art, ideals, and architecture.
CLASSICISM: principles or styles embodied in Roman or Greek literature, art, or architecture. This can also refer to order, unity, or balance.
CLICHÉ: an idea that has been overused, lacks originality, or is predictable.
CMYK: color reproduction for printing in which cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are layered.
COLLAGE: materials such as newspaper, color paper, handmade paper, found materials, or photographs attached to a surface with glue or tape.
COLLABORATION: to work with others on an idea or goal.
COLOR: visual response to wavelengths of light and color through the physical understanding of hue.
COLOR FIELD: an abstract style of painting focused on areas of solid color.
COLOR SCHEME: a particular combination of colors.
COLOR WHEEL: a radial design where the primary, secondary, and intermediate colors are displayed for identification.
COMPASS: a tool with a hinge and adjustable pin in which one point is placed on the paper while the other pin holds a pencil that is rotated to create a circle or arc.
COMPLEMENTARY COLORS: two colors, equally spaced on the color wheel, directly opposite each other.
COMPOSE: the arrangement of elements and principles of design on a two dimensional or three dimensional works of art.
COMPOSITION: the arrangement and/or structuring of all the art elements, according to the principles of organization, that achieves a unified whole. Often used interchangeably with the term design.
CONCAVE: a surface where curves turn inward, like the interior of a circle. Opposite of convex.
CONCENTRIC: multiple shapes or forms having the same point as their center.
CONCEPT: an art idea developed through mental strategy, it may be focused on technical or formal presentation.
CONCEPTUAL ART: art that is idea based that may or may not necessarily produce a tangible object.
CONE OF VISION: in perspective drawing, a hypothetical cone of perception originating at the eye of the artist and expanding outward to include whatever they wish to record in an illusionistic image such as a perspective drawing. The cone’s maximum scope angle is 45 to 60 degrees; anything outside of the cone of vision is subject to distortion.
CONSTRUCTIVISM: an art movement from the years 1913 – 1922 that focused on sculpture and architecture.
CONTÉ: a drawing medium comprised of compressed graphite and clay.
CONTENT: the expression, essential meaning, significance, or aesthetic value of a work of art. Content refers to the sensory, subjective, psychological, or emotional properties felt in a work of art.
CONTOUR LINE: the line that defines the outermost limits of an object or a drawn shape. Sometimes considered to be synonymous with outline.
CONVEX: the surface of an object that curves outward, like the exterior of a circle. The opposite of concave.
COOL COLORS: blue, green, and violet represent cool colors on the color wheel. Cool colors can suggest calm, light, or water.
CRAFTSMANSHIP: of high quality and skill, technical proficiency with tools.
CROSS CONTOUR LINE: a line that moves across a shape or object to define the surface undulations between the outermost edges.
CROSSHATCHING: lines passing over hatched lines in a different direction, usually resulting in darker values.
CUBISM: a painting style that was popular between the years 1907 and 1912. It relied on depicting multiple views of objects in a three dimensional fashion upon a two dimensional surface, this was the beginning of abstract art.
CURVILINEAR: a shape whose boundaries consist of predominantly curved lines; the opposite of rectilinear.
DADAISM: a movement with politically explicit overtones, a reaction to WWII. Artists represented the human form as distorted, manufactured, or mutilated.
DECORATIVE: in the sense of fine art, decorative is aesthetic rather than functional.
DESIGN: the organizing process or underlying plan in which artists base their total work. In a broader sense, design may be considered synonymous with the terms form and composition.
DICHOTOMY: a division into two contradictory groups or something with contradictive qualities.
DOMINANCE: the principle of organization in which certain visual elements assume more importance than others within the same composition or design. Some features are emphasized, and others are subordinated. Dominance is often created by increased contrasts using isolation, placement, direction, scale, and character.
DRAFTSMANSHIP: technically skilled in drawing.
EARTHWORKS: artwork created by changing land while using natural or organic materials.
ECONOMY: the distillation of the image to the essentials for clarity of presentation.
ELEMENTS OF ART: basic components used when creating a work of abstract or realistic art. The elements of design are line, shape, value, texture, and color.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART: the focus on environmental awareness, natural materials, and the resistance of harm to the environment.
ERASE: the removal of graphite or charcoal in a drawing.
EXPRESSION: artistic form expressed through emotion, thought, and meaning.
EXPRESSIONISM: a movement that started in 1910 and was focused on unnatural colors that were associated with the artist’s feelings. The desire was to express emotion instead of an external reality.
EXQUISITE CORPSE: producing a visual artwork devised by the Surrealists in which several people collaborate in creating an image or story.
FAÇADE: front of a building. 2. A false, superficial, or artificial effect.
FANTASTIC ART: starting around World War I, artists wished to exploit the horrors of war in which they felt alienated from society.
FAUVISM: French expressionist painters that used bold and exaggerated color in their paintings.
FIBONACCI: a sequence created by adding together two previous numbers to arrive at each new number, it also demonstrates an increasing ratio of approximately 1:1.6180. It has the same ratio as the Golden Section.
FIGURE: the primary or positive shape in a design; a shape that is noticeably separated from the background. The figure is dominant, advancing shape in a figure-ground relationship.
FIGURATIVE: artwork that represents human, animal, or recognizable form.
FIGURE/GROUND REVERSAL: an arrangement in which the positive and negative shapes alternately command attention. Also known as positive negative interchange.
FIXATIVE: a type of varnish used to cover charcoal, pastel, pencil, and other media to protect it from smearing or damage.
FOCAL POINT: the point of emphasis in a design or picture, which attracts attention and encourages the viewer to look further.
FOLK ART: art and craft objects made by people who have not be formally trained as artists.
FOREGROUND: an area in a composition that is closest to the viewer.
FORESHORTENING: a method of rendering a specific object or figure with pictorial depth.
FORM: is the shape and structure of a thing. 2. In two dimensional works, it is the visual aspect of composition and the work as a whole.
FORMAL: traditional and generally accepted visual solutions.
FORMAT: the type of picture frame used for the outer edge of an image or design; landscape or portrait format.
FOUR DIMENSIONAL: the fourth dimension is time. This aspect in artmaking is notable in film and video work.
FRAME: an enclosed border. A structure made for enclosing or supporting something.
FRESCO: mural painting technique in which pigments mixed in water are used to form a desired color. The pigments are then applied to wet lime plaster, that binds with and becomes part of a wall.
FROTTAGE: a texture or transfer process in which a piece of paper is laid on top of a surface then drawing media or charcoal is rubbed across the paper surface to create an impression.
FUTURISM: an art movement in Italy 1909 focused on art, music, and literature and the formal expression of dynamic energy and movement of mechanical processes.
GENRE: paintings and drawings with subject matters that depict everyday life, domestic scenes, family relationships, etc.
GEOMETRIC SHAPE: a shape that appears related to geometry, such as a triangle, rectangle, or circle.
GESTALT: a German theory about perception, holds that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. It’s our ability to recognize patterns, make associations, and relate groups of objects together.
GESTURE DRAWING: lines that are drawn freely, quickly, and seemingly without inhibition to capture the intrinsic spirit or animation seen in a subject. Gestural lines can imply the past, present, and future motion of the subject.
GICLÉE: fine art photographic reproduction using a high quality inkjet printer for unique individual prints.
GLYPTIC: wood or metal that maintains its solidity and integrity after being carved or engraved.
GOLDEN MEAN: has perfect harmonious proportions that avoid extremes; the moderation between extremes.
GOLDEN SECTION: or Divine Proportion, a mathematical principle is the expression of the ratio of two sums by which their ratio is equal to the larger of the two quantities.
GRADATION: a smooth transition from dark to light value.
GRAFFITI: an image or symbol made to be seen on a wall in public.
GRAPHIC ART: painting or drawing processes that exist on a 2D surface while presenting an illusion of depth. Commercially graphic art could be found in books, magazines, posters, etc.
GRAPHITE: a drawing medium made of carbon used to make grey or black marks.
GRAY SCALE: an illustration of gray value used to explore with varying drawing materials. Can be used as a practice to understand value.
GRID: evenly spaced measurements to establish and illustrate proportions accurately.
GRISAILLE: a technique used to establish neutral or single color value typically achieved with sepia or gray.
GROUND: the area surrounding the primary subject or the background.
HALFTONE: images printed and shades of grey with small dots.
HAPPENINGS: active or participative performance art that may include the audience.
HARMONY: a principle of design in which parts of a composition are made to relate through commonly repeated or shared characteristics, elements, or visual units. Harmony is the opposite of variety.
HATCHING: a repeated stroke of an art tool, producing clustered or uniform parallel lines that create value.
HEXAGON: a two dimensional shape with six line segments.
HIGH KEY COLOR: value of color that is middle gray or lighter.
HIGH KEY VALUE: value that is middle gray or lighter.
HIGHLIGHT: area on a surface that reflects light.
HORIZON LINE: a physical or figurative line that separates land from sky. Receding vanishing point can meet along the horizon line.
HORIZONTAL: line that moves from left to right, parallel to the horizon.
HUE: the generic name of a color; also designates a color’s position in the spectrum or on the color wheel. Hue is determined by the specific wavelength of the color in a ray of light.
ICON: A simple image or form.
IDEAL: something that is in perfect form or at a level of excellence.
IDEALISM: a theory that ultimate reality lies in a realm transcending phenomena. A theory that the essential nature of reality lies in consciousness or reason.
ILLUMINATION: the source of light.
ILLUSION: deceptive image, misleading perception which can be intentional or not.
ILLUSTRATION: the creation of an image for a book, magazine, or printed to explain a sequence story.
IMPASTO: a thick application of paint with a palette knife.
IMPLIED LINE: a line in an artwork that is not physically there but is visually suggested by points or diminishing marks.
IMPLIED SHAPE: a shape that does not physically exist but is suggested through the psychological connection of dots, lines, areas, or its edges.
IMPRESSIONISM: an art movement that focused on color and light which led to fascination of early modern painters.
INANIMATE: not endowed with life or spirit. Lacking consciousness or power of motion.
INCISE: cutting or scratching into a surface.
INSTALLATIONS: works located in a space outdoor or indoor to activate viewers awareness of the environment or location.
INTENSITY: the saturation, strength, or purity of a hue. A vivid color is of high intensity; a dull color is of low intensity.
INTERMEDIATE COLOR: colors created when mixing a primary and secondary color, also known as tertiary color.
INTERPRETATION: a level of art criticism that includes description and analysis in a work of art.
JUXTAPOSITION: the comparison or contrast of images or items side by side.
KINETIC ART: sculptural work that shows movement, such as a mobile.
LEGATO: a smooth connection.
LINE: a path of a moving point made by a tool, instrument, or medium as it moves across an area. A line is usually made visible because of its contrast in value with its surroundings. Three-dimensional lines may be made using string, wire, tubes, solid rods, and the like.
LINE QUALITY: refers to the thinness or thickness of a line, it’s also referred to as line weight.
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE: a system used to depict three dimensional images on a two dimensional surface; it develops the optical phenomenon of diminishing size by treating edges as converging parallel lines that extend to a vanishing point or points on the horizon (eye level) and recede from the viewer.
LOCAL COLOR: colors seen realistically or in the objective world; blue sky or green leaves.
LOCAL VALUE: whiteness or darkness as perceived in the objective world unaffected by the light falling on it.
LOW KEY COLOR: color with the value level of middle grey or darker.
LOW KEY VALUE: value with the level of middle grey or darker.
MANDALA: a Hindu or Buddhist graphic symbol of the universe. A circle enclosing a square with a deity on each side that is used as an aid to meditation.
MAQUETTE: a preliminary model for a sculpture or a building.
MASS: density or weight of a form in space.
MEDIUM/MEDIA: material or substance used to produce a work of art.
MINIMALISM: a complex movement that included literature, dance, and music in the early 20th century. It strived for nonobjective abstraction or works without any process expressed.
MIXED MEDIA: a work of art that involves multiple techniques.
MOBILE: a three dimensional moving object or sculpture.
MODELING SCULPTURE: also known as manipulation, this occurs when an artist is shaping materials with the tools.
MODULE: standard or unit of measurement.
MONOCHROMATIC: having only one hue; may include the complete range of value from white (tint) to black (shade).
MOTIF: a consistent or conceptual element.
MOVEMENT: eye travel directed by visual pathways in a work of art; one of the principles of organization. Movement is guided by harmonious connections, areas of variety, the placement of visual weights, areas of dominance, choices in proportions, spatial devices, and so on.
MULITMEDIA: a combination of different types of media that may include graphics, instruments, video, etc.
MUTABLE: subject to change.
NARRATIVE: art that expresses a story.
NATURALISM: an artwork that represents a subject as it appears in the natural world.
NEGATIVE SHAPE: a clearly defined area around a positive shape; the receding shape or ground area in a figure-ground relationship. A shape created through the absence of an object rather than through the presence of an object.
NEGATIVE SPACE: areas that exist between, around, and behind an actual form.
NEOCLASSISIM: in 1700s France, ancient Roman ruins were discovered in which an art style emerged.
NEO-EXPRESSIONISM: figurative and expressive art from the early 1980s that involved intense color, dramatic figurative form, and emotive subject matter.
NEUTRALIZED COLOR: the mixture of the three primaries to establish gray or reduced color intensity.
NEUTRALS: a color adjusted with the mixture of its complement to dull its hue.
NEW REALISM: works that focused on portraits and human figure.
NIB: the point or tip of an ink pen.
NONOBJECTIVE ART: or non-representational art.
OBJECTIVE: art focused on reality in complete avoidance of personal reflection or emotion.
OBLIQUE: neither perpendicular nor parallel, having the axis not perpendicular to the base. Having no right angle.
OBLONG: a stretched or long circle.
OCTAGON: a polygon of eight angles and eight sides.
OP ART: graphic art or works focused on optical illusion that may be perceived as three dimensional illusions.
OPAQUE (or opacity): Something that cannot be seen through, not transparent.
ONE POINT PERSPECTIVE: a drawing method that illustrates how objects get smaller as they move further away. One point perspective should appear three dimensional on a two dimensional surface.
OPEN VALUE COMPOSITION: the appearance of shapes running off the edges of the picture plane.
OPTICAL ILLUSION: a deceptive image.
ORGANIC: a shape commonly found in nature.
ORTHOGRAPHIC DRAWING: a method of representing three dimensional objects visually. Drawing with a first or third projection and showing each side of the design without perspective.
OVAL: an egg like circle.
OVERLAP: when a liner shape moves in front of another to convey depth.
PANORAMA: a broad view of the surrounding area.
PAPIER COLLÉ: the addition of scraps of paper that are pasted to a surface to enhance pattern or tactile effects.
PASTEL: pigments mixed with gum and water and then formed into a stick.
PATINA: the oxidation of bronze or metal that occurs naturally.
PATTERN: repetition of shape, line, or color.
PEDAGOGY: the art or profession of teaching.
PEN: an implement for writing or drawing with ink or similar fluid.
PENCIL: a device used for drawing or writing that contains of graphite.
PENTAGON: a five sided geometric shape.
PERCEPTION: being aware of sound, smell, touch site, and taste around you.
PERFORMANCE ART: theater, dance, music, video art that can be participatory.
PERIFERY: objects or movement outside the direct line of vision.
PERIMETER: outer edges of a shape.
PERPENDICULAR: right angles on a given line or plane.
PERSPECTIVE: a sense of depth or receding space.
PHOTOREALISM: realistic drawing, painting, or sculpture.
PICTORIALISM: a photographic international style and aesthetic movement of the late 19th and early 20th century.
PICTURE FRAME: the outermost limits or boundary of the picture plane.
PICTURE PLANE: the actual flat surface on which the artist executes a pictorial image. In some cases, the picture plane acts merely as a transparent plane of reference to establish the illusion of forms existing in a three dimensional space.
PIGMENT: finely ground materials used to produce color for art making media.
PLAGIARISM: using the ideas, art, or writings created by another person and claiming it as your own.
PLANAR: shapes that focus on height and width yet lack thickness.
PLANE: a flat surface.
POINTILLISM: the theory or practice in art of applying small strokes of color to a surface so that from a distance the blend together.
POINT OF VIEW: a position of where something is viewed.
POP ART: the 1950s movement that challenged fine art traditions and borrowed images from popular and mass culture.
PORTFOLIO: a selection of a student’s work complied over a period of time and used for assessing performance or progress.
POSITIVE AREA: the principle or foreground shape in a design; the dominant shape or figure in a figure-ground relationship.
POST IMPRESSIONISM: Impressionist artists who wished to return to structural form and unity. Driven by a conscious exaggeration of objective appearance for an emotional effect.
POSTMODERNISM: artists reaction to American disparity between the rich and poor along with the disruption of politics because of the Vietnam War. This movement focused on human form, literature, and previous artistic styles to develop newer methods.
PRIMARY COLOR: a preliminary hue that cannot be broken down or reduced into component colors. Primary colors are the basic hues of any color system that in theory may be used to mix all other colors.
PRINCIPLES OF ART: the arrangements of the elements of art and design. The principles of art are balance, harmony, variety, dominance, movement, proportion, unity, and economy.
PROPORTION: the comparative relationship of size between units or the parts of a whole. For example, the size of the Statue of Liberty’s hand in relation to the size of her head.
PROXIMITY: closeness.
PURE FORM: a non-objective shape created without any reference to a specific subject matter.
PUSH AND PULL: the illusion of objects or color receding or advancing.
QUILL: an ink pen made from a feather.
RADIAL: a composition or design emanating from a center axis.
RADIUS: a line that extends from the center of a circle.
RATIO: the relationship between objects in relation to size.
REALISM: realistic representation of a person place or thing.
RECTANGLE: a four sided geometric shape.
RECTILINEAR: a shape whose boundaries consist of straight lines; the opposite of curvilinear.
RELIEF SCULPTURE: known as low relief or high relief as it is designed to be seen from the front and not in the round.
RENDER: and accurate drawing.
REPETITION: a texture, shape, or color used multiple times.
REPRESENTATIONAL ART: works as observed and depicted as actual objects.
REPRODUCTION: copying or recreating to resemble another image.
RESOLUTION: the use of pixels that make up an image digitally.
RGB: red, green, and blue as seen in the color spectrum.
RHYTHM: visual movement that utilizes the repetition of the principles of design.
ROMANTICISM: works focused on emotion rather than the rational. 18th century Europe artists studied materials and processes to express mood and artistic expression.
SANGUINE: red chalk medium.
SATURATION: the intensity or purity of a color.
SCALE: measuring the proportion of an object to understand its relationship with another. Scale can help find the representation between objects.
SCULPTURAL LINE: using three dimensional materials that have recognizable linear qualities.
SCULPTURE: using three dimensional materials as artistic expression.
SCUMBLE: layered media on a surface applied with texture to illustrate the illusion of color interaction.
SECONDARY COLOR: a color produced by a mixture of two primary colors.
SEPIA: dark red brown color.
SFUMATO: a technique invented by Leonardo DaVinci in which one blends from light to dark with a subtle transition. This word is derived from fumo meaning smoke in Latin.
SGRAFFITO: an approach used to reveal color below by scratching or removing a top surface.
SHADE: a color produced by mixing black with a hue, which lowers the value level and decreases the quantity of light reflected.
SHADING: description of value or physicality of light to dark when drawing.
SHADOW: an object or area untouched by light.
SHALLOW SPACE: limited depth.
SHAPE: an area that stands out from its surroundings because of a defined or implied boundary or because of differences of value, color, or texture.
SIGHTING: a measuring process based on observation and drawing.
SILHOUETTE: a total shape or outline of a body viewed as confined mass.
SILVERPOINT: a type of drawing in which an artist uses thin pieces of silver wire held in a stylus to make marks on a prepared paper.
SKETCH: quick drawing.
SOLUBLE: to be dissolved. Susceptible of being dissolved in or as if in a liquid, especially water.
SOLVENT: a liquid substance used for cleaning, thinning, or mixing media like paint in various processes.
SPACE: two dimensional or three dimensional element that is seen between, around, above, or below objects.
SPATIAL: the focus of space, form, texture, light, and scale to develop context and content in an artwork.
SPECTRUM: a range of colors evident in a beam of light.
SPLIT COMPLEMENT: a color and the two colors on either side of its complement.
SPONTANEITY: unplanned or media immediate response.
STACCATO: abrupt or disjointed.
STATIC: a lack of movement or progression.
STENCIL: a technique for reproducing designs by passing ink or paint through holes or shapes cut out of card stock, cardboard, or metal onto a surface to be decorated.
STILL LIFE: a work of art that shows inanimate objects displayed in a way to draw or paint from.
STIPPLE: to mark or draw by means of dots or small, short strokes.
STRESS: important emphasis on an object or area.
STYLE: unique artists expression.
STYLIZE: and approach that dictates a particular style.
SUBDUE: muted or soft.
SUBJECT: when describing art, it refers to the persons or things represented. 2. In abstract applications, it refers to visual images that may have little to do with anything experienced in the natural environment.
SUBJECTIVE: invented or created in the mind as opposed to an object physically in existence. An artwork based on personal interpretation or emotion.
SUBJECTIVITY: works made within an artist’s unique perspective and expression.
SUBLIME: inspiring, spiritual, or dynamic visual fruition.
SUBSTRATE: a surface area that is drawn or painted upon.
SUBSTITUTION SCULPTURE (casting): made from a material that is melted down then poured into a mold. The materials cool and harden and separated from the cast.
SUBTRACTIVE COLOR: the sensation of color that is produced when wavelengths of light are reflected to the viewer after all other wavelengths have been subtracted or absorbed.
SUBTRACTIVE DRAWING: a drawing created by the removal of the top surface media.
SUPERFICIAL: lacking significant substance or meaning.
SUPREMATISM: an art movement from 1920s Russia that used basic forms like circles, squares, and rectangles painted in simple limited colors.
SURREALISM: a style of artistic expression, influenced by Freudian psychology that emphasizes fantasy and whose subjects are usually experiences revealed by the subconscious mind using automatic techniques. Originally a literary movement that grew out of Dadaism, Surrealism was established by André Breton in 1924.
SYMBOLISM: a type of art focused on intuition or spiritual reflection in the world.
SYMMETRY: the exact duplication of appearances in mirror like repetition on either side of a straight lined central axis.
SYNERGY: two or more things working together to create a singular effect.
SYNETHEISA: when hearing a sound or music creates a unique sensation that inspires seeing like color or shape.
SYNTHETIC: a material or chemical made to imitate a natural product.
TACTILE: something you can touch.
TANGENT: when two or more lines intersect in a way that creates a relationship between them that the artist did not intend.
TECHNIQUE: using materials to create a work of art.
TENEBRISM: a style of painting that exaggerates the effects of dramatic lighting. This process demands attention towards important features or areas of a composition.
TEMPERATURE: the physical and psychological heat generated by a color.
TERTIARY COLOR: color resulting from the mixture of a primary color with a secondary color. Tertiary colors are characterized by the neutralization of intensity and hue.
TESSELATION: shapes or lines that fit together with the illusion of continuous design.
TETRAD: four colors, equally spaced on the color wheel, containing a primary and its complement and complementary pair of intermediates. This can also mean the organization of color on the wheel forming a rectangle that could include a double split complementary colors.
TEXTURE: the sense of feeling an object physically or simulated.
THEME: a unified idea, image, or subject.
THREE DIMENSIONAL: the appearance of height, width, and depth.
THREE POINT PERSPECTIVE: linear perspective that utilizes three vanishing points to convey the illusion of depth on a two dimensional surface.
THREE QUARTER VIEW: the profile of a person that is between full face and side view.
THUMBNAIL SKETCH: a small quick study in preparation for a larger work of art.
TINT: a color produced by mixing white with a hue which raises the value level and increases the quality of light reflected.
TONALITY: value or quality of color.
TOOTH: a rough or smooth surface area of paper or canvas.
TORTILLON: a tightly rolled tapered piece of paper used for smudging or blending drawing media.
TRACE: a drawing made on a translucent piece of paper that is then used for reference.
TRANSFER: paper coated with graphite on one side used to redraw an image on to a different surface.
TRANSLUCENT: material or surface that allows a little light to pass through it.
TRANSPARENCY: a material or surface that light passes through.
TRIAD: three colors that are equidistant on a color wheel.
TRIPTYCH: a complete work of art that has three parts or segments.
TROMPE L’OEIL: a French term meaning, to fool the eye. The copying of nature with such exactitude as to be mistaken for the real thing.
T-SQUARE: a long flat ruler that has a short T shaped edge on one end. A t-square is used to make parallel lines.
TURPENTINE: a solvent used for thinning down paint.
TWO DIMENSIONAL: art that refers a form of visual art that is created on a flat surface such as paper or canvas.
TWO POINT PERSPECTIVE: lines that converge on two vanishing points.
UNITY: a whole or cohesive work of art designed with harmony and balance.
VALUE: the characteristic of color determined by its lightness or darkness, or the quantity of light reflected by the color.
VANISHING POINT: in linear perspective, the point, or points on the eye level at which parallel lines appear to converge.
VARIETY: differences achieved by opposing, contrasting, changing, elaborating, or diversifying elements in a composition to add interest. Variety is the opposite of harmony.
VEHICLE: a liquid material used to mix with pigment to create media such as paint.
VERISIMILITUDE: the appearance of looking real.
VERNACULAR: language, expression, or mode of expression that occurs in ordinary speech rather than formal writing, a mode of expression.
VERTICAL: lines that illustrate up and down.
VESSEL: objects made by human interaction or production, they can take many forms and be created out of a wide variety of media. Vessels are both contained and bounded by space.
VIEWFINDER: and windowed object used to study subject matter designed to find a composition when studying a still life for a drawing composition.
VISUAL UNITY: the organization of elements and principles to create a balance between harmony and variety along with other principles of design. A sense of organized oneness.
VOLUME: a measurable amount of space in a three dimensional object.
WARM COLORS: red, orange, and yellow imply warm on the color wheel. These colors can appear closer to the viewer. They can depict fire or intensity.
WATERMARK: when making paper, a watermark is embossed to signify the creator or factory.
WATER SOLUBLE: material capable of dissolving in water.
WEIGHT: can be physical, visual, or compositional. A measure of how much an element or visual impact attracts the eye of a viewer.
WEIGHTED LINE: a varied thick or thin line that grows or expands as it moves across a composition.
