index

ART TERMS

Abstract- Usually showing no representational form. Based on an emotion or a sensation.

Analogous Colors- Colors that neighbor eachother on the color wheel

Aesthetic response- is the enjoyment of a particular work of art and its beauty.

Background- In art, those things that seem most distant, as if in the back of the picture.

Balance- An equal arrangements of elements within a composition. Elements could include color,

line, shape, or texture etc. for example.

Black & White- Black is the complete absence of light. Black is not a color, it is a shade.

White is all colors and it is a shade too. Mixing B & W can create many shades of

gray.

Ceramics- Used to describe the finishing and firing of clay.

Collage- A collage is any artistic composition made by gluing photos and materials to a flat

surface.

Color wheel- A chart that shows colors and their opposites.

Color- When light is reflected off an object, color is what the eye sees.

Cool Colors- Any color that suggests something cold. Any hue can be made cooler by

Adding white. Best example of a cool color- blue.

Warm Colors- Any color that suggests something warm. Darkening a hue tends to make it

warmer. Best example of a warm color- yellow/orange

Primary Colors- In painting, those colors - blue, red, yellow - these cannot be made from

mixtures of other colors. If you mix all primary colors together you get brown a

tertiary color.

Secondary Colors- The combination of any two primary colors results in the creation of a

secondary color. Yellow and red create orange. Yellow and blue create green. Blue and

red create violet. 1 + 1=2

Complementary Colors- Colors that are opposite on the color wheel.

Hue- another name for color.

Saturation- The intensity of a color. Less saturation in the color will make pink, then

white.

Value- The technical name for shading, which gives color the quality of seeming light or

dark.

Shade- When black is added to a color to make it darker, the resulting color is referred to

as a shade.

Composition- The structure or organization of a work. Same meaning as Design.

Contrast- The amount of darkness or brightness between colors.

Criticism- The process of describing, analyzing, interpreting, and judging works of art

Drawing- The art or act of representing something on a surface by means of lines and shades.

Expressionism- the artist expresses a feeling or idea solely by means of form, line, or color

without reference to subject matter.

Foreground- In art, those things that seem closest, as if in the front of the picture.

Horizon line -Line separating objects below the viewpoint and objects above. In perspective the

vanishing point sits on the horizon line. Not necessarily a line clearly shown in the

image.

Illustration- Creating an image from a story . Image can have words. Most illustrations are the

work of commercial artists.

Impressionism- An impression of reality, emphasizing color over detail. Example: Claude

Monet/Van Gogh.

Landscape- A works of art that depicts a scene in nature.

Medium (plural)- The art material that is used in a work of art such as clay, paint or pencil.

Mixed media- A painting or other work of art in which more than one medium and/or material is

used; e.g. using acrylic, watercolor and pen in a single work.

Mural- A large painting created on the wall or a ceiling. The Sistine Chapel.

Palette- A range of colors chosen by an artist.

Performance art- An art form combining elements of theater, music, and the visual arts.

Perspective- A system for representing three-dimensional space on a flat surface.

Pigment- Any substance or chemical that makes up a color. Example- cadmium for yellow.

Portrait- An image of a person, usually representing some aspect of their character. ex- The

Mona Lisa

Repetition- a series of repeated elements. Can create a pattern.

Scale- The size of an object as compared to other objects.

Sculpture- A three-dimensional work of art made by carving (cutting in wood, stone, etc.)

modeling (a building up of a soft material such as clay or wax).

Sketch- A rough drawing or painting usually used by an artist as means of recording or outlining

an image in preparation for a more finished work.

Positive Space- The space inside important objects in a picture (ex: a human)

Negative Space- The empty space in-between objects and parts of objects (ex: Inside the handle

of a mug).

Style- How a specific artist's work looks. Specific styles include unique art sizes, material, color,

and other formal elements, but also subject matter.

Surrealism- Dream-like, distorts reality. Example: The work of Salvador Dali

Symbolism- Pictures that mean or are associated with other things, such as the symbol for peace is a dove.

Technique- The way in which an artist uses a material in the creation of an artwork.

Texture- The actual or implied quality if a surface, such as rough or smooth, slick or grainy, hard

or soft. Van Gogh's painting has lots of texture.

Unity- the similarities among the elements of a work that create a sense of things belonging

together.

Vanishing point - The point at which all lines going in the distance go to create perspective.