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Representational Art

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any work of art that seeks to resemble the world of natural appearance

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Abstract Art

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in art, the rendering of images and objects in a stylized or simplified way, so that though they remain recognizable, their formal or expressive aspects are emphasized

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Nonrepresentational (nonobjective) Art

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art that makes no reference to the natural world and that explores the inherent expressive or aesthetic potential of the formal elements - line, shape, color - and the formal compositional principles of a given medium

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Realism

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generally, the tendency to render the facts of existence, but, specifically, in the nineteenth century, the desire to describe the world in a way unadulterated by the imaginative and idealist tendencies of the Romantic sensibility

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Photorealistic

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a drawing or painting so realistic in appearance that it appears to be a photograph

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Sublime

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that which impresses the mind with a sense of grandeur and power, inspiring a sense of awe

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Naturalism

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a brand of representation in which the artist retains apparently realistic elements but presents the visual world from a distinctly personal or subjective point of view

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Trompe L'oeil

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a manner of two dimensional representation in which the appearance of natural space and objects is re created with the intention of fooling the eye of the viewer, who may be convinced that the subject actually exists in three-dimensional space

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Composition

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the organization of the formal elements in a work of art

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Form

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the literal shape and mass of an object or figure. more generally, the materials used to make a work of art, the ways in which these materials are used in terms of the formal elements (line, light, color, etc), and the composition that results

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Content

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the meaning of an image, beyond its overt subject matter; as opposed to form

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Iconography

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the study or description of images and symbols

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Symbols

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images that represent something more than their literal meaning

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Implied Line

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a line created by movement or direction, such as the line established by a pointing finger, the direction of a glance, or a body moving through space

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Shape

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a two dimensional area, the boundaries of which are measured in terms of height and width. more broadly, the form of any object or figure

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Mass

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any solid that occupies a three dimensional volume

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Negative Shape (space)

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empty space, surrounded and shaped so that it acquires a sense of form or volume

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One-Point Linear Perspective

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a version of linear perspective in which there is only one vanishing point in the composition

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Vanishing Point

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in linear perspective, the point on the horizon line where parallel lines appear to converge

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Vantage Point

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in linear perspective, the point where the viewer is positioned

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Frontal

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an adjective used to describe any object meant to be seen from the front

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Diagonal Recession

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in perspective, when the lines recede to a vanishing point to the right or left of the vantage point

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Two-Point Linear Perspective

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a version of linear perspective in which there are two (or more) vanishing points in the composition

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Oblique Projection

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a system for projecting space, commonly found in japanese art, in which the front of the object or building is parallel to the picture plane, and the sides, receding at an angle, remain parallel to each other, rather than converging as in linear perspective

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Axonometric Projection

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a technique for depicting space, often employed by architects, in which all lines remain parallel rather than receding to a common vanishing point as in linear perspective

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Foreshortening

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the modification of perspective to decrease distortion resulting from the apparent visual contraction of an object or figure as it extends backward from the picture plane at an angle approaching the perpendicular

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Atmospheric (aerial) Perspective

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a technique, often employed in landscape painting, designed to suggest three dimensional space in the two dimensional space of the picture plane, and in which forms and objects distant from the viewer become less distinct, often bluer or cooler in color, and contrast among the various distant elements is greatly reduced

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Chiaroscuro

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in drawing and painting, the use of light and dark to create the effect of three-dimensional, modeled surfaces

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Modeling

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in sculpture, the shaping of a form in some plastic material, such as clay or plaster; in drawing, painting, and printmaking, the rendering of a form, usually by means of hatching or chiaroscuro, to create the illusion of a three-dimensional form

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Highlights

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the spot or one of the spots of highest key or value in a picture

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Shadow

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the unlighted surface of a form rendered by modeling or chiaroscuro

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Core of the Shadow

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the darkest area on a form rendered by means of modeling or chiaroscuro

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Cast Shadow

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in chiaroscuro, the shadow cast by a figure, darker than the shadowed surface itself

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Tenebrism

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from the italian tenebrous, meaning murky, a heightened form of chiaroscuro

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Hatching

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an area of closely spaced parallel lines, employed in drawing and engraving, to create the effect of shading or modeling

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Cross-Hatching

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two or more sets of roughly parallel and overlapping lines, set at an angle to one another, in order to create a sense of three dimensional, modeled space

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Tint

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a color or hue modified by the addition of another color resulting in a hue of a lighter value, in the way, for instance, that the addition of white to red results in pink

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Shade

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a color or hue modified by the addition of another color, resulting in a hue of a darker value, in the way , for instance, that the addition of black to red results in maroon

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Spectrum

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the colored bands of visible light created when sunlight passes through a prism

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Color Wheel

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a circular arrangement of hues based on one of a number of various color theories

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Primary Colors

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the hues that in theory cannot be created from a mixture of other hues and from which all other hues are created - namely, in pigment, red, yellow, and blue, and in refracted light, red-orange, green, and blue-violet

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Secondary Colors

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hues created by combining two primary colors; in pigment, the secondary colors are traditionally considered to be orange, green, and violet; in refracted light, yellow, magenta, and cyan

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Intermediate Colors

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the range of colors on the color wheel between each primary color and its neighboring secondary colors; yellow-green, for example

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Subtractive Process

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in color, the fact that, when different hues of colored pigment are combined, the resulting mixture is lower in key than the original hues and duller as well, and as more and more hues are added, the resulting mixture is closer and closer to black. In sculpture, the process in which form is discovered by the removal of materials, by such means as carving, as distinguished from the additive sculptural processes, such as assemblage

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Additive Process

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in color, the fact that, when different hues of colored pigment are combined, the resulting mixture is higher in key than the original hues and brighter as well, and as more and more hues are added, the resulting mixture is closer and closer to white. In sculpture, the process in which form is built up, shaped, and enlarged by the addition of materials, as distinguished from subtractive sculptural processes, such as carving

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Hue

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a color, as found on a color wheel

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Intensity (Saturation)

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the relative purity of a color's hue, and a function of its relative brightness or dullness

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Medium

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any material used to create a work of art. Plural form, media. In painting, a liquid added to paint that makes it easier to manipulate

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Palette

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literally, a thin board, with a thumb hole at one end upon which the artist lays out and mixes colors, but, by extension, the range of colors used by the artist. In this last sense, a closed or restricted palette that is one employing only a few colors and an open palette is one using the full range of hues

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Analogous Color

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pairs of colors, such as yellow and orange, that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel

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Temperature

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the relative warmth or coolness of a given hue; hues in the yellow-orange-red range are considered to be warm, and hues in the green-blue-violet range are considered cool

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Complementary Colors

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pairs of colors, such as red and green, that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel

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Simultaneous Contrast

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a property of complementary colors when placed side by side, resulting in the fact that both appear brighter and more intense than when seen in isolation

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Restricted Palette

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a selection of colors limited in its range of hues

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Polychromatic

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a color composition consisting of a variety of hues

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Monochromatic

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a color composition limited to a single hue

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Local Color

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as opposed to optical color and perceptual color, the actual hue of a thing, independent of the ways in which colors might be mixed or how different conditions of light and atmosphere might affect color

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Perceptual Color

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colors as perceived by the eye

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En Plein Air

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a french expression meaning "in the open air," used specifically to refer to the act of painting outdoors

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Arbitrary Color

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color that has no realistic or natural relation to the object that is depicted, as in a blue horse or a purple cow, but that may have emotional or expressive significance

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Texture

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the surface quality of a work

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Pattern

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a repetitive motif or design

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Time and Motion

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the primary elements of temporal media, linear rather than spatial in character

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Kinetic Art

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art that moves

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Impasto

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paint applied very thickly to canvas or support

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Frottage

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the technique of putting a sheet of paper over textured surfaces and then rubbing a soft pencil across the paper

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Optical Painting

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an art style particularly popular in the 1960s in which line and color are manipulated in ways that stimulate the eye into believing it perceives movement

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Balance

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the even distribution of weight, either actual weight or visual weight, in a composition

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Actual Weight

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as opposed to visual weight, the physical weight of material in pounds

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Visual Weight

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as opposed to actual weight, the apparent "heaviness" or "lightness" of a shape or form

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Symmetrical

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when two halves of a composition correspond to one another in terms of size, shape, and placement of forms

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Absolute Symmetry

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term used when each half of a composition is exactly the same

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Bilateral Symmetry

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term used when the overall effect of a composition is one of absolute symmetry, even though there are clear discrepancies side to side

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Asymmetrically Balance

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balance achieved in a composition when neither side reflects or mirrors the other

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Radial Balance

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a circular composition in which the elements project outward from a central core at regular intervals, like the spokes of a wheel

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Focal Point

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in a work of art, the center of visual attention, often different from the physical center of a work

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Scale

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the comparative size of an object in relation to other objects and settings

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Proportion

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in any composition, the relationship between the parts to each other and to the whole

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Canon (of proportion)

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the "rule" of perfect proportions for the human body as determined by the Greek sculptor Polyclitus in a now lost work, known as the Canon, and based on the idea that each part of the body should be a common fraction of the figure's total height

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Rhythm

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an effect achieved when shapes, colors, or a regular pattern of any kind is repeated over and over again

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Postmodernism

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a term used to describe the willfully plural and eclectic art forms of contemporary art

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