ART VOCABULARY

General Terms Commonly Used In Art

Media/Medium The materials and tools used by the artist to create a work of art.
Technique The manner and skill in which the artist uses tools and materials to achieve an
expressive effect..

Craftsmanship Aptitude, skill, or manual dexterity in the use of tools and materials.
Naturalism The approach to art in which the forms used by the artist are essentially descriptive of
things that the artist sees.

Abstract A term given to forms created by the artist but usually derived from objects actually
observed or experienced. Usually forms are simplified or rearranged to suit the needs of artistic
expression. Often there is little resemblance to the original object.

Aesthetics A term used in regard to the quality or sensation of pleasure, enjoyment, disturbance,
or meaning people can experience in viewing works of art. It is a study of these emotions involving
the psychology, sociology, and philosophy of art.

Nonobjective A term given to a work of art that has no recognizable subject matter.
Subject matter This term, in a descriptive style of art, refers to the persons or things represented
in a work. In abstract and nonobjective forms of art, it refers to the basic character of all the visual
signs employed by the artist. In this case, it has little to do with anything as experienced in the
natural environment.

Style The specific artistic character and dominant form trends noted in art movements. It may also
mean artist’s expressive use of media to give an individual character to his work.

Composition The arbitrary organization or inventive arrangement of all of the visual elements in
an attempt to develop a unity in the total work of art.

Form The totality of the work of art. Form is the organization (design) of all elements that make up
the work of art. The elements of form are: lines, shapes, values (varied lights and darks), textures,
and colors

Content The essential meaning, significance, or aesthetic value of an art form. It refers to the
sensory, psychological or emotional properties that one tends to “feel” in a work of art as opposed to
the perception of mere descriptive aspects.

Realism A form of expression which retains the basic impression of visual reality but, in addition,
attempts to relate and interpret the universal meanings which lie underneath the surface appearance
of natural forms.

Composition
Balance A feeling of equality in weight, attention, or attraction of the various visual elements
within the pictorial field as a means of accomplishing organic unity.

Symmetrical A form of balance achieved by the use of identical balance compositional units on
either side of a vertical axis within the picture plane.

Asymmetrical A form of balance attained when the visual units on balance either side of a vertical
axis are not identical but are placed in positions within the picture plane so as to create a “felt”
equilibrium of the total form concept.

Elements of art structure The combination of the basic elements of line, shape, value, texture,
space, and color represent the visual language of the artist.

Picture frame The outer-most limits or boundary of the picture plane.

Picture plane The actual flat surface on which the artist executes his pictorial image.
Positive shapes The enclosed areas that represent the initial selection of shapes planned by the
artist. They may suggest recognizable objects or merely be planned non-representational shapes.

Negative shapes These are unoccupied or empty space left after the positive shapes have been
laid down by the artist; however, because these areas have boundaries, they also function as shapes
in the total pictorial structure.

Dominance The principle of visual organization that suggests that certain elements should assume
more importance than others in the same composition. It contributes to organic unity by emphasizing
the fact that there is one main feature and that other elements are subordinate to it.

Repetition The use of the same visual element a number of times in the same composition.
Rhythm A continuance, a flow, or a feeling of movement achieved by the repetition of regulated
visual information.

Unity The whole or total effect of a work of art that results from the combination of all of its
component parts.

Motif A visual element or a combination of visual elements that is repeated often enough in a
composition to make it the dominating feature of the artist’s expression. It is similar to theme or
melody in a musical composition.

Pattern A repetitive configuration of elements that is distributed in a regular or irregular systematic

organization.

Related to the “Elements of Art” :: LINE

Line A line is the path of a moving point-that is, a mark made by a tool or instrument as it is drawn
across a surface. Its length is distinctly greater than its width.

Contour A line that creates a boundary separating an area of space from its surrounding
background.
Cross-contour The line that defines a surface’s of a form between the outermost edges of the
form.

Calligraphy The use of flowing rhythmical lines similar to the individual qualities found in
handwriting. It means “beautiful writing.”

Decorative The quality that emphasizes the two-dimensional nature of any of the visual elements.
Decoration enriches a surface without denying the essential flatness of its nature.

Related to the “Elements of Art” :: SHAPE

Shape An area that stands out from the space next to or around it because of a defined boundary
or because of a difference of value, color, or texture.

Decorative Design in which shapes having a two-dimensional quality appear to lie flat on the
surface of the picture plane.

Plane A shape which is essentially two-dimensional in nature but whose relationships with other
shapes may give an illusion of a third dimension.

Volume A shape that is three-dimensional in nature and exists in space. On a flat surface the artist
can only create the illusion of a volume.

Geometric Those shapes created by exact mathematical laws. They are usually simple in character
such as the triangle, the rectangle, and the circle, but can be other types of polygons.

Rectilinear Shapes whose boundaries usually consist entirely of straight lines.

Biomorphic shapes Usually more or less irregular shapes which resemble the freely developed
curves found in live organisms.

Linear perspective A mechanical system for creating the illusion of a three-dimensional space on
a two-dimensional surface.

Related to the “Elements of Art” :: VALUE

Value The relative degree of lightness or darkness.
Highlight The area of an object represented in art that receives the greatest amount of direct light.
Shadow, shade, shading The darker value on the portion of a form’s surface that is turned
away from the light source.

Cast shadow The dark area created on a surface when a form is placed so as to prevent light from
falling on that surface.

Chiaroscuro A technique that emphasizes the blending of light and shade to create the illusion of
objects in space or atmosphere.
Decorative value Refers to areas of dark or light definitely confined within boundaries, rather
than the gradual blending of tones.

Related to the “Elements of Art” :: TEXTURE

Texture The actual or the illusion of tactile value on the surface of an area as created by nature or
by an artist through a manipulation of the visual elements.

Tactile A quality that refers to the sense of touch.

Papier colle A technique of visual expression in which scraps of paper having various textures are
actually pasted to the picture surface to enrich or embellish areas.

Collage A similar technique to papier colle but using a great variety of materials having tactile
quality, not just paper alone.

Natural Textures Textures in actual objects that are created as the result of natural processes.
Trompe l’oeil A technique involving the copying of real three-dimensional forms with such
exactitude that the subject depicted can be mistaken for natural forms.
Related to the “Elements of Art” :: COLOR
Pigments Pigment is the substance or powder that makes up the color of a paint. Pigments are
either organic (derived from plant or animal sources, e.g. ivory black, indigo) or inorganic (derived
from salts or metallic oxides e.g. ocher, cobalt blue). Pigments are used by the artist to create the
effect of color on a surface. Pigment primary colors are derived from the “Subtractive Color Model”
are are: cyan, magenta, yellow. On a traditional Artist’s Color Wheel, these primaries are substituted
for close cousins: blue, red, and yellow (which produce slightly different mixing results). Printers,
however, typically stick to the technical CMYK model, using the following inks: cyan, magenta, yellow
(and pure black for richness).

Hue This designates the common name of a color and indicates its position in the spectrum or the
color circle. This is considered the purest form of the color, with no white, black, or grey added.

Value It refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. It indicates the quantity of light reflected.
Darker values are produced by adding black (or “shades”), while lighter colors are produced by
adding white (or “tints”).

Intensity / Saturation The intensity/saturation or “chroma” of a color: A vivid color is of high

intensity, a dull color of low intensity. Saturation/intensity is reduced by adding grey (back AND
white) to a hue, which is then referred to as a “tone.”

Neutralized color A color that has been “grayed” or reduced in intensity by mixture with a
complementary color.

Objective color The color of an object as seen by the eye. (green grass, blue sky, red fire, etc.)
Subjective color Colors chosen by the artist without regard to the natural appearance of the
object portrayed.
Analogous colors Colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel.
Complementary colors Two colors which are directly opposite each other on the color wheel.
Warm colors Red, orange and yellow, usually associated with sun or fire.
Cool colors Blue, green, violet or blue-green are associated with air, sky and water.
Related to the “Elements of Art” :: SPACE
Two-dimensional space Measurable distances on a surface which show length and width but
lack any illusion of thickness or depth.

Three-dimensional space A sensation of space that seems to have length, width, and height to
create visual or real depth.

Four-dimensional space A highly imaginative treatment of forms that gives a sense of intervals
of time or motion.

Infinite space A pictorial concept in which the illusion of space has the quality of endlessness
found in the natural environment. The picture frame has the quality of a window through which one
can see the endless recession of forms into space.

Atmospheric (aerial) The illusion of deep space produced by aerial perspective, lightening
values, softening contours, reducing value contrasts, and neutralizing colors in objects as they recede.

Convergenge The visual illusion of apparent parallel lines meeting at a central point in infinite space.
Horizon Line This is a line horizontally oriented at your eye level regardless of the viewer’s
position. If the viewer looks up, the horizon line is lower in a picture plane; if s/he looks down, the
line is higher on the picture plane, and if s/he looks straight ahead, the line is in the middle.

Vanishing Point The point(s) on a horizon line at which apparent parallel lines will converge.
Oblique Being neither perpendicular nor parallel to a line.
Cone of Vision This is all that you can see without moving your eyes, (anywhere from about 30°
to 80°).

Fixed Point of View The position from which one views a scene without moving his or her body
or eyes in order to create a specific perspective. Linear perspective relies on this for accuracy,
because once position is changed, the perspective, lines, and mathematical realities of the cone of
vision will change.

Central Line of Vision This imaginary line is centered in the cone of vision and is perpendicular
(at a right angle) to the picture plane.