Art Vocab Flashcards
Volume
The quality of a form that has height, width and depth, the representation of this quality
Value
Black, white, and the gradations of grey tones between them, or the lightness or darkness of a colour when compared with a grey scale
Mass
In the graphic arts, the illusion of weight or density
Highlight
The lightest values present on the surface on an illuminated form-usually occurring on very smooth or shiny reflected surfaces
Modelling
The change from light to dark across a surface; a technique for creating spatial illusion
Cast shadow
The shadow thrown by a form onto an adjacent or nearby surface in a direction away from the light source
Core/Crest shadow
The core shadow is the dark band visible where light and shadow meet. It is the point at which light can no longer reach the form to illuminate it. It is the darkest area of the shadow on the sphere (the “form shadow”) because it is least affected by reflected light
Achromatic
Means “without colour”. The term applies to black, white, and greys made by combining black and white. Achromatic greys, like black and white, have no hue and no saturation: only value.
Tonal contrast
Is created when light tones and dark tones are used in opposition to each other. Tonal contrast can be used to develop visual interest in an image
High contrast
The use of distinct darks and lights, with few mod-tones, to create visual interest or create visual tension
Low contrast
The use of mid-tones to create a more calm or harmonious image
Naturalistic representation
Subject matter depicted in its most natural, unaltered state
Render
Thoroughly represent a likeness as truth of form in drawing; to painstakingly restate form or subject in its exactness; to draw with extreme articulation and exactitude of subject
Mimesis
The faithful imitation of natural appearances
Elements of art
The components and tools that an artist uses to construct an image. Main elements include composition, form, shape, line, colour, value, space, and texture
Composition
An ordered relationship among the parts or elements of a work of art. In drawing, the arrangement of forms and spaces within the format
Framing
Draws attention to a particular part of a composition
Picture plane
The actual flat surface, or opaque pane, on which a drawing is produced. It also refers to the imaginary construct of a transparent plane, like a framed window, that always remains parallel to the vertical plane of the artist’s face. The artist draws on paper what he or she sees beyond the plane as though the view were flattened on the plane.
Closed composition
Visual containment of form and structure within a picture plane. IE: the entire subject of the image fits inside the frame
Open composition
The visual impact of forms and structures appearing unrelated to the paper size, seemingly unlimited by its outer edges and exceeding the boundaries of picture plane. IE: the subjects of the image exceed the edge of the image itself
Landscape format
Horizontally oriented pictures, which encourage your eyes to move from side to side
Portrait format
Vertically oriented pictures, which encourage your eyes to move up and down
Figure-ground
Compositional circumstance in which figurative elements read as positive shapes and project forward from the negative space or background
Figure
The representation of a recognizable object or non-representational shape which may be readily distinguished from its visual context in a drawing
Figure ground shift
A type of ambiguous space that combines aspects of interspace and positive-negative reversals. It is characterized by “active” or somewhat volumetric negative areas and by the perception that virtually all the shapes are slipping, or shifting, in and out of positive (figure) and negative (ground) identities
Positive shape
The shape of an object that serves as the subject for a drawing.
Negative space
The space surrounding a positive shape, sometimes referred to as ground, empty space, interspace, field or void.
Foreground
The closest zone of space in a three-dimensional illusion
Symmetrical balance
Symmetrical balance is achieved by dividing an image into virtually mirror-like halves
Approximate symmetry
A form of visual balance that entails dividing an image into similar halves while at the same time avoiding potentially static quality of mirror-like opposites associated with symmetrical balance
Asymmetrical balance
A dynamic form of visual equilibrium in which the two sides of an image do not mirror each other. This is achieved by adjusting such qualities as the scale, placement, and emphasis of visual elements in different parts of a composition
Hierarchy
The relative visual impact of objects and auxiliary elements (such as the ground and background). Generally, the more conspicuous an object or element - the closer to the foreground, the more centered, the larger, he brighter, the bolder, or the more particularized - the more important it is in the context of the composition
Alignment
Refers to the spatial orientation of the objects relative to each other and to the auxiliary elements. Physical concurrences and relationships such as perpendicularity, parallelism, linearity, symmetry, and so on, are important here. Alignment also takes into account spatial patterns such as spacing between objects and repetitions of objects (as in stacking, etc.)
Edge
In a drawing, the place where two things meet (eg., where the sky meets the ground); the line of separation between two shapes or a shape and a space
Focal points
Compositional elements that form the central emphasis and are visually fortified by all other surrounding elements
Visual weight
The potential of any element or area of a drawing to attract the eye
Physical weight
The impression that the weight of depicted objects, whether recognizable or not, could actually be measured on a scale
Visual tension
The apparent disharmonious yet curiously compelling formations of pleasing imbalances interacting within g a composition; cacophonies or unexpected compositional elements that yield provocative or recondite visual states
Directional lines (leading lines)
Create compositional thrusts or dominant moods cast from varied linear emphasis - lines my uniformly flow or flow in opposite directions, each conveying different feelings
Proportion
The relative sizes of part to part and part to whole within an object or composition
The Rule of Thirds
In art and design odd numbers are magic numbers because when used as an organizational device they inspire asymmetry, which often makes a composition more visually interesting. The rule of thirds suggests that when a rectangle or square is divided into thirds vertically and horizontally, the four intersecting points within the composition are the points of optimal focus. The artist or designer uses placement and proximity to determine which of these points is hierarchically the most important. An awareness of the law of thirds enables the artist or designer to focus attention where it will most naturally occur
Primary colours
The three fundamental colours - red, blue, and yellow - that cannot be produced by mixing other hues or colours
Secondary colours
Colours achieved by mixing primary colours; green, orange, and violet
Tertiary colours
These are also called “intermediate colours” and are yellow-orange, red-orange, blue-green, yellow-green, blue-violet, and red violet
Complementary colours
Contrasting colours that lie opposite each other on the colour wheel and represent the strongest hue contrast, such as red and green, blue and orange, and yellow and purple
Split complementary
A colour scheme posing one hue against the hues flanking its complement as yellow with red-violet and blue-violet
Attributes of colour
The three main descriptions or properties of colours, namely hue, value, and saturation (or intensity)
Hue
The name of a colour, such as red, orange, or blue-green. Hue is one of the three structural factors of colour (along with value and saturation), hue is the name given to a colour to describe its location on the colour spectrum owing to its particular wavelength
Value
Black, white, and the gradations of grey tones between them, or the lightness or darkness of a colour when compared with a grey scale
Saturation
The relative purity of hue present in a colour. Highly saturated colours are very rich and have strong hue presence. Colour that are low in saturation are dull and have a weak discernible hue
Tint
A colour lightened by the addition of white
Shade
A colour darkened by the addition of black
Colour temperature
When the hue continuum is represented as a circle, colours can be divided into cool and warm zones, probably based on our physical experience in a world of fire and ice
Cool colours
Colours psychologically associated, for example, with streams, lakes, and foliage in the shade. Cool colours such as green, blue-green, and blue-purple appear to recede in a relationship with warmer colours
Warm colours
Colours psychologically associated, for example, with sunlight or fire. Warm colours such as red, red-orange, yellow, and yellow-orange appear to advance in a relationship with cooler colours
Co-primaries
Expand the primary triad of red, yellow, and blue into three pairs that include warm and cool versions of each primary colour. The use of co-primaries greatly extends the potential range of colour achieved through their intermixture
Achromatic
Means “without colour”. The term applies to black, white, and greys made by combining black and white. Achromatic greys, like black and white, have no hue and saturation, only value
Chromatic
Refers to colour or the property of hue
Chromatic grey
Grey created by adding hue to a neutral or by mixing complements to achieve a neutralized colour. They have discernible temperature and hue
Colour scheme
An association of selected colours that establishes a colour harmony and acts as a unifying factor in a work of art. (Analogous, complementary, discordant, and monochromatic, and triadic colour schemes)
Colour harmony
The character of the interrelationships in a group of colours. As with musical harmonies, colour harmonies can be concordant (highly unified) or discordant (disagreemend), depending upon the relative cohesiveness of the colour grouping
Analogous colours
Colours adjacent to one another on the colour wheel
Discordant colour schee
A colour arrangement based on hues that compete or conflict, resulting in a relationship of disharmony
Monochromatic
A colour scheme using only one colour with its various hues and intensities
A triad colour scheme
Traditionally uses three hues that are evenly spaced around the colour wheel
Colour interaction
A colour’s quality is dependent upon its context because colours interact with each other where they meet
Overtone
A term borrowed from music that describes the secondary hue bias or leaning of a primary hue. For example, alizarin crimson is a red that leans towards violet; it has violet overtones. Scarlet, another red, has orange overtones. An awareness of overtone is helpful in colour mixing
Earth tone primary
A triad of earth tones: Burnt sienna, yellow ochre, and payne’s grey
Simultaneous contrast
The optical effect that two neighbouring colours have upon each other as their afterimages interact alond a shared border
Push-pull
The spatial advancing and receding of visual forms within a picture plane
Keyed
Colour groupings are keyed when they are brought together in either hue, value, or saturation, or combinations thereof
Tonal key
The coordination of group values in a drawing for purposes of organization and to establish a pervasive mood. Tonal keys may be high, middle, or low
High key
Values of an image are primarily light
Low key
Values of an image are predominantly dark
Middle key
The span of five values in the exact centre of a nine-step value scale
