Term |
Definition |
---|---|
Appropriation |
Where an artist uses objects or images taken from another artist, culture or context. |
Blending |
Smoothing edges of colours together so that they have a smooth gradation where they meet. |
Canvas |
Closely woven cloth used as a support for paintings. |
Chiaroscuro |
Italian for light/dark. Shading forms with strong contrasts. |
Collage |
Using materials other than the traditional paint, such as cut paper, wood, sand, and so on. |
Colour |
May be natural, high key, monochrome, cold, warm, psychedelic, etc. |
Composition |
The arrangement of elements in the painting or drawing. These may include balance/imbalance, repetition/singularity, movement/static, vertical/horizontal, simple/complex, symmetry/asymmetry, contrast/similarity, and/or harmony/discord. |
Crosshatching |
Parallel lines that crisscross each other at angles, to model and indicate tone. |
Encaustic |
A medium that uses hot wax to bind the pigment. |
Expressive |
Strong colours and/or vigorous application of media. |
Eye level/horizon |
Line running through a composition that represents the artist's viewpoint. |
Foreground |
The front of the picture plane (usually at the bottom of the picture). |
Focal point |
The main part of the picture that draws the viewer's attention. |
Form |
An object which has, or appears to have, three dimensional volume and solidity. |
Formal properties |
A description of, textures, colours, composition, size and style. |
Frottage |
Textural rubbings. |
Gesso |
A white ground material (chalk, white pigment, and glue) for preparing rigid supports for painting. |
Glaze |
Thin transparent layer of coloured paint used to tint the object/colours underneath. |
Ground |
The surface a work is made on, such as paper, canvas, board, hessian. |
Hatching |
Close series of parallel lines that indicate tone and form. |
Hierarchy |
Some parts of the picture being more dominant and/or important than others. |
Impasto |
A style of painting characterized by thick, juicy colour application. |
Juxtaposed |
Placed side by side or alongside each other, often to create contrast. |
Light source |
The direction from which the light is coming (may be single or multiple light sources). |
Line |
Long/short, hard/soft, jagged/smooth, continuous/broken, straight/curved etc. |
Local colour |
The actual colour of an object or surface such as green for grass (not purple). |
Medium: |
The liquid in which pigments are suspended. |
Mixed media |
In drawing and painting this refers to the use of different media in the same picture. |
Mosaic |
Small units of variously coloured materials (glass, tile, stone) set in a mortar. |
Monochrome/monochromatic: |
One colour only, or in black and white. |
Negative space |
The area in a picture that is not the subject or the space around/behind objects. |
Pattern |
An arrangement of sequence of shapes. |
Perspective |
One point, or linear, perspective is based around receding parallel lines that appear to meet at a vanishing point on the horizon or eye level. Atmospheric perspective blurs lines that are further away. |
Pictorial depth |
How deep or shallow the picture looks ? window to infinity. |
Plein air |
French for "open air" meaning paintings done outside directly from the subject. |
Primary colours |
Red, yellow and blue (primary colours can't be mixed from other colours). |
Primer |
Coating material, usually white, applied to a support to prepare it for painting. |
Proportion |
The dimensions, or scale, of the various parts of an image or object, in relation to each other and to the object as a whole. The golden ratio 1:1.618 is considered an elegant proportion. |
Scale |
Relative size, for instance one drawing or part of a drawing in relation to another. |
Scumbling |
Applying a thin, semi-opaque coating of paint over a previously painted surface to alter the colour or appearance of the surface without totally obscuring it. |
Sfumato |
Italian for "shaded off". Gradual, almost imperceptible transitions of colour from light to dark. |
Sgraffito |
Technique in which the surface layer is incised or cut away to reveal a contrasting colour. |
Shape |
A two-dimensional surface with a defined area but no volume ? geometric/organic, complex/simple. |
Shellac |
A yellow resin formed from secretions of the LAC insect, used in making varnish. |
Surface |
The appearance of top layer which may be rough, smooth, slippery, furry, soft etc. |
Symbol/symbolic |
Something that stands for or represents something else. |
Tonal modelling |
Graduated light to dark tones to make a two-dimensional shape three dimensional. |
Tone |
Lightness or darkness of any part of an object or composition. |
Transparent |
Can be seen through. |
Trompe l'oeil |
French for "deceive the eye". Looks like a real object. |
Underpainting |
The traditional oil painting of using a monochrome as a base for composition. |
Vanishing point |
The fixed point on the horizon where the perspective lines meet. |
Varnish |
Transparent material that protects the paint (can make it shiny as well). |
Volume |
The space that an object or figure fills in a drawing or painting. |
Wash |
A thin, usually broadly applied, layer of transparent or heavily diluted paint or ink. |
Watercolour |
Water soluble paint which can be transparent or opaque. |
Visual Arts glossary
Definitions of terms used in Visual Arts and related subjects