North Street School

Art Vocabulary

2D OR TWO- DIMENSIONAL things that look flat. For example, a square is a 2-D shape.

3D OR THREE- DIMENSIONAL things that look (or are) solid. For example, a cube is a 3-D shape.

ABSTRACT art that does not attempt to represent the appearance of objects, real or imaginary. The artist takes an image or object and changes its appearance by leaving out details, simplifying or rearranging its parts to express his or her idea or feeling. Abstraction can occur in varying degrees, perhaps to the extent where you may not recognize the subject in the final product. Abstract work with no recognizable subject matter is called non-objective art.

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISTS a group of New York artists of the 1940's-50's, including Jackson Pollock. They made abstract works meant to express their feelings.

ACRYLIC pigment in a plastic binder medium; water-based paint that adheres to most surfaces.

ACTION PAINTING a way of painting by splashing and dripping paint with energetic movements. It was made famous by Jackson Pollock.

ADDITIVE TECHNIQUE joining a smaller piece of clay to a larger piece.

AERIAL PERSPECTIVE the effect of distance or atmosphere shown through haziness or changes in color.

AESTHETIC the science of the beautiful in art; defined by visual, moral, social, and contemporary standards.

ALLEGORY something which has a hidden symbolic meaning.

ARCHITECTURE the art of making plans for buildings or a style of building

ARMATURE a base made of wire, iron, cardboard, or sticks for supporting a sculpture.

ART things made to be looked at, especially paintings and sculptures. It can also be used to describe anything creative, including music and poetry.

ART CRITICISM describing and evaluating the media, processes, and meanings of works of visual arts, and making comparative judgments.

ART ELEMENTS visual arts components such as line, texture, color, form, value, and space.

ART HISTORY a record of the visual arts, incorporating information, interpretations, and judgments about art objects, artists, and conceptual influences on developments in the visual arts.

ARTIFACT hand-made object that represents a particular culture or period.

ART MOVEMENT a group of artists who work together and share ideas, and often hold joint exhibitions.

ART NOUVEAU an art and design movement of the 1890's, known for flowery, decorative patterns as in the work of Gustav Klimt.

ASSEMBLAGE a sculpture created of related or unrelated materials.

ASYMMETRICAL different on either side of a central axis.

BACKGROUND the part of a picture that appears to be farthest away from the viewer.

BALANCE equilibrium in a composition, either symmetrical or asymmetrical.

BAREN a flat, round Japanese device that is used in printmaking in lieu of a mechanical press.

BAS-RELIEF low-relief sculpture that projects slightly from a background.

BISQUE dull, fired ceramic clay before glazing.

BLEEDING the tendency for some colors to show through a second layer of paint.

BLENDING the transition of color from one tone to another; for example, in a sky.

BLOCK a piece of material with a hand-cut design on its surface from which multiple copies are printed.

BRAYER a rubber roller used to apply ink in printmaking.

BRUSH STROKES marks in paint made by a brush.

BUST sculpture of head, neck, and sometimes shoulders

CALLIGRAPHY fine handwriting in ink with a quill, reed pen, or brush; follows specific rules or designs.

CANVAS a strong cloth which, since the Renaissance, many artists have used as a surface for painting.

CARICATURE character studies that usually exaggerate one or more features.

CARTOON full-scale drawing for tapestry or wall painting; or a humorous satirical drawing.

CARVING a subtractive method of sculpture; taking away wood or stone.

CERAMIC any object made of clay and fired.

CHALK calcium carbonate, used in gesso, mixed with colored pigment to make pastels.

CHINA translucent ware fired at 2,230 degrees F; porcelain

CHIAROSCURO the use of light and shadow to create a focal point or mood.

CLASSICAL originating in Greece and Rome; represents unadorned beauty.

CLAY a moist earth of decomposed rock; used in products such as pottery, bricks, tiles, and sculpture.

COILING a method of creating pots by building bottom and walls with even, ropelike coils.

COLLAGE a work of art created by arranging and gluing assorted materials onto a flat surface.

COLOR WHEEL an arrangement of colors that shows how to mix the primary colors to create new colors.

COLORS:

• Analogous-colors closely related on a color wheel. Example: red, red-orange, yellow.
• Complementary - colors which fall directly opposite each other on the color wheel. Example: blue/orange.
• Primary - Blue, yellow, red. Colors from which all other colors are
  derived. Primary colors can not be mixed from other colors
• Secondary colors - colors made by mixing equal proportions of any
  two primary colors. Example: red + blue = violet
• Cool -blues, greens.
• Warm - reds, yellows.
• Monochromatic-a color scheme that involves different values of a single color
• Harmonious-colors, such as red and orange, that come next to each other on the color wheel. Seen side by side, they seem to blend together.
• Neutral-complementary colors mixed to produce a dull, subdued color (variations of gray); the non-colors of black and white.
• Receding-cool colors which we generally perceive to be moving away in a field of color
• Advancing-warm colors which we generally perceive to be coming forward in a field of color.

COMMISSION the hiring of one or more artists to create a work of art.

COMPOSITION the placement of forms, shapes, colors, and light and dark areas in a work of art. Artists use composition to direct the viewer's eye to the most important elements of a work of art.

CONTEMPORARY ART generally defined as art produced during the second half of the 20th century.

CONTEXT a set of interrelated conditions (such as social, economic, political) in the visual arts that influence and give meaning to the development and reception of thoughts, ideas, or concepts and that define specific cultures and eras.

CONTOUR LINES outside and inside lines defining an image or shape.

CONTRAST to set in opposition for the purpose of comparison.

CRAFTMANSHIP having skill at a particular skill.

CRAYON a stick of wax used for coloring or drawing

CRAY-PAS an oily crayon used for coloring, drawing, and blending.

CROSSHATCH to create differences in value through a crossed series of parallel lines.

CUBISM natural forms changed by geometrical reduction.

DEPTH the illusion of space in a picture plane.

DESIGN the organization of line, form, color, value, texture and space in an eye-pleasing arrangement.

DETAILS dealing with some item by showing all of the particulars.

DIPTYCH two painted panels that are usually hinged together.

DONOR a client or patron of an artist who donates the work to an institution; in altarpieces the donor and family were often included in the painting.

DRAWING usually a work in pen, pencil, or charcoal on paper.

DRYBRUSH a technique used with wet media applied with an almost-empty brush.

EASEL a support for an artist's canvas during painting.

EDITION signing, numbering, and dating a print.

ELEMENTS OF ART the visual "tools" artists use to create art. The categories include line, color, shape, space, light and texture.

EMBELLISH to add ornamental details to.

EMPHASIS a design principle that gives dominance to a particular area through color, size, or repetition.

ENGOBE painting with colored slip.

EXPRESSIONISM the painting of feelings, sometimes with recognizable images, often totally abstract.

FACEMAP a proportional map of the human features.

FANTASY product of the imagination.

FAUVES the name given to a group of young painters around 1905-10 who used vibrant, unnatural colors. Matisse and Derain were leading members. The name means "wild beasts" in French.

FIGURE the human or animal form used in creating art.

FIRING making clay products permanent through baking at high temperatures in a kiln.

FOCAL POINT an area of an artwork that first attracts and usually sustains the viewer's attention.

FOREGROUND in a scene or artwork, the part that seems closest to the viewer.

FORESHORTENING the technique of distortion in perspective in order for the subject to appear 3-dimensional.

FORM a three-dimensional shape, such as the human form or an abstract form.

FOUND OBJECT an object which an artist has not made, but has chosen to exhibit as a work of art. It can be a natural object, such as driftwood, or a man-made object such as a bottle.

FREE-FORM irregular shapes or forms; shapes that are not geometric.

FRESCOS wall paintings made by painting onto wet plaster.

FUNCTIONAL having a special purpose.

GEOMETRIC shapes and forms related to mathematical principles. Geometric shapes include circles, squares, rectangles, triangles and ellipses. Geometric forms include cones, cubes, cylinders, slabs, pyramids and spheres.

GENRE subjects and scenes depicting everyday life. Or, a particular kind of paintings, such as portraits, landscapes, and still lifes.

GESSO an under painting medium made of glue, plaster of Paris or chalk and water.

GESTURE the implication of motion in a shape.

GLAZE a glass-like coating that makes ceramics waterproof.

GLUE a jelly-like protein substance used for sticking things together.

GOUACHE thick, water-based paints.

GREENWARE clay in an unfired state.

GRID network of crossing lines used to create a regular pattern.

GUIDELINES lines an artist makes that help "guide" the drawing. Usually these are not seen in the final piece.

HIGHLIGHT a light area that represents the reflection of light.

HORIZON LINE a level line where water or land seems to end and the sky begins. It is usually on the eye level of the observer. If the horizon cannot be seen, its placement may be imagined based on the placement of trees, grasses, mountains and the like.

HORIZONTAL side to side and parallel to the horizon.

HUE refers to the common name of the color such as red or green.

ILLUSTRATION work of art created to accompany a story or other literary work in print. Illustrations usually appear in reproduced form in books, magazines and newspapers.

IMPASTO thick, opaque paint applied with a brush, knife or fingers, creating various textural features on the surface of the painting.

IMPRESSIONISM a style of painting that seeks to represent the momentary effects of sunlight on color. The main interest was in depicting contemporary life in a new objective manner by rendering an "impression" of what the eye sees in one particular moment rather than what the mind knows to be there.

INCISING scoring the clay with various objects.

INK usually a liquid colored material used in printmaking.

INTENSITY color used in its purest hue without mixing can be said to have its purest intensity.

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE revival of classical art, literature, and learning based on humanism.

KILN an oven for drying, firing and glazing clay.

KITSCH artwork, often mass produced, that goes beyond good taste.

LANDSCAPE the scenery of an inland area, a painting or drawing of the land or natural environment.

LAYER lying over or under another.

LINE the path traced by a moving point.

LINOLEUM a hard floor covering utilized by artists as a block on which designs are carved for printing.

LITHOGRAPH a print made by drawing on a flat, porous limestone with greasy material, then applying greasy ink which adheres only to the drawn lines. Dampened paper is applied to the stone and is rubbed over with a special press to make the final print.

LUMINISM 1850-1870 style of painting characterized by emphasizing light and transparent veils of colored atmosphere in landscapes and seascapes.
(Associated with Hudson River School artists)

MEDIUM the material used to make a work of art. Examples include oil, watercolor, pencil, pen and ink, tempera, and pastel.

MEMORY something remembered.

MIDDLEGROUND the part of the painting that lies between the background and the foreground.

MIXED MEDIA used to describe art made from more than one material or medium.

MOBILE/STABILE terms coined to describe work created by Alexander Calder: the mobile is a hanging, movable sculpture; the stabile rests on the ground but may also have moving parts.

MODEL one who poses for an artist.

MOSAIC a design or picture created by imbedding stones or pieces of glass on a floor, vault or wall

MURAL a large painting or artwork, generally designed for and created on the wall or ceiling of a public building.

MUSEUM/GALLERY A place where collections of objects, artifacts, and art are on display and are protected.

NAIVE ART a term used to describe work by untrained artists.

NONOBJECTIVE an abstract artwork not based on anything in reality

NEGATIVE SPACE the area surrounding a shape, often seen as a void.

OLD MASTER one of many celebrated European painters from about 1500-1800, or a painting by one of them.

OP ART short for "Optical Art." An art movement in the 1950's-60's where artists used abstract, geometric shapes and patterns to create optical illusions and the impression of movement.

OPAQUE ability of paint to cover over a surface. Not seen through.

OPTICAL ILLUSION image that appears different than it actually is.

ORGANIC having a quality that resembles living things, also referred to as
biomorphic, free flowing, non-geometric.

ORIGAMI Japanese art of paper folding.

PAINT apply liquid color to a surface.

PAINTBRUSH a brush tool for applying paint.

PALETTE a tray or board on which colors of paint are mixed. Also, the set of colors used by an artist in a painting.

PAPIER MACHE paper pulp mixed with glue; the French term means "chewed paper."

PARALLEL lines that are side by side and never touch.

PARODY a literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule.

PASTEL pigment held together with a binder and pressed into stick form.

PATRONS people who pay artists to produce work for them.

PATTERN a design made by repeating a motif at regular intervals.

PERSPECTIVE a technique for creating the illusion of depth on a 2-D surface.

PHOTOGRAPHER a person who takes photographs.

PHOTOREALISM an incredibly detailed, almost photographic style, such as in paintings by Close.

PLANE something that is flat or level.

PLEIN AIR French for "in the open air," in art, it means sketching and/or painting out-of- doors.

POINTILLISM the application of pure color in small dots, allowing the eye to mix (such as red and blue dots side by side, which the eye sees as violet). It was developed in 1855 by Georges Seurat.

POLYGON a closed plane figure made with three or more lines.

POP ART a mid-20th-century British and American art movement which used images from popular culture, such as comic strips and advertisements. Andy Warhol was a famous Pop artist.

PORTRAIT a picture of a person or images that portray a person.

POSE to sit or stand still for an artist.

POST-IMPRESSIONISM a term used to describe the variety of styles that developed in the 1880's-90's following Impressionism. It includes the work of Cezanne, Gauguin, and van Gogh.

POTTERY earthen pots, vessels, dishes, etc.

PRINT a work of art created from a "plate" that has been transformed through a technique such as engraving, etching, or woodcut and then inked and transferred to paper.

PROPORTION the relationship of one object to another in size, shape, number or degree.

RAINBOW an arc of colors made from the sun and refraction of water.

RADIAL DESIGN branching out from the middle.

REALISM (1850-1900) a style in which an artists try to create an image that resembles the natural world.

REFLECTION a repeating tessellated shape that mirrors itself.

RENAISSANCE a period in the 15th and 16th centuries when there were lots of new discoveries in art and science.

REPETITION recurring again and again.

RESIST something that opposes a particular action.

RHYTHM the controlled movements found in all good design, they can be established through the use of any of the elements of design--lines, areas of light and shade, spots of color, repetitions of shapes and spaces, or textures surfaces.

ROMANTICS a group of late 18th and early 19th-century artists, including Caspar David Friedrich, who were inspired by a love of nature.

ROTATION a tessellated shape that repeats around a point.

RUBBINGS to use pressure and friction over a piece of paper to capture the texture.

SCISSORS a cutting instrument for paper.

SCORING making marks on the edges of two pieces of clay before joining with slip

SCULPTURE a statue or 3-D work of art.

SEASCAPE artwork that shows a scene of the sea, ocean, large lake or coastline.

SFUMATO a smoky, hazy effect with soft edges.

SHADE any color mixed with black.

SHAPE the outline of a figure or form. Shapes can be geometric (rectangles, triangles, and circles, etc.) or organic (irregular).

SILHOUETTE portrait or picture cut from black paper or done in solid black upon a light background.

SKETCH a rough outline or drawing showing the main features of something.

SLAB clay evenly rolled and formed by draping or joining.

SLIP clay diluted with water to the consistency of cream; used for joining or as an engobe.

SMOCK a loose outer garment worn especially for protection of clothing.

SPACE
Actual: 2D space as in drawings, paintings or prints on flat surfaces, or 3D as in sculptures, architecture or ceramics.
Pictorial: the flat surface of the paper, canvas, or other material and is also known as the picture plane.

SPECTRUM the group of different colors including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet seen when light passes through a prism and falls on a surface or when sunlight is affected by drops of water.

STAINED GLASS pieces of colored glass put together to make a picture.

STENCILING applying paint to a wall or cloth surface through a hole cut in metal or oiled cardboard.

STILL LIFE an arrangement of fruit, flowers, food or assorted unmoving objects. The plural is "still lifes" (not "lives").

STUDY a drawing that may be used to try out an idea or plan out another work.

SUBTRACTIVE TECHNIQUE an example: carving is typically a subtractive process, in which the material, such as wood or plaster or clay is chipped or carved away until the desired sculptural form emerges.

SURREALISM a 20th-century art movement which used bizarre, dream-like images. Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali were famous Surrealists.

SYMBOL something that stands for something else; especially a letter, figure or sign that represents a real object or idea.

SYMMETRY the placement of the same elements on either side of a dividing line in such a way that they form a mirror image of each other.

TEMPERA a type of paint made from a mixture of powdered pigments (colors), egg yolk, and distilled water. Tempera paintings are usually done on wooden boards.

TEMPLATE a contour such as one made out of cardboard in which an artist can form a piece of clay.

TERRA COTTA reddish clay that contains grog, commonly used for ceramic sculpture.

TESSELLATION a design created by congruent shapes that cover a surface without any of the shapes overlapping each other or having gaps between them.

TEXTURE the way something feels to the touch. Texture can be real, as in the smoothness of a bronze sculpture, or the bumpiness of thick oil paint on a canvas. Texture can also be implied or imagined, as in painted illusions of the softness of a kitten's fur, or the prickly quality of hay.

THEME the main idea underlying the subject in a work of art.

THROWING creating vessels on a potter's wheel.

THUMBNAIL SKETCHES small sketches.

TILE a repeating design that covers and entire surface.

TINT any color mixed with white.

TONE harmony in colors and values in an artwork.

TRANSLUCENT clear enough to allow light to pass through.

TRANSPARENT see through.

TROMPE L'OEIL French phrase meaning, " fool the eye." Trompe l'oeil artists paint images designed to trick people into thinking that they are real.

VALUE the measurement of light and darkness in a work of art.

VANISHING POINT term used in perspective; all lines lead to this point which may be on or off the canvas.

VERTICAL up and down.

VISUAL TEXTURE texture that you can see or that an artist will decorate a surface with. You can not feel visual texture.

WASH pigment diluted with water and applied to a painting surface to give a translucent effect.

WATERCOLOR a type of paint made from a mixture of powdered pigments (colors) with a binder and water. Watercolor painting usually transparent, meaning that you can see through it to the surface beneath. Opaque paints (paints that you cannot see through) that are mixed with water are called gouache.

WATERCOLOR WASH a thin or watery coating of paint.

WEARABLE ART art you can wear.

WEDGING kneading moist clay to eliminate air bubbles and produce a uniform texture.

WET-IN-WET the action of spreading paint when new pigment is added to a wet paper.

WOODCUT a print made when the surface of a block of wood is transformed through cutting, then inked and transferred to paper.